How To Use Et Al Mla

Then type their first name.

How to use et al mla. Mla in text citation example. Note that this rule has changed from apa 6 guidelines on using et al which recommend listing all author names in the first citation up to five authors but then using et al for the second and subsequent citations. Et al is an abbreviation for the latin phrase et alia which means and others for 3 or more authors type the first author s last name followed by a comma. In citing such papers using the name and date system also known as the harvard system a long string of names proves awkward which is why most journals recommend the use of et al which is latin for et alii or et aliae and means and others. For example suppose you were using a book as a source that was written by severus snape minerva mcgonagall and horace slughorn.

Harris et al 2001 or harris et al. In both the in text citation and in the works cited page. In all cases you should use the last name of the first author followed by et al in your in text citation. If there are at least six authors then you may use et al from the first mention. Works with three or more writers.

In general it s used in academic situations or when writing very formally such as in text citations and parenthetical remarks. Works with three or more editors. Aside from authors this can also apply to characters in a book or novel. 2001 modern language association mla style manual. Add the abbreviation et al with no intervening punctuation.

This resource updated to reflect the mla handbook 8 th ed offers examples for the general format of mla research papers in text citations endnotes footnotes and the works cited page. There are many places in mla citation style where you can use et al. When there are more than 3 authors only list the last name of the first one and type et al. For research papers having three or more authors mla states that for the reference list the first author s surname should be cited followed by a comma then the rest of the name followed by et al for in text citations the first author s surname is followed by et al. Everything goes away jack sawyer like the moon.

When to use et al. Everything comes back like the moon king steven and straub 78. Six or more authors. Collections of of essays stories or poems with three or more contributors. Apa format requires that you cite all of the authors at the first mention if there are three four or five and use et al afterward.