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How to Cite Multiple Authors in APA, MLA, and Chicago

A multi-author citation is two jobs: keep the names in source order, then apply one cutoff to the reference, works-cited, or bibliography line and a stricter cutoff to the in-text citation or note. This page follows the APA 7 author–date rules, the 3 March 2026 Common Reference Examples Guide, the MLA Style Center, and Chicago Manual of Style 18 §§13.23 and 13.107, checked against the live Quick Guides and What's New on 15 September 2026. It is the author-count workflow, not a second APA book, MLA book, or Chicago book tutorial, and not the group-author or same-author-same-year page.

By 23 min read

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How to Cite Multiple Authors: Quick Answer

Two authors stay visible in every current style. Three or more authors trigger et al. in APA and MLA citations from the first mention, and in a Chicago note or author-date citation. The long list is where the styles split: APA writes up to 20 names and never uses et al. in the reference; MLA stops after the first name plus et al.; Chicago 18 writes up to six names, then the first three plus et al.

Author-count templates

APA 7 in-text, three or more:

(Author et al., Year, p. Page)

APA 7 reference, two to 20 authors:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Title of the Periodical, volume(issue), pages.

MLA 9 works cited, two authors:

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

MLA 9 works cited, three or more:

Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Chicago 18 note, three or more:

1. First Name Last Name et al., Title of Book (Publisher, Year), Page.

Chicago 18 bibliography, more than six:

Last Name, First Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Official wording you can quote

For a work with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” in every citation (even the first citation).
For a work with 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, insert an ellipsis (. . .), but no ampersand, and then write the final author’s name.
Because “et al.” is plural (meaning “and others”), it cannot stand for only one name.
Reserve the use of the abbreviation et al. for the list of works cited and parenthetical citations. In the text, spell out the authors’ names or, if you are referring to a work by several authors, state the name of the first-listed author, followed by “and others.”
For works by two authors, list both in the bibliography and in a note (as in the Dittmar and Schemske example above). For three or more authors, list up to six in the bibliography; for more than six authors, list the first three, followed by “et al.” (“and others”). In a note, list only the first, followed by “et al.”
Up to six authors are now listed in a bibliography or reference list entry; if more than six, only the first three are listed, followed by “et al.” In a note or in an author-date text citation, up to two authors are now listed; if more than two, only the first is listed, followed by “et al.”
Only italicize et al., meaning “and others,” if it is referred to as a term, as the examples in this sentence and the question above show. In parenthetical citations and works-cited-list entries, the abbreviation should be set roman, as shown in the MLA Handbook (116, 22):

Those seven sentences are the live public rules. The first is APA's author–date page (Publication Manual p. 266). The second is the Creating an APA Style reference list handout, last updated 23 February 2022. The third is APA 7 §8.18 on ambiguous et al. forms. The fourth is the MLA Style Center note on naming three or more authors in prose. The fifth is the CMOS 18 Notes and Bibliography Quick Guide journal paragraph, still live on 15 September 2026. The sixth is CMOS What's New in the 18th Edition at §§13.23 and 13.107. The seventh is the MLA Style Center note on styling et al.. The et al. calculator applies one cutoff at a time; this page is the reason the cutoff moved and the exception a calculator cannot see.

This page is the author-count rule, not three nearby pages

Search results mix four problems that look alike. Stay here when the source has two or more personal names and you need to know how many of them to write. Leave when the problem is a different slot.

Stay on this page

  • The PDF byline lists two, five, or twenty-one people.
  • You need the APA 7, MLA 9, or CMOS 18 cutoff for that count.
  • Two papers would both become Kapoor et al., 2017, or Taylor et al.

Use a sibling guide

Count the authors before you format

The expensive mistake is not a missing comma. It is treating the author line as a list you can tidy. Credit order is part of the source. Alphabetizing Johnson before Chen, dropping a middle initial, or promoting the corresponding author to first place creates a different paper in the reader's index.

  1. Read the names in source order. Title pages, article bylines, and PDF first pages are the authority — not a database that has already inverted or truncated them.
  2. Count persons, not organizations mashed together. Two personal authors is a different rule from one group author, even if the group name is long.
  3. Decide which list you are building. APA's reference list, MLA's works-cited list, and a Chicago bibliography keep more names than the matching in-text citation or note.
  4. Only then apply et al. The abbreviation is a display rule for a counted list. It is not a way to skip the count.

If the source has no personal author, stop and use the no-author workflow instead of inventing a first surname. If you are citing the same multi-author work again later, these author-count rules still apply; only the locator and shortened title change — see citing the same source more than once.

What "et al." actually means

"Et al." abbreviates the Latin et alia, "and others." APA Style is blunt about the grammar: because the phrase is plural, it cannot stand for only one name. That is why a four-author paper that differs from another paper only in the last surname must spell every name.

  • Put the period on al., never on et. Et is a complete word.
  • Do not italicize "et al." in APA, MLA, or Chicago parenthetical citations or reference entries. Italicize it only when you are talking about the term itself — the MLA Style Center sentence quoted above.
  • Keep it lowercase in a parenthetical citation. Capitalize only when it starts a sentence — a shape APA and Chicago try to avoid by writing the names into the sentence.
  • Do not write "et. al.", "et al", or "and al."
  • In MLA running prose, prefer "and others" or "and colleagues" and reserve "et al." for the works-cited entry and the parenthetical citation.

The three cutoffs at a glance

Chicago 18 changed both cutoffs. Guides that still say "list three authors in a note" or "list ten in the bibliography" are describing the 17th edition. CMOS What's New, quoting the manual, places the live rule at §§13.23 (notes and bibliography) and 13.107 (author-date). Widener's CMOS 18 digest restates the same pair. The Notes and Bibliography and Author-Date Quick Guides repeat it on the journal-article examples.

In-text citation or note: how many names appear before et al.
Authors on the sourceAPA 7 in-textMLA 9 parentheticalChicago 18 note or author-date
1(Luna, 2020)(Luna 15)(Luna 2020, 15)
2(Salas & D'Agostino, 2020)(Dorris and Erdrich 24)(Binder and Kidder 2022, 117–18)
3 or more(Martin et al., 2020) from the first citation(Burdick et al. 42)First name + et al. (no comma before et al.)
Reference list, works cited, or bibliography: how many names are written out.
Authors on the sourceAPA 7 referenceMLA 9 works citedChicago 18 bibliography or reference list
1–2List every nameList every nameList every name
3–6List every name (through 20)First name, et al.List every name
7–20List every nameFirst name, et al.First three names, et al.
21 or moreFirst 19, spaced ellipsis, final name. No ampersand. No et al.First name, et al.First three names, et al.

APA 7: list generously, cite briefly

APA 7 split the old 3–5-author first-citation rule. The author–date page states the in-text law in one sentence, quoted above: three or more authors become first author plus et al. in every citation, including the first. Listing Smith, Jones, and Brown "the first time" is APA 6.

In-text citations

  • One author: every citation names that author — (Luna, 2020) or Luna (2020).
  • Two authors: every citation names both. Use & in parentheses and and in the sentence: (Salas & D'Agostino, 2020); Salas and D'Agostino (2020).
  • Three or more: first author + et al. from the first mention. Do not list all five names "the first time."
  • Group author with a familiar abbreviation: first citation (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020); later citations (NIMH, 2020).

Those parenthetical patterns are APA's own table on the author–date page, not invented names. Pair them with a page or paragraph locator when you quote.

Reference-list entries

Et al. does not appear in an APA reference. The elements of reference list entries page and the Creating an APA Style reference list handout agree: invert every personal name, keep source order, and use a comma plus an ampersand before the last of two to 20 names. For 21 or more, write the first 19, a spaced ellipsis (. . .), and the final name — no ampersand, no et al.

Two authors

This is the two-author journal example from APA's journal article references page, the same McCauley and Christiansen line locked on the APA journal guide.

McCauley and Christiansen (2019)

Reference

McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126

Parenthetical

(McCauley & Christiansen, 2019)

Narrative

McCauley and Christiansen (2019)

Three to twenty authors

The 3 March 2026 Common Reference Examples Guide now leads with a four-author journal article: Niepel, Hausen, Weber, and Möller (2025). List all four in the reference. The in-text form is Niepel et al. on the first use and every later use. APA's older five-author storybook paper, Grady and colleagues, remains the Style Center's worked example for the same cutoff.

Niepel, Hausen, Weber, and Möller (2025)

Reference, Common Reference Examples 3 March 2026

Niepel, C., Hausen, J. E., Weber, A. M., & Möller, J. (2025). Understanding mean-level and intraindividual variability in state academic self-concept: The role of students’ trait expectancies and values. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117(5), 772–788. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000946

Parenthetical

(Niepel et al., 2025)

Narrative

Niepel et al. (2025)

Grady, Her, Moreno, Perez, and Yelinek (2019)

Reference

Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185

Parenthetical

(Grady et al., 2019)

Narrative

Grady et al. (2019)

The same four-author cutoff appears on the current §10.2 book sample. Levenson, Jinich, Vaz, and Rousmaniere (2025) is an authored book, so the title is italic and there is no journal volume. The citation is still Levenson et al. from the first mention.

Levenson, Jinich, Vaz, and Rousmaniere (2025)

Reference, Common Reference Examples §10.2

Levenson, H., Jinich, S., Vaz, A., & Rousmaniere, T. (2025). Deliberate practice in emotionally focused couple therapy. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000436-000

In-text

(Levenson et al., 2025)

Twenty-one or more authors

The Publication Manual's own 21-author example is Kalnay and colleagues' NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. Nineteen names, a spaced ellipsis, then the final author. There is no ampersand and no et al. in that reference. The citation is still Kalnay et al.

Kalnay et al. (1996)

Reference

Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., . . . Joseph, D. (1996). The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 77(3), 437–471.

In-text

(Kalnay et al., 1996)

When two papers collapse to the same et al. form

APA 7 §8.18 is the exception students copy incorrectly from APA 6. If two works share a first author and a year, and both would become "Kapoor et al., 2017," you do not add a and b. Year letters mark identical author lists. Different coauthors stay different names. The same-year first-author page gives APA's own pair:

Spell names until the citations diverge

Kapoor, Bloom, Montez, et al. (2017)

Kapoor, Bloom, Zucker, et al. (2017)

When only the last name differs, et al. is illegal because it would stand for one person:

Hasan, Liang, Kahn, and Jones-Miller (2015); Hasan, Liang, Kahn, and Weintraub (2015)

That collision is an author-count problem, so it stays on this page. Two papers by the same author list in the same year — Smith 2020a and Smith 2020b — belong on same author, same year.

MLA 9: invert the first name only

MLA's author element is a container slot, not a mini-APA reference. Works Cited: A Quick Guide and the Style Center's two-author note give one inversion rule: reverse the first name, leave every later name in normal order, and stop after the first name once there are three or more authors.

Works-cited entries

Two authors take a comma and and so the second given name cannot be misread as part of the first surname. The MLA Style Center's own explanation of that comma uses Dorris and Erdrich:

Two authors — Dorris and Erdrich

Works cited

Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdrich. The Crown of Columbus. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

Parenthetical

(Dorris and Erdrich 24)

Narrative

Dorris and Erdrich describe the voyage (24).

Three or more authors are not an optional "list them all" choice in MLA 9. Name only the first author, a comma, and et al. The handbook's own example, repeated on the Style Center's et al. styling and comma-before-et-al. notes, is the five-author MIT Press book Digital_Humanities:

Three or more — Burdick and others

Works cited

Burdick, Anne, et al. Digital_Humanities. MIT P, 2012.

Parenthetical

(Burdick et al. 42)

Parenthetical citations versus running prose

MLA draws a line APA does not. Reserve et al. for the works-cited list and the parentheses. In the sentence, write the names or "Burdick and others." See the Ask the MLA note quoted above and the follow-up on same lead author, different coauthors.

Same source, two MLA surfaces

In the sentence

Burdick and others argue that design is a method of knowledge (42).

In parentheses

(Burdick et al. 42)

If two works-cited entries both begin "Taylor et al.," MLA still uses et al. in each entry. The Style Center's pedagogical pair distinguishes them with a short title, not by silently listing extra coauthors the way APA §8.18 does: (Taylor et al., "Collaboration") versus (Taylor et al., "Cowriting"). Those Taylor titles are the Style Center's teaching pair, not articles to retrieve.

Chicago 18: notes shortened earlier, lists shortened sooner

Choose the system first. Humanities courses usually want notes and a bibliography; many social-science courses want author-date. The author-count math is now the same in both systems for the short form, and it is no longer the Chicago 17 rule. CMOS 13.23 and 13.107: in a note or an author-date citation, list up to two authors; if there are more than two, give the first name plus et al. In the bibliography or reference list, list up to six authors; if there are more than six, list the first three plus et al.

The official citation guides state that journal rule in the sentence quoted above. What's New repeats it without the Dittmar example. There is no comma between the first surname and et al.

Notes and bibliography

Two-author books still name both people everywhere. This is the current CMOS Quick Guide pair — and Chicago 18 no longer wants a place of publication for a post-1900 book (14.30):

Two authors — Binder and Kidder

First note

1. Amy J. Binder and Jeffrey L. Kidder, The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today (University of Chicago Press, 2022), 117–18.

Shortened note

2. Binder and Kidder, Channels of Student Activism, 125.

Bibliography

Binder, Amy J., and Jeffrey L. Kidder. The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today. University of Chicago Press, 2022.

Two editors follow the same two-name rule. The live Quick Guide collection is Marks and Parkin; Doyle is the chapter inside it. Chapter page spans belong in Chicago notes, not in the bibliography entry for the chapter (14.8).

Two editors — Marks and Parkin

Note for the whole book

1. P. J. M. Marks and Stephen Parkin, eds., The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World's Greatest Invention (University of Chicago Press, 2023).

Shortened note

2. Marks and Parkin, Book by Design.

Bibliography

Marks, P. J. M., and Stephen Parkin, eds. The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World's Greatest Invention. University of Chicago Press, 2023.

Three authors are the CMOS 18 trap. The bibliography still lists all three. The note does not. The Quick Guide does not reprint a three-author book, so use this labelled template rather than a guessed page number:

Three-author template — note shortens, bibliography does not

Note

3. First Name Last Name et al., Title of Book (Publisher, Year), Page.

Shortened note

4. Last Name et al., Short Title, Page.

Bibliography

Last Name, First Name, First Name Last Name, and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

More than six authors trigger et al. in the bibliography as well. The CMOS guides illustrate the pattern with Carl D. Snyder and six colleagues in PLOS ONE — seven authors, so the bibliography keeps the first three plus et al. and uses an article ID instead of a page span (14.71). A note may still cite a PDF page.

More than six authors — official Snyder sample

Note

7. Carl D. Snyder et al., “Extant Life Detection Using Label-Free Video Microscopy in Analog Aquatic Environments,” PLOS ONE 20, no. 3 (2025): 9–10, e0318239, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318239.

Shortened note

8. Snyder et al., “Extant Life Detection,” 12.

Bibliography

Snyder, Carl D., Manuel Bedrossian, Casey Barr, et al. “Extant Life Detection Using Label-Free Video Microscopy in Analog Aquatic Environments.” PLOS ONE 20, no. 3 (2025): e0318239. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318239.

Author-date

Author-date uses the same short-form cutoff as the note: two names, then et al. The reference-list cutoff matches the bibliography. The official two-author journal pair is Dittmar and Schemske; Snyder is the more-than-six case. The Author-Date Quick Guide restates the journal rule with "reference list" and "in the text" in place of "bibliography" and "note."

Chicago author-date

Two authors in the text

(Dittmar and Schemske 2023, 480)

Two-author reference

Dittmar, Emily L., and Douglas W. Schemske. 2023. “Temporal Variation in Selection Influences Microgeographic Local Adaptation.” American Naturalist 202 (4): 471–85. https://doi.org/10.1086/725865.

Two-author book in the text

(Binder and Kidder 2022, 117–18)

Two editors in the text

(Marks and Parkin 2023)

More than six in the text

(Snyder et al. 2025, 9–10)

More than six in the reference list

Snyder, Carl D., Manuel Bedrossian, Casey Barr, et al. 2025. “Extant Life Detection Using Label-Free Video Microscopy in Analog Aquatic Environments.” PLOS ONE 20 (3): e0318239. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318239.

Editors, group authors, and name order

Editors follow the same count

An edited book does not get a private author-count system. Apply the same 2 / 3+ / 21+ (APA), 2 / 3+ (MLA), or 2 / 3–6 / 7+ (Chicago) thresholds, then mark the role. APA uses (Ed.) or (Eds.) after the names. MLA uses editor or editors after the name element. Chicago uses ed. or eds. in a bibliography and usually folds the editors into the note after the title when you are citing a chapter instead of the whole book.

The current APA §10.3 sample is a three-author chapter inside a two-editor book. List Zeleke, Hughes, and Drozda in the reference; cite Zeleke et al. in the text. The editors stay Maykel and Bray, joined with an ampersand.

Three chapter authors, two editors — Zeleke, Hughes, and Drozda

Zeleke, W. A., Hughes, T. L., & Drozda, N. (2020). Home–school collaboration to promote mind–body health. In C. Maykel & M. A. Bray (Eds.), Promoting mind–body health in schools: Interventions for mental health professionals (pp. 11–26). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000157-002

In-text

(Zeleke et al., 2020)

Group authors are one author

A task force, agency, or university is one author, even when twenty people wrote the report. Do not convert the staff list into et al. APA's own group-author row is (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020) on first use. MLA and Chicago write the organization's name as it appears and do not invent a personal first author. If the cover truly has no author, that is the no-author guide, not a multi-author problem. If the byline is only the organization, use the group-author guide.

Do not invert an Eastern-order name

Chicago 18 §13.75 is the clearest public statement: when a name is already family-name-first, leave it in that order in the bibliography and do not add a comma as if you had inverted a Western name. The citation guide's translated-book example is Liu Xinwu, referred to as Liu in the shortened note. The same courtesy belongs in APA and MLA when the source itself presents the name in Eastern order. Guessing a "first name" so you can invert it is how Liu becomes a different person.

Mistakes that point at the wrong paper

  • Alphabetizing the byline. Credit order is evidence. Resorting it is a silent rewrite of the source.
  • Using APA 6 on an APA 7 paper. Three authors are et al. from citation one.
  • Putting et al. in an APA reference. The reference lists names or uses a spaced ellipsis. It never uses et al.
  • Writing an ampersand after the APA ellipsis. The handout forbids it: first 19, . . ., final name.
  • Listing all three authors in a Chicago 18 note. That is Chicago 17. Three or more authors become first-name et al. in the note.
  • Keeping a place of publication on a CMOS 18 book. Post-1900 books cite the publisher, not "New York: Academic Press."
  • Inverting every MLA name. Only the first author is Last, First. The second is First Last.
  • Dropping et al. into an MLA sentence. Write "Burdick and others" in prose; keep "Burdick et al." for the parentheses and the works-cited line.
  • Using et al. for one remaining name. APA §8.18: Hasan, Liang, Kahn, and Weintraub — not Hasan, Liang, Kahn, et al.
  • Using & in MLA or Chicago. Those styles use and. The ampersand is an APA parenthetical and reference-list mark.
  • Treating a group author as a list of staff. One organization is one author.
  • Adding 2017a and 2017b to Kapoor pairs. Year letters mark identical author lists. Different coauthors stay different names.

Official rules and further reading

The examples above are the handbooks' own illustrations, the 3 March 2026 Common Reference Examples samples, or, for the three-author Chicago book, an explicit template. The Taylor "Collaboration" / "Cowriting" pair is the MLA Style Center's teaching pair. Follow the primary pages when a department still posts a Chicago 17 handout.

Check the cutoff, then build the citation

Use the et al. calculator when you already know the style and the author count. Use the in-text generator when you need the parenthetical form next to a quotation.

Et al. calculatorIn-text citation generator

Frequently asked questions

When do I use et al. in APA 7?
In every in-text citation of a work with three or more authors, including the first citation: (Niepel et al., 2025) or (Grady et al., 2019). Do not put et al. in the reference list. List up to 20 names there; for 21 or more, list the first 19, a spaced ellipsis, and the final name.
Do I list all authors the first time I cite a source in APA?
No. That was APA 6 for three to five authors. APA 7 uses first author plus et al. from the first citation whenever there are three or more authors. Two authors are still named every time.
How do I cite two authors in MLA?
Invert only the first name, then add a comma, and, and the second name in normal order: Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdrich. The parenthetical names both surnames with and: (Dorris and Erdrich 24). Do not use an ampersand and do not use et al. for two authors.
Can I list every author in an MLA works-cited entry for three or more authors?
No. MLA 9 names the first author, then et al.: Burdick, Anne, et al. Listing everyone was a common classroom workaround, not the current handbook form. In a sentence, write "Burdick and others," not "Burdick et al."
Did Chicago 18 change the et al. rule?
Yes. Notes and author-date citations now use et al. for three or more authors (Chicago 17 waited until four). Bibliographies and reference lists now list up to six authors and, after that, the first three plus et al. (Chicago 17 listed up to ten). CMOS What's New states both cutoffs at §§13.23 and 13.107. Place of publication is also gone from post-1900 books.
Is there a comma before et al. in Chicago?
No. CMOS writes "Snyder et al.," not "Snyder, et al." APA and MLA also omit that extra comma: (Grady et al., 2019), (Burdick et al. 42).
What if two APA papers both become Kapoor et al., 2017?
Do not add 2017a and 2017b unless the author lists are identical. Write out names until the citations differ — Kapoor, Bloom, Montez, et al. (2017) versus Kapoor, Bloom, Zucker, et al. (2017). If only the last author differs, spell every name because et al. cannot stand for one person.
Do I alphabetize multiple authors?
Never. Keep the order printed on the source. Alphabetizing is how you sort the finished reference list by the first author's surname, not how you rewrite a byline.
How do I cite 21 authors in APA?
In the reference, list the first 19 names, insert a spaced ellipsis (. . .), and end with the final author. Do not use an ampersand and do not use et al. in that entry. In the text, cite (Kalnay et al., 1996).
Is et al. italicized?
No. APA, MLA, and Chicago all set et al. in roman type in citations and reference entries. The MLA Style Center italicizes the term only when talking about the abbreviation itself. The period after al. is required because al. is an abbreviation; et is a full word and takes no period.