Must FixCitationFound in 2-3% of dissertations

Et Al. Format: The Two-Character Fix That Signals You Know APA

Appears in 2-3% of dissertations. A misplaced period in "et al." tells your committee you haven't mastered the basics of APA formatting.

FIX

Change to "et al." with period after "al" only.

What This Issue Is

"Et al." is short for "et alia," Latin for "and others." In APA 7th edition, you use it for works with three or more authors starting from the very first citation. The period goes after "al" (because it's an abbreviation of "alia"), and a comma follows before the year: (Johnson et al., 2023).

This sounds trivial, and it is—which is exactly why getting it wrong stands out. Committee members and form-and-style reviewers see thousands of citations. "Et. al" (period after "et"), "et al" (no period), and "et. al." (periods after both words) are all wrong, and they jump off the page to anyone who reviews dissertations regularly.

The APA 7th edition simplified the et al. rule significantly compared to APA 6th. In APA 6, you had to spell out all authors up to five on first citation, then switch to et al. Now, it's straightforward: three or more authors means et al. from the start. No exceptions, no counting citations, no switching between formats mid-paper.

Why Your Committee Flags It

Incorrect Latin abbreviation formatting is a common APA error chairs notice immediately.

Before & After Examples

Before

(Johnson et. al, 2023)

After

(Johnson et al., 2023)

Period goes after "al" only, not after "et." Comma after et al. in parenthetical.

Before

Johnson et. al (2023) found significant differences.

After

Johnson et al. (2023) found significant differences.

APA 7th: Use et al. from the first citation when there are 3+ authors.

Before

(Smith, Jones, Williams, & Lee, 2022)

After

(Smith et al., 2022)

In narrative citations with 3+ authors, et al. also applies from the first use.

Before

According to Roberts, Chen, and Patel (2021), the intervention was effective.

After

According to Roberts et al. (2021), the intervention was effective.

Self-Check Checklist

Tap each item as you review your chapter.

Related Checks

Must Fix

Citation Format (comma required)

5-10% of dissertations

Should Fix

Ampersand Usage (& in parentheses)

2-4% of dissertations

Should Fix

Citation Name Consistency

2-5% of dissertations

Should Fix

Period Before Citation

2-4% of dissertations

Should Fix

Numbers Under Ten (spell out)

1-2% of dissertations

Frequently Asked Questions

Use et al. for any work with three or more authors, starting from the very first citation of that work. This is simpler than APA 6th edition, which required listing all authors (up to five) on first citation. In APA 7th, it's always: first author's last name + et al. + year.
No. The period goes only after "al." because "al." is an abbreviation of "alia" (Latin for "others"). "Et" is a complete Latin word meaning "and" and takes no period. The correct format is always: et al. (space between "et" and "al.", period only after "al.").
Yes. In parenthetical citations: (Smith et al., 2023). In narrative citations, the year is in its own parentheses: Smith et al. (2023). The comma between et al. and the year in parenthetical citations is required by APA.
If two references with different author groups shorten to the same et al. form (e.g., both become "Smith et al., 2020"), include as many author names as needed to distinguish them: (Smith, Jones, et al., 2020) vs. (Smith, Lee, et al., 2020). This is the one exception to the standard et al. rule.

Sources

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