Heres Everything You Need to Know About Et Al.

Heres Everything You Need to Know About Et Al. Who speaks Latin anymore? Really, very few people do, however Latin phrases or abbreviations are abundant in English academic writing. Despite their initial confusion, they end up saving space and creating a more uniform format. So, if youve encountered one of these phrases- et al. for example- youll eventually find it useful in your academic research.Think of it like riding a bike: Once you understand the concept, the rest is easy!Et al. means and othersEt al. has come to represent three different Latin phrases, particularly et alia (neuter plural), et alii (masculine plural), and et aliae (feminine plural). The definition from Merriam-Webster is and others.Photo by Jordan Donaldson , the correct way to punctuate it is to include a period at the end. Since et means and, there is no reason to put a period following it. Also, there is no reason to put et al. in italics, even though it is a Latin phrase (mainly because it has been used in the English language for hundreds of years).A l ook at an exampleTo see how et al. is used in an academic work, lets take a look at a sample paper pulled from the APA (American Psychological Association) website.Looking back at page two in the paper, The effects of age in the detection of emotion, youll see the following citation:(Carretie, Hinojosa, Marin-Loeches, Mecado Tapia, 2004).This is the first reference to this particular study, which according to APA rules, must include all authors names when initially mentioned.Now, moving to page four, at the top of the page, we see the following group of citations:(Calvo Lang, 2004; Carretie et al., 2004; Juth, Lundqvist, Karlsson, Ohman, 2005; Nummenmaa et al., 2006).The mention of Carretie et al., 2004 is referring to the same study we saw cited on page two. The only difference is the fact that it is no longer being mentioned for the first time. Now, throughout the rest of the paper, the author can use et al. to refer to Carreties research writing partners without having to list all their names. The only exception is when listing it in the bibliography, works cited, or reference list- it must then include all authors names in the citation.More examplesAlthough et al. is mostly seen in academic writing contexts, it can also be used in less formal writing, while still maintaining the meaning and others. Here are some examples:Lets pack a picnic basket, with sandwiches, fruit, wine, cheese, et al.The loan officer wants paperwork turned in as soon as possible, including bank statements, tax documents, paycheck stubs, et al.Winter is finally here- ice, sleet, et al.