How to cite the works of more than one author or editor in your essay? MLA format citation guidelines prescribe clear rules to follow.
Whatever MLA in-text citation website you visit, you’ll find examples with explanations. The MLA 8 Handbook also describes all the guidelines in detail. This page gathers all that information in one place.
In this post, I’ll show you how to cite multiple authors in MLA format, both in text and bibliography. Let’s learn what to do with the works of two and three authors and when to use “et al.”
Bonus:
How to Cite an Article With Multiple Authors – MLA
| One author | Two authors | Three or more authors |
| Last Name, First Name + Work Title + Publisher + Publication Date + Format Example: Kelly, Ursula. Despite this Loss: Essays on Culture, Memory and Identity in Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John’s: Iser, 2000. Print. | Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. + Work Title + Publisher + Publication Date + Format Example: Kelly, Ursula, and Elizabeth Yeoman. Despite this Loss: Essays on Culture, Memory and Identity in Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John’s: Iser, 2000. Print. | Last Name, First Name, et al. + Work Title + Publisher + Publication Date + Format Example: Kelly, Ursula, et al. Despite this Loss: Essays on Culture, Memory and Identity in Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John’s: Iser, 2000. Print. |
Let’s start with what to do with your works cited list.
For sources with two or three authors or editors, include all their names in the order in which they appear. Reverse only the first author’s name: Place their last name first. The following creators have their names written in a traditional way: First Name + Last Name. (1)
Separate the authors’ names by commas and ensure you spell out the word “and” before the last name. Please do not use any symbols for this conjunction. If the individuals you quote are editors, add “eds.” after the final name in the list.
Like this:
| Kelly, Ursula, and Elizabeth Yeoman, eds. Despite this Loss: Essays on Culture, Memory and Identity in Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John’s: Iser, 2000. Print. |
Please look at the example again: The article’s title goes in italics. The same rule works for those asking how to cite a book MLA: The book’s title will be in italics in your works cited list.
Now, let’s see what to do when you have a text of more than three creators.
If a source has more than three authors or editors, mention only the first person’s name, followed by the “et al.” (It means “and others” in Latin.)
| De Wolf, Gaelan Dodds, et al. Gage Canadian Dictionary. Toronto: Gage, 1997. Print. |
It’s also possible to list all the names in your reference sentence. It’s your choice.
When citing online magazine articles or web pages, add the URL and the date when you accessed that page:
In-Text Citation With Multiple Authors
| One author | Two authors | Three or more authors |
| (Moore 37) | (Moore and Patel 37) | (Moore et al. 37) |
Here’s how to cite multiple authors in text MLA:
Include all authors’ last names each time you reference a source, along with a page number. No commas are necessary after the names or “et al.”
How you cite sources in your essay depends on how you choose to cite them in your bibliography. If you used “et al.” in your works cited list, you’ll use “et al.” in-text. If you include all the authors’ names to format the works cited list, then list all authors’ last names in-text.
MLA citation of several authors is parenthetical citation (2):
When citing one creator, we mention their last name and page number in parentheses. For works of two writers, do the same but include both last names connected by “and” and followed by the page number. Please note there’s no comma before the page number:
- (Johnson and Smith 77)
For citations of three or more writers, include the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” and the page number. No commas here, too:
- (Johnson et al. 25)
Two ways you can place in-text citations of several creators in your sentence:
- According to Johnson et al., “Current agricultural policies contribute to the poor health of Americans.” (25)
- The authors claim that government-funded farm subsidies are among the causes of obesity in the USA. (Johnson et al. 25)
MLA Format With Multiple Authors
MLA citation of multiple authors is not that challenging to master:
- Use parentheses and avoid commas when citing in-text.
- Reverse the first writer’s name and add “et al.” when citing in bibliographies. Remember to italicize the work’s title.
Feel free to use all the examples from this post as references when citing many authors in MLA format. Questions left? I’m all ears in the comments!
References:
That’s what I was looking for! Please keep writing article like this; I need rules and examples like this to improve my essays. Thank you.