MLA In-Text Citation with Multiple Authors

In MLA in-text citations, the number of authors determines whether you list all names or use “et al.”

Two authors

List both authors’ last names, joined by and.

Three or more authors

List only the first author’s last name, followed by et al.

Not sure how this looks in a real MLA in-text citation?

Try the MLA Citation Generator.

MLA In-Text Citation Rules for Multiple Authors

Two authors: include both last names

When a source has two authors, MLA in-text citations include both authors’ last names.

Join the two names with the word and and place them inside the parentheses, followed by the page number if available.

MLA uses the word and, not an ampersand (&), in in-text citations.

Three or more authors: use the first author and “et al.”

For sources with three or more authors, MLA in-text citations list only the first author’s last name.

Follow the first author’s name with et al., which means “and others.”

Do not italicize et al., and include the period after al.

These rules apply to in-text citations only

The number of authors affects how names appear in MLA in-text citations, but it does not change the overall citation method.

The Works Cited entry follows standard MLA rules and usually lists all authors as required.

MLA In-Text Citation Examples for Multiple Authors

Use the examples below to see how MLA in-text citations appear in real sentences. Each set includes both parenthetical and narrative citation formats.

Two authors

MLA in-text citations include both authors’ last names when a source has two authors.

Parenthetical citation

The results were consistent across multiple studies (Walker and Allen 42).

Narrative citation

Walker and Allen found that the results were consistent across multiple studies (42).

Three or more authors

For works with three or more authors, MLA uses the first author’s last name followed by et al.

Parenthetical citation

The method was widely adopted in later research (Smith et al. 118).

Narrative citation

Smith et al. report that the method was widely adopted in later research (118).

Same source cited more than once

In MLA style, the author format stays the same each time you cite the same source.

Example (two authors)

The results were consistent across multiple studies (Walker and Allen 42). Later research reached similar conclusions (Walker and Allen 57).

Example (three or more authors)

The method was widely adopted in later research (Smith et al. 118). This pattern appears again in subsequent analyses (Smith et al. 130).

Citing multiple sources in one set of parentheses

When citing multiple works together, MLA lists citations alphabetically and separates them with semicolons.

Parenthetical citation

Several studies support this conclusion (Allen and Chen 64; Smith et al. 118; Walker and Allen 42).

Citing multiple works by the same first author

If multiple works share the same first author, MLA still uses the same in-text format and relies on titles in the Works Cited list for distinction.

Parenthetical citation

The approach has been tested across different contexts (Taylor et al. 91; Taylor et al. 104).

Narrative citation

Taylor et al. compare the approach across different contexts (91, 104).

Common Mistakes in MLA In-Text Citations for Multiple Authors

Using “et al.” for two authors

In MLA style, et al. is used only when a source has three or more authors. Sources with exactly two authors must list both authors’ last names.

Wrong

✕ (Walker et al. 42)

Correct

✓ (Walker and Allen 42)

Using an ampersand (&) instead of “and”

MLA in-text citations always use the word and between author names. Ampersands (&) are not used in MLA style.

Wrong

✕ (Walker & Allen 42)

Correct

✓ (Walker and Allen 42)

Including all author names for sources with three or more authors

When a source has three or more authors, MLA does not list every author in the in-text citation. Only the first author’s last name should appear, followed by et al.

Wrong

✕ (Smith, Johnson, and Lee 118)

Correct

✓ (Smith et al. 118)