Now, what if you have a book by Taylor, Swift, and the entire Avengers cast? You get a shortcut. List only the first author’s name, then add a comma and “et al.” That’s Latin for “and others,” but in MLA land, it just means “we’re not typing twelve names, thanks.” So it’s: Taylor, Swift, et al. Boom. Done.
Wait—do you italicize “et al.”? Nope. Just plain text, no italics. And yes, you need a period after “al” because it’s an abbreviation. I didn’t make the rules, I just drink coffee and complain about them.
