How to Cite Multiple Authors in MLA

MLA handles multiple authors with a single simple rule: name both authors for a two-author work, and for a work with three or more authors, name only the first author followed by et al. — Latin for "and others." That one rule covers every in-text citation and the matching Works Cited entries.

MLA Citation With Two Authors

For a source written by two authors, list both last names in the parenthetical citation, joined by the word and — never an ampersand (&) or plus sign:

In a narrative citation, name both authors in the sentence and put only the page number in parentheses:

In the Works Cited list, reverse the second author's name and add "and" before it:

MLA Citation With Three or More Authors

When a source has three or more authors, cite only the first author's last name followed by et al. This has been the MLA rule since the 8th edition — you do not list all three names in the citation.

In a narrative citation:

Notice the punctuation in et al.: no period after et, a period after al. — et al. — and no comma before it. The corresponding Works Cited entry follows the same pattern, naming the first author and then et al.:

A Note on Naming Everyone the First Time

In the prose of your paper, you have an option: the first time you mention a source with three or more authors, you may list every author's full name in the sentence, or write the first author's name followed by "and colleagues" / "and others." After that initial mention, switch to the standard first author + et al. pattern. This is a stylistic choice in the sentence itself; the parenthetical citation is always first author + et al.

Two Authors With the Same Last Name

A related but different situation: when two different authors share a last name, add their first initials so the reader can tell them apart:

If the two authors also share the same initial, use their full first names instead. This rule applies to any pair of people with the same surname, not just co-authors of one work.

Multiple Authors With No Page Number

The author rules above do not change when a source has no page numbers — you simply drop the locator:

See MLA citation without page number for the full unpaginated-source rules.

Multiple Authors Below the Author Element

Sometimes an editor, translator, or director is listed alongside authors. MLA is flexible: whoever your citation leads with is determined by what appears first in the Works Cited entry. If you cite a film by its directors, you write, for example, (Wachowski and Tykwer); a translated book by its translators works the same way. The "both authors" / "et al." logic applies to whatever creator set you lead with.

Examples at a Glance

Expanding the Rules: Editors, Translators, and Corporations

The two-authors / three-or-more split applies to any creator set you lead with, not just writers. A co-edited anthology, a film with two directors, or a report by a committee follow the same logic:

And when an organization co-authors a work with named authors, the entity on the source is what you cite. For the group-author case itself, see MLA citation with an organization as author.

A Decision Quick-Reference

Save this table beside you while drafting: author count decides everything, and the rest is punctuation.

The Corresponding Works Cited Entries

The author count shapes the Works Cited record exactly as it shapes the in-text citation. For two authors, both appear, connected by the conjunctive "and":

For three or more authors, list only the first author as it appears on the source, followed by ", et al." — the same et al. you use in the parenthetical:

Note two consequences: the Works Cited entry never shows the full author list once it passes two, and because the entry opens with "Franck, Caroline," the in-text (Franck et al. 327) matches it exactly. If an instructor requires the full author list, format it as the source appears — but MLA 9's default is et al. in both places.

Multiple Works by the Same Author Pair

If your paper cites two or more works by the same pair (or trio) of authors, the in-text citation needs to say which work you mean — otherwise the reader cannot tell which of the pair's books the page number came from. After the first mention of the authors in the sentence, add a shortened title:

With three or more authors, the shortened title follows the et al. as usual: (Grant et al., Rivers of Power 32). The technique is identical whether you are working with two authors or many — see the dedicated guide to the same author rule for the title-shortening and works-cited record conventions.

Common Mistakes

• Using an ampersand (Best and Marcus → "Best & Marcus") — MLA spells out and.
• Writing "et. al." with a period after et — correct is et al.
• Listing all three names for a three-author source — MLA 9 uses first author + et al.
• Adding a comma before et al. in a parenthetical citation.
• Writing the Works Cited entry differently from the in-text lead — both must start with the first author's name.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I use "and" or an ampersand in an MLA multi-author citation?

Always "and." The ampersand is an APA convention; MLA spells out the word in both in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

What about a source with exactly three authors?

Three authors counts as "three or more," so the citation is the first author's last name plus et al. — for example, (Sloan et al. 14).

How do I cite a source with two authors and the same last name?

This falls under the same-surname rule: add first initials, e.g., (J. Smith and T. Smith 23). If they share initials, use full first names.

When a source has multiple authors, which name leads the Works Cited entry?

The author listed first on the source. Only that name is reversed (last name, first name); the second author appears in normal order after "and."