Contents
Multiple Authors
- 2 Authors: Always cite both authors’ names in-text everytime you reference them. Example: Johnson and Smith (2009) found…
- 6 or More Authors: If a document has six or more authors, simply provide the last name of the first author with “et al.” from the first citation to the last. Example: Thomas et al.
The number of authors is unlimited in principal. There are publications with dozens if not hundreds of authors in large international multi-institutional projects. But in the last past years more and more journals have limited the number of co-authors. Typically the limitation is six authors.
The four main types of writing styles are persuasive, narrative, expository, and descriptive. In this blog post, we’ll briefly explore the defining features of these four writing styles. For more help using these writing styles, schedule an appointment at the GWC!
What is the maximum number of authors for a research paper?
Generally there is no specific limit for the number of authors in an article. But 5 is fairly acceptable. Every author who contributed on the paper should be added as co-author. So, there is no limit for the author’s number.
Is it bad to have a lot of authors on a paper?
Being single or multiple author in a research paper doesn’t affect anything or any’s credibility whether its related to impact factor or citation or any other thing.
When conducting research for a paper, it is not uncommon to find texts, journals and books written by more than one author. These texts often offer researchers compelling arguments from not just one scholar but many, providing students with a great wealth of knowledge and insight to a particular subject.
For APA, if there are only two authors, cite both each time; if there are between three and five, cite them all the first time then cite as “First et al., 2014” in subsequent citations; if there are six or more, use “et al.” every time. For IEEE, use of “et al.” begins at three authors, and you use “et al.”.
The guidelines for using “et al.” vary slightly among the three major formatting styles. MLA uses “et al.” for works with three or more authors, while Chicago calls for using it with four or more authors. APA format requires that you cite all of the authors at the first mention if there are three, four, or five, and use “et al.” afterward.
How to reference authors in APA format for more than 20 authors?
When There Are More Than 20 Authors When a work is credited to more than 20 authors, the reference is listed by providing the names of the first 19 authors followed by… and then the final author. The remainder of the reference follows the same format as that for 20 or fewer authors.