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How to Cite Multiple Authors and Save Yourself From Plagiarism?

There are certain confusions regarding “how to cite an article with multiple authors.” What are those? Well, suppose the first two authors are similar but share different topics, now what to do? To omit this kind of confusion while enlisting the blog post’s referencing lists, we need to read further.

Blog posts do follow the same procedure as journals and research papers. In the same way as the titles of the journals are italicized, the blogs are italicized here. It helps in referencing and also omits much confusion.

Even quotation marks are used in any common phrase or words that are used to avoid plagiarism. Now let see how to cite articles with multiple authors:

How to Cite Multiple Authors?

Before proceeding, we need to know how to cite multiple authors on a single topic? The following steps turn to be helpful:

  • Citing two authors on a single topic of the blog post while referencing is very common today. In that regards, the in-texting needs to be like, “Thomas and Jones (2010) inferred . . .”
  • In the APA style of citations, if the three to five authors have done writing on the same topic, then the rule is different in this case. The last names of the authors are needed during the formulation of in-texting. Here, only the first author’s name is provided along with a Latin abbreviation usage, which is “et al.” for the other referencing. For instance, “Johnson, Smith, Jack, and Astor (2012) found that . . .” One can write this as “Johnson et al. (2010) described that . . .”
  • If we find more than five authors on the same topic, one needs to provide the last name of the first author and then add the Latin abbreviation et al. For example, “Chaves et al. (2007) describe the . . .”

Here mainly two styles of referencing have been discussed:

  • APA Style
  • MLA Style

How to Cite Multiple Authors APA

For the single author of any article, the last name of the first author is used. We have often seen that two authors, or even more than two authors, have worked on the same topic. So while doing APA citations,it is necessary to separate the authors’ names with the help of an ampersand (&) or simple “and” while proceeding with the citation.

Moreover, if there are more than three authors, the Latin abbreviation “et al.” is used along with the first author’s last name. It is also essential to know that in et al., “et” does not follow any period, whereas, in the case of “al,” a period is followed.

One mainly writes this when multiple numbers of authors have worked on the same topic. Instead of providing all the author’s names, it is better to write “et al.” This helps avoid ambiguity. 

Why One Uses “et al.”?

As “et al.” stands to be plural, this consists of more than a single author. Thus, one writes et al., with the name of a single author.

What if the writer is unknown, but he or she has done an elaborative work? In this regard, one uses the title or the name of the book or the journal. It is followed up with the publication date of the work as well. Here the term “Anonymous” is used as per APA citation.

For example, “PETA, 2013 states that . . .” Even in some cases, the edition is also mentioned.

If the same author has done more than two topics, then the years are also mentioned along with the writer’s name.

For instance, Smith K. J. (n.d), Smith K. J. (2010) & Smith K. J. (2014)

Even the APA style of referencing the online article also gets the information about the articles’ publication date and day month year. It leads to easy referencing lists.

We have often seen that no page numbers on the web page. Therefore, data which has been collected through online articles, it is better not to mention the page numbers. The writer needs to mention the paragraph number to be on the safe side.

How to Cite Multiple Authors, MLA Style

In-texting citation through MLA style also follows the method of author-page. This method states that the author’s last name and the page numbers are required for the referencing. From this, the writer makes a paraphrase of the text. Also, a reference is needed to be given based on the “Works Cited Page.”

Well, how does the referencing appears? Here the referencing follows appears with the author’s name. Now the author’s name comes along with the sentence, which is stating the quotation. Although page number is not available in this sentence of the text, it is seen in parentheses.

For example,

Romantic poetry is featured by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” (Wordsworth 263)

From the example, it is understandable that the citation has been sourced from 263 pages of Wordsworth’s work, and this is how the reader gets information about the sources.

In the case of multiple authors, the last name of the text is required to be given. Instead of writing all the author’s names, the writer needs to add the author’s last name. Then just replace the other names and add et al.

Safeguard From Creating Plagiarized Content

The proper referencing also helps to deduct the numbers of plagiarism. Thus to avoid it, the write-up needs to follow plagiarism checker. While paraphrasing the text, paraphrasing tools are required to be used. Since multiple authors have already written on a similar topic, it is challenging to create original content.

Therefore to be on the safe side, before publicizing the same, one should go through a plagiarism test. The anti-plagiarism detects plagiarism and helps to find out the duplicate content. SEO checker goes through a check for plagiarism. Based on the plagiarism report, we determine similar content and can easily save ourselves from being plagiarized.

Before producing an article, the writer needs to cautious about plagiarism. Therefore it is necessary to have thorough research relating to the topic. Moreover, the writer needs to do proper referencing before publicizing it online.

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