Fertilizer and other agricultural waste pouring into the Gulf of Mexico creates a larger and larger patch of lifeless ocean each year. Finally, the EPA has a plan of attack. Is it enough?
The abbreviation et al. means and others. It is most often used when a work you are citing in your paper has multiple authors. When a work has two authors, cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text.
For the second reference, the two remaining names can be abbreviated to et al. A Quirk of Et Al. Finally, be careful of a quirk of et al., which is that it is pluralâthat is, it must replace at least two names (or, put another way, it cannot stand for only one name).