Gulf of Mexico. 60 percent of the continental United States drains into the Gulf of Mexico. Since 1990, hurricanes and tropical storms have cost the region more than $100 billion in damages to homes and property and over 9,000 deaths. Coastal tourism and recreational activities employ over 620,000 people in the region, yielding over $9 billion in wages annually.
In citing such papers using the name-and-date system, also known as the Harvard system, a long string of names proves awkwardâwhich is why most journals recommend the use of et al., which is Latin for et alii or et aliae and means âand others.â.
2. Use et al. in academic writing to abbreviate a list of three or more authors after the first citation. Attribute the first author and then write et al. to denote that there are more authors in the works cited list. 1  For example, âMonroe et al., 2013.â Or âAccording to Monroe et al., the study foundâ¦â. 2  Include a list of all the authors in the first citation, unless the sources has six or more authors.