Welcome to a new series here on the PERRLA Blog we’re calling “APA Obscura,” where we’ll dive into some of the lesser known (but no less important) rules of the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.

For the first installment of APA Obscura, we’re going to take a closer look at what you should do when the material you plan to cite in your paper has a ton of authors – and by a ton, we mean more than enough to fill an entire NBA roster (and then some).

The APA 7th Edition simplifies things a bit from the 6th Edition by breaking groups of authors into two camps instead of three: works with less than 21 authors (1-20 authors) and works with 21 or more authors (21+). 

Less than 21 Authors

First, if your reference includes 20 or fewer authors, include them all, just as you would with any APA  reference. That means 20 sets of initials and surnames with an ampersand (“&”) between the final two authors, like this:

Onesome, A., Twoman, B., Threebell, S., Fourth, G., Fiveinger, H., Sixton, B., Sevenheim, E., Eightburg, O., Nineolamew, C., Tenville, B., Elevensom, E., Twelvecaprio, S., Thirteeninstein, T., Fourteenstein, J., Fifteenion, H., Sixteenenstein, A., Seventeenville, N., Eighteenson, B., Ninteteenstone, S., & Twentyone, C. (2025). Conducting research with a large team. Journal of Troupes, 14(4), 17–22. https://doi.org/10.12345

To avoid ridiculously long citations in the body of your paper, the APA allows the use of the Latin et al., meaning “and others,” when citing the above reference, so it would look like this:  “(Onesome et al., 2025)”.

21 or more authors

If more than 21 authors contributed to the work you’re citing, then your reference should only include the first 19 authors’ names, followed by an ellipsis (no ampersand), and then the final author’s name.

As an example let’s add four authors to our original reference, bringing the total to 24 authors. According to chapter nine of the APA 7 manual, the reference would then look like this:

Onesome, A., Twoman, B., Threebell, S., Fourth, G., Fiveinger, H., Sixton, B., Sevenheim, E., Eightburg, O., Nineolamew, C., Tenville, B., Elevensom, E., Twelvecaprio, S., Thirteeninstein, T., Fourteenstein, J., Fifteenion, H., Sixteenenstein, A., Seventeenville, N., Eighteenson, B., Ninteteenstone, S.,...Twentyfourinson, S. (2025). Conducting research with a large team. Journal of Troupes, 14(4), 17–22. https://doi.org/10.12345

The citation for this reference would remain the same as before, again making use of et al.: “(Onesome et al., 2025)”.

It can seem a bit confusing at first, but knowing the rule doesn’t change until the reference surpasses 20 authors is helpful. 

If you’re using PERRLA, you won’t have to remember this obscure rule at all! In fact, both of the example references and citations above were created using PERRLA.

Until next time, good writing! Remember, PERRLA has your formatting covered (even the obscure stuff).