PSY 360: Psychopathology

When do I use et al.?

The phrase et al. is Latin for and others.  For articles with long lists of authors, it can help make both the in-text citations a bit less complicated.

Here's when to use it:

References page

  • It's not used on the references page. There's a different way to list lots of authors on the references page.

In-text citations

Number of authors First in-text citation Subsequent in-text citation
One or two Palmer & Roy, 2008 Palmer & Roy, 2008
Three, four, or five Sharp, Aarons, Wittenberg, & Gittens, 2007 Sharp et al., 2007
Six or more Mendelsohn et al., 2010 Mendelsohn et al., 2010

Note that there is no comma BEFORE the et al., but there is one after the period to separate it from the date.

(The chart is from the APA Style blog.)

Citing the DSM

DSM-5

References page
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

In-text citations
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013).  

When do I use a block quote?

If your quote is more than 40 words, format it using a block quote.  Here's how:

  • Start the quotation on a new line.
  • Indent the entire block 1/2 inch from the left margin.
  • Use double-spacing throughout. 
  • Do not enclose in quotation marks.
  • Put the parenthetical citation after the closing period.  

For example, 

           For over a century, the American public has debated what it means to be insane. The question appears throughout our history, including in the famous case of Charles Guiteau who shot President James Garfield in 1881.  The United States based its definition on a rule from the British courts, yet the public found little solace in that decision:

The M'Naghten Rule, while quickly adopted in the United States as well as in England, did little to improve the reputation of the insanity defense. In America, it became known as the "insanity dodge," the refuge not of the mad but of the guilty. Celebrity cases only made matters worse.  In 1859, Congressman Daniel Edgar Sickles was found guilty by reason of temporary insanity after shooting to death Philip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Thirteen years later, Edward Stokes, the man who murdered James Fisk used the same defense and spent only four years in prison. (Millard, 2011, p. 174)