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Comments on What is the possessive form of et al.?

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What is the possessive form of et al.?

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When referring to a paper with multiple authors by using the name of the first author and "et al.", how does one indicate possession?

For example, is it correct to write, "Einstein et al.'s paper stated the opposite conclusion."

Some have suggested that rephrasing is the best option, but let's assume that is not an option (for whatever reason).

Another suggestion is to drop the Latin "et al." and use the English "and colleagues". However, again, I am interested in knowing how to use "et al." specifically.

Another suggestion put the 's with Einstein: Einstein's et al. paper. However, this seems incorrect to me.

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The abbreviation “et al.” is plural for “and others,” and it is almost certainly incorrect to make it possessive.

You should consider rewriting the sentence instead of making it possessive.

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Canina‭ wrote about 3 years ago

While we do allow self-answers, it's really rather strange to post a self-answer suggesting a solution that one's own question explicitly disallows.