Author Names
General Rules..........................R15.1
Institutional Abbreviations.............T6
Geographical Terms....................T10
Footnotes: name in small caps typeface
Textual Sentence: name in regular typeface
This guide is currently being updated to reflect the recent changes made in The Bluebook (20th edition). Please be aware that pages containing this notice may contain out-of-date information.
The author is indicated at the beginning of the citation in small caps typeface. Some general rules are given below:
Individual Author - Give the author's full name as it appears on the publication, including any suffix such as "Jr." but omitting titles such as "Dr." or "Prof."
Two Authors - List the authors' names in the order they appear on the title page, separated by an ampersand
More than Two Authors - Either use the first author's name followed by "ET AL." or list all of the names.
Institutional Authors - Include the institution's full name, abbreviating according to Table 6 and Table 10 if the result is unambiguous.
Individual on Behalf of Institution - Use the individual's name and then the institution's name, separated by a comma.
What should you abbreviate when naming an author?
Using "et al." to indicate multiple authors is preferred in both full and short form citations to save space. However, all authors may be listed if the names are particularly relevant.