Placing the Ellipsis: 22 Authors in a Master's Health Review

How do I format a 22‑author reference in APA 7th edition?

When you hit a source that lists more than twenty authors, the APA 7th‑edition manual gives a precise shortcut so your reference list stays readable without losing any credit. The rule is simple, but the placement of the ellipsis (the three‑dot series) is the part that trips many students up. Below you’ll find the exact sequence you need to follow, plus the surrounding considerations that keep your citation both compliant and safe from automated checks.

Terminology – the exact language the APA guide uses

The manual refers to this situation as “author‑list truncation.” The key terms you’ll see in the guide are:

• First 19 authors: the initial set of names you must write out in full.
• Ellipsis (three periods, no spaces): the placeholder that signals omitted authors.
• Final author: the very last name on the source, which you always include after the ellipsis.
• Ampersand (&): used before the final author when the list is presented in a parenthetical citation, but not in the reference entry itself.
• Period after ellipsis: the ellipsis is treated as a word, so you add a period to end the author segment before moving on to the publication year.

Understanding these labels helps you map the rule onto the actual reference you are building.

Technical dead end – common formatting pitfalls

Even if you know the rule, a few technical details can cause the reference to be flagged as non‑compliant by citation‑checking software or by a meticulous instructor.

• Do not insert a space between the three periods. The correct form is “…”, not “. . .”.
• Place a comma after the ellipsis only if the next element (the final author) is followed by a comma in the normal author list. In practice, the ellipsis is followed directly by a comma, then the final author’s name.
• Remember that the ellipsis replaces the omitted authors entirely; you do not add “et al.” in APA 7 for reference‑list entries.
• The year of publication follows the final author’s name, enclosed in parentheses, and is preceded by a period that ends the author segment.
• All author names are presented with surname first, then initials (e.g., Smith, J. A.). Do not add full first names.

Missing any of these tiny marks can turn a perfectly valid citation into a “formatting error” that your professor will ask you to fix.

Can I use the first 19 authors and then an ellipsis?

Yes. APA 7 explicitly states that for works with twenty‑two or more authors you should list the first nineteen, insert an ellipsis, and then add the final author’s name. The pattern looks like this:

Smith, J. A., Brown, L. M., Patel, R., Nguyen, T., Garcia, M., Lee, H., O’Connor, P., … Zhao, Y. L. (2020). Title of the article. Journal Name, 15(3), 123‑138. https://doi.org/xxxx

Notice the three‑dot series after the eighth author in this example (the ellipsis replaces authors #9 through #21). The final author, Zhao, appears after the ellipsis, followed immediately by the year in parentheses. The ellipsis itself is not followed by “et al.” or any other marker.

Integrity fear – how plagiarism‑checkers read long author lists

Automated similarity tools such as Turnitin or AI‑detectors scan the reference list for exact matches against their databases. When you truncate a list correctly, the software recognizes the pattern as a standard APA format and does not flag it as missing attribution. However, if you accidentally omit the final author or misplace the ellipsis, the tool may interpret the citation as incomplete, which could raise a “potential plagiarism” warning.

To stay on the safe side:

• Double‑check that the final author’s surname and initials match the source exactly.
• Ensure the ellipsis is three periods with no spaces; any deviation can break the pattern the detector expects.
• Keep a copy of the original source handy so you can verify the author order if a reviewer asks for it.

These steps protect you from inadvertent integrity alerts while still giving full credit to every contributor.

Time plan – a step‑by‑step checklist you can start tonight

1. Open the source’s reference page and copy the author line exactly as it appears.
2. Count the authors. If the total is 22 or more, note the position of the 19th author.
3. Write out the first 19 names in “Surname, Initial(s).” format, separating each with a comma.
4. Insert the ellipsis (three periods) directly after the 19th comma, without a space.
5. Add a comma after the ellipsis, then type the final author’s surname and initials.
6. Place a period after the final author’s name, then open parentheses for the year.
7. Complete the rest of the reference (title, journal, volume, pages, DOI) following standard APA rules.
8. Run the finished entry through a citation‑generator that supports APA 7 (e.g., Zotero, EndNote) to confirm spacing and punctuation.
9. Copy the generated reference into your manuscript’s reference list, double‑checking that the font, line spacing, and hanging indent match your department’s style sheet.
10. Run the document through your institution’s plagiarism checker; if the reference shows up as “matched,” verify that the ellipsis and final author are present.

Following this list takes less than fifteen minutes, and it gives you a clean, defensible citation ready for submission.

What if the source has more than 20 authors but fewer than 22?

The same rule applies to any work with twenty or more authors. Whether the total is twenty, twenty‑one, or twenty‑five, you still list the first nineteen, place the ellipsis, and then add the final author. The only difference is the number of names that disappear behind the ellipsis. For a twenty‑author article, the ellipsis replaces just one name; for a thirty‑author article, it replaces eleven.

Because the pattern does not change, you can use the same checklist above for any “twenty‑plus” author situation. The key is always to verify the exact count before you start truncating.

Summary table – quick reference for the 22‑author rule

By keeping these five checkpoints in mind, you can turn a daunting 22‑author source into a clean, APA‑compliant entry that satisfies both your professor and any automated review system. The decision is straightforward: follow the “first 19 + ellipsis + final author” pattern, watch the tiny punctuation details, and verify with a tool before you submit. Once you’ve checked each row of the table, you’ll know exactly what to type and why, and you can move on to polishing the rest of your literature review.

How does the in‑text citation change when a work lists 22 authors?

APA 7 simplifies the in‑text citation for sources with many contributors. Whether you are quoting directly or paraphrasing, you only need to list the first six authors followed by “et al.” The year follows the author list in parentheses, and the same format applies to both narrative and parenthetical citations.

Key points to keep straight:

• Use the exact spelling of each of the first six surnames, separated by commas, and add a comma before “et al.”
• Do not include initials in the in‑text citation; only surnames matter.
• If you are citing multiple works by the same first author in the same year, add a, b, c after the year (e.g., 2023a, 2023b).
• When the citation appears at the beginning of a sentence, the year still stays in parentheses after the author list.

For example, a student writing about a new telehealth algorithm might write:

Smith, Jones, Patel, Liu, García, and O’Neil et al. (2023) demonstrated that …

This approach keeps the citation concise while still giving credit to the collaborative nature of the work. If you ever doubt whether you have the correct number of names, count them on a separate sheet before you type the citation.

What pitfalls can arise when a reference manager auto‑generates the 19‑author‑ellipsis entry?

Many students rely on tools like Zotero, EndNote, or the citation feature in Microsoft Word. These programs are powerful, but they can misinterpret the APA 7 rule for sources with more than twenty authors. Below are the most common glitches and how to catch them before they become a grading issue.

1. Ellipsis length – Some managers insert a spaced ellipsis (“ … ”) or the Unicode character “…”. APA requires three period characters with no spaces. After the ellipsis, a comma must follow before the final author’s name.
2. Missing final author – The software may stop after the ellipsis, omitting the 22nd author entirely. Double‑check that the last name appears after the ellipsis and before the year.
3. Incorrect author order – If you imported the reference from a database that listed authors alphabetically, the manager might preserve that order instead of the original publication order. Verify the sequence against the article’s title page.
4. Year placement – Occasionally the year is placed immediately after the ellipsis without a period, creating “…2023”. The correct format is “…., 2023”.
5. Capitalization of surnames – Some tools capitalize only the first letter of each surname, which is fine, but they may also mistakenly capitalize particles like “de” or “van”. Keep the original styling from the source.

To safeguard against these errors, export the reference to a plain‑text document, then run a visual scan using the checklist in the previous table. If anything looks off, edit the entry manually; a few keystrokes now prevent a citation‑related comment later.

A night‑time action plan for locking in the correct reference format

When you’re wrapping up a literature review late in the evening, it’s easy to let details slip. The following step‑by‑step routine takes about fifteen minutes and ensures that the 22‑author entry is bullet‑proof.

1. Gather the source PDF or the journal’s website page. Keep it open on a second screen or printed out.
2. Copy the author line exactly as it appears, then paste it into a plain‑text editor. Count the names to confirm there are 22.
3. Manually construct the reference: write the first 19 surnames with initials, add “...,” (three periods, no spaces, then a comma), then type the 22nd author’s surname and initials.
4. Insert a period after the final author, then open parentheses for the year, close them, and continue with the title, journal, volume, issue, pages, and DOI as required.
5. Run the completed line through an online APA 7 validator (many university libraries host one). Note any flagged punctuation and correct it immediately.
6. Copy the verified reference into your master bibliography file. Use the “Find and Replace” function to ensure the same formatting (e.g., hanging indent) is applied throughout.
7. Finally, do a quick visual comparison between the reference in your bibliography and the original source’s citation page. If every character matches, you can close the document with confidence.

Following this concise plan reduces the chance of a last‑minute citation error and frees up mental bandwidth for polishing the narrative sections of your review. Once the reference list is clean, you’ll be able to focus on the substantive contribution of your work rather than worrying about formatting minutiae.