How to Cite an Article With Two Authors

To cite a journal article with two authors in APA 7th edition, list both authors in the reference entry, invert both names, and put an ampersand (&) before the second author: Smith, J., & Lee, K. (2023). Article title in sentence case. Journal Name, 12(3), 45–60. https://doi.org/… The rest of this guide names each element, shows labelled examples, and then compares how APA, MLA, Chicago 18th, Harvard and AMA treat the number of authors.

The same page also answers the related question, how to cite an article with multiple authors, because the two-author case is where each style first sets its rule for author names.

How to cite an article with two authors: the format

This is the APA 7th edition (2020) pattern for a journal article with a DOI, as set out in the APA Style reference guide (last updated March 23, 2026):

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Name of the Periodical, volume(issue), first page–last page. https://doi.org/xxxx

1. Both authors, surname first. Invert each name and separate initials with a space. The ampersand comes before the last author. For works with many authors, APA lists every name up to 20.
2. Year in parentheses, followed by a period.
3. Article title in sentence case, not italic. Only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns take capitals.
4. Periodical title in Title Case, italic.
5. Volume in italic, issue number not italic, with no space before the parenthesis.
6. Page range with an en dash and no spaces around it.
7. DOI as a https://doi.org/ link, with no period after it. APA says to include a DOI for every work that has one, and the older “DOI:” label is no longer used.

Examples

The first two entries below use invented authors and journals. They are examples of the pattern, not real publications.

Example 1: two authors, with DOI

Smith, J., & Lee, K. (2023). Effects of sample size on bias. Journal of Example Studies, 12(3), 45–60. https://doi.org/10.0000/example.123

Example 2: how the pattern grows with a third author

Smith, J., Lee, K., & Okafor, N. (2022). Reporting standards in example trials. Journal of Example Studies, 11(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.0000/example.456

The only change is a comma after the second author. The ampersand still precedes the final name.

Example 3: the official APA pattern with four authors

APA’s own reference examples (last updated March 3, 2026) show the same pattern for a real four-author article: Niepel, C., Hausen, J. E., Weber, A. M., & Möller, J. (2025). Understanding mean-level and intraindividual variability in state academic self-concept: The role of students’ trait expectancies and values. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117(5), 772–788. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000946

In-text citation version

An in-text citation gives the author or authors and the year, so the surnames must match the first words of the reference entry. For the APA form with two authors, read how to handle multiple authors in an APA in-text citation. APA’s checklist sets the contrast for larger groups: with three or more authors you give the first author’s surname plus “et al.” in every citation, including the first.

How the other styles treat two authors in running text:

Style	Two authors in text or notes	Three or more
MLA 9th	Both surnames joined by “and”, for example (Buurma and Heffernan)	See how to MLA-cite multiple authors
Chicago 18th	Notes and author-date text citations list up to two authors	First author plus “et al.” (CMOS 13.23, 13.107)
Harvard (Cite Them Right variant)	Both surnames joined by “and”, for example (Shah and Papadopoulos, 2015)	Three are all named; four or more use “et al.”
AMA 11th	Numbered superscripts in order of first appearance, so no names appear in text	Same numbering

How to cite an article with multiple authors

In the reference list

• APA 7: list every author up to and including 20, with an ampersand before the last. For 21 or more, list the first 19, an ellipsis (no ampersand), then the final author.
• Chicago 18: bibliography entries list up to six authors; with more than six, give the first three followed by “et al.”
• AMA (as applied in the JAMA author instructions): list up to six authors; with more than six, give the first three followed by “et al.”
• Harvard: thresholds depend on the variant. Newcastle University’s Cite Them Right sheet lists all authors unless there are more than ten; UCL’s own variant lists up to seven.

For the “et al.” question in reference lists, see et al. in references.

Reference-entry pattern in two other styles

Harvard (Cite Them Right variant, per the Open University quick guide and the Newcastle University 2025 style sheet): Surname, Initial. and Surname, Initial. (Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of Journal, volume(issue), pp. page range. Available at: DOI or URL. Invented example: Smith, J. and Lee, K. (2021) ‘Citation habits in fiction’, Journal of Example Studies, 12(3), pp. 45–60.

AMA (as shown in the JAMA instructions for authors): Authors. Title. Journal abbreviation. Year;Volume(Issue):pages. doi:xxxx. Invented example: Smith J, Doe A. Sample article title. JAMA. 2026;335(3):100-110. doi:10.0000/example.0000

Common errors

• Writing “and” instead of “&” in an APA reference entry. APA puts the ampersand before the last author in the reference list.
• Using “et al.” for two authors in APA. APA’s “et al.” from the first citation applies to three or more authors.
• Dropping the second author in Chicago notes. Chicago notes and author-date citations name up to two authors; only longer author lists shorten.
• Italicising the article title or the issue number in APA. The article title is sentence case and plain; the periodical title and volume are italic, the issue is not.
• A hyphen in the page range. APA uses an en dash.
• “DOI:” labels or a final period after the DOI link. The 7th edition drops the label, and no period follows the link.
• Applying one style’s rule to another. The ampersand in APA, “and” in MLA and Harvard text citations, and numbered references in AMA are not interchangeable.

For manuscripts and theses, the practical consequence is consistency: follow the style your target journal or institution specifies, and compare every two-author entry in the reference list with the matching in-text citation. For the wider picture of citing sources, see how to cite sources properly, and for books rather than articles, how to cite a book by two authors. Chicago users can continue with Chicago works cited.

Style-guide edition

As of 2026-10, the current editions are APA 7th (2020), MLA 9th (2021) and Chicago 18th (2024). The APA patterns above come from APA’s official reference guide and reference examples PDFs, both updated in 2026 and still labelled 7th edition. The Chicago author-count rules come from the Chicago Manual of Style 18th edition “What’s new” page.

FAQ

How do you cite an article with two authors?

Name both authors in the reference entry. In APA 7 that means Surname, A. A., & Surname, B. B. (Year). Title. Journal, volume(issue), pages. DOI link. In MLA, Chicago and Harvard text citations, both surnames appear, joined by “and” in MLA and Harvard.

How do you cite an article with multiple authors?

In text, APA uses the first author plus “et al.” for three or more; Chicago does the same for more than two. In the reference list, APA names up to 20 authors; Chicago and AMA name up to six, and for longer lists show the first three plus “et al.”

Do you use an ampersand or “and” between two authors?

In an APA reference entry the ampersand goes before the final author. MLA and Harvard text citations join two surnames with “and”.

Sources

All sources below were checked on 2026-10-28 or 2026-10-29 (date noted per entry).

• APA Style, Reference Guide (7th ed.), last updated March 23, 2026: https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-guide.pdf (checked 2026-10-28).
• APA Style, Common Reference Examples, last updated March 3, 2026: https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-examples.pdf (checked 2026-10-29).
• APA Style, Guide to What’s New in the 7th Edition: https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/whats-new-7e-guide.pdf and In-Text Citation Checklist: https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/in-text-citation-checklist.pdf (checked 2026-10-28).
• MLA Style Center, “Quiz: complex in-text citations”: https://style.mla.org/quiz-complex-in-text-citations/ (checked 2026-10-28).
• Chicago Manual of Style Online, “What’s New in the 18th Edition”: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/help-tools/what-s-new.html (checked 2026-10-28).
• Open University Library, Quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right): https://university.open.ac.uk/library/referencing-and-plagiarism/quick-guide-to-harvard-referencing-cite-them-right (checked 2026-10-28).
• Newcastle University, Cite Them Right Harvard style sheet (August 2025): https://www.ncl.ac.uk/mediav8/academic-skills-kit/file-downloads/manage-info/2025 Cite Them Right Harvard Style Sheet.pdf (checked 2026-10-28).
• UCL Library, Harvard guide, authors page: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/authors (checked 2026-10-28).
• JAMA Network, Instructions for Authors (AMA style): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/pages/instructions-for-authors (checked 2026-10-28).