AMA: 6 authors instead of 3 before "et al"?

mfong319
Hi - My thesis requires AMA formatting and Zotero is listing the first 3 authors then et al. Instead, I need it to list the first 6, per AMA. Is there a way to make this work? Thanks
  • DWL-SDCA
    edited December 12, 2023
    See:
    https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/citation_styles/style_editing_step-by-step

    This may look complicated but it is quite straightforward when you use text-editing software NOT word processor software

    Pay attention to the instructions about changing the style title and ID.

    In the style bibliography section--

    Changing Et-al Abbreviation

    There are two main settings for et-al abbreviation (e.g., rendering the names “Doe, Smith & Johnson” as “Doe et al.”). The minimum number of names that activates et-al abbreviation, and the number of names shown before “et al.”.

    In CSL, these settings can appear on the style, citation, bibliography or names elements in the form of the et-al-min and et-al-use-first attributes (it is possible to have separate settings for items that have been cited previously by using the et-al-subsequent-min and et-al-subsequent-use-first attributes).

    For example,

    <citation et-al-min="3" et-al-use-first="1">

    </citation>

    will result in name lists like “Doe”, “Doe & Smith” and, if there are three or more names, “Doe et al.”. Try changing these numbers and observe the effect.

    You want to change that to:
    et-al-min="6" et-al-use-first="6"

  • adamsmith
    But just to be clear: AMA 11th edition says to use et al starting at 7 authors, but then only list the first three followed by et al, which is exactly what Zotero's AMA style implements
  • DWL-SDCA
    edited December 12, 2023
    I understood that you were required to alter the standard AMA style.

    What adamsmith says is correct.

    Please confirm with your supervisor what is required (Standard AMA 11 or a modified version of AMA style).
  • mfong319
    Ah!! Thank you for both answers. The clarification is super-helpful and I'll keep the tech-y style modification in my back pocket for later. Much appreciated!
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