So many editors: How to credit…

What happens when I have a large editorial board with a variety of editor types (i.e., Editors, Associate Editors, Executive Editors, Senior Editors, etc.) to credit? The short answer, as the APA Manual (2001) says, is credit “the lead editor followed by et al.” (p. 229).

It should be noted that “et al.” is not italicized and a period (.) follows “al”. Additionally, if “et al.” follows one name, a comma (,) is not required. If the “et al.” follows a string of names, then a comma must precede it. Though this is not stated implicitly, it can be inferred from examples in section 3.95 (pp. 208-209) of the APA Manual.

For example, the Graphic Arts Manual has a senior editor, five consulting editors, and an executive editor. So which, if not all, of those 7 names do we credit? In this case, we will credit the senior editor, since that individual arguably oversees the others working directly on the title. The executive editor will sometimes outrank the senior editor, but they are a more executive class of editor that oversees the publishers many lines of titles – in this case, the senior editor is responsible for the editorial direction of this particular book.

Our reference page citation will appear as:

Field, J. N. et al. (1980). Graphics art manual. New York: Arno Press.

Our in-text citation will appear as:

It has been suggested that … (Field et al., 1980, p. #).
The Graphics Art Manual says, “…” (Field et al., 1980, p. #).

NOTE: With an edited book, never frame your paraphrase or quote as though the editors made the statement (e.g., Field et al. said that, “…” (p. #).) The editors are simply the editors, with edited books there are many contributors and the editors did not necessarily write the script, so do not credit them as if they did. In this book, there were 96 contributors so if you use a particular passage that identifies one of those contributors as the writer, credit them accordingly.

EXAMPLE (AUTHOR FOR A CHAPTER/SECTION OF AN EDITTED BOOK)
Reference page citation:
Romano, F. J. (1980). Phototypesetting. In J. N. Field et al. (Eds.), Graphics art manual (pp. 209-218). New York: Arno Press.

Our in-text citation will appear as:

• SHORT QUOTE 1: Romano (1980) said that, “…” (p. 214).
• SHORT QUOTE 2: According to the Graphics Art Manual, phototypesetting is “…” (Romano, 1980, p. 209).
• PARAPHRASE 1: It has been suggested that phototypesetting is … (Romano, 1980).
• PARAPHRASE 2: Romano (1980) suggested that phototypesetting is ….
  

The APA Manual does discuss this case in sections 4.13 (p. 229) and 4.14 (example 30, p. 250), though no practical example is given when you are faced with this type of resource. You can also refer to section 3.95 (pp. 208-209) for how to format “et al.”.