et al meaning referencing

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When using the authors name in your writing you should include the full stop after et al.
For example: (Burrows et al., 2009)

According to Sookochoff et al. (2017).

In APA 7, for a work with three or more authors, list the first author and “et al.” for all citations, including the first citation, unless doing so would create ambiguity. (Note that this rule has changed from APA 6 guidelines on using “et al.,” which recommend listing all author names in the first citation up to five authors but then using “et al.” for the second and subsequent citations.)

Et al meaning referencing
Because “et al.” is plural (meaning “and others”), it cannot stand for only one name. In cases where only the final author is different, spell out all names in every citation:
Kapoor, Bloom, Zucker, et al. (2017)

When a work has two authors, cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text.
When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all the authors the first time the reference occurs, but in subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by et al.
When a work has six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by et al.

Here are the guidelines from APA:

References:

http://libanswers.mmu.ac.uk/faq/179683
http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations/etal
http://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/same-year-first-author
http://askus.baker.edu/faq/217018
http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations/etal