Index: doc/LaTeXmacros/common.tex
===================================================================
--- doc/LaTeXmacros/common.tex	(revision bf1a2bfdb02a9c2ea004a204da57441442058e0a)
+++ doc/LaTeXmacros/common.tex	(revision 46b4259ad2f6b8cd730003c71f37b1a91ab7080a)
@@ -153,4 +153,8 @@
         {\abbrevFont{etc}.\xspace}%
 }%
+\newcommand{\etal}{%
+	\@ifnextchar{.}{\abbrevFont{et al}}%
+	        {\abbrevFont{et al}.\xspace}%
+}%
 \makeatother