Index: doc/LaTeXmacros/common.tex
===================================================================
--- doc/LaTeXmacros/common.tex	(revision e80ebe5829b7e4cae804ef089c99956cf908115a)
+++ doc/LaTeXmacros/common.tex	(revision dac593fdbf7c6605293c9c4fa50229311633cf8c)
@@ -153,4 +153,8 @@
         {\abbrevFont{etc}.\xspace}%
 }%
+\newcommand{\etal}{%
+	\@ifnextchar{.}{\abbrevFont{et al}}%
+	        {\abbrevFont{et al}.\xspace}%
+}%
 \makeatother