When should I use the standard value “:etal” when entering “Creator” metadata?

The DataCite metadata schema includes a list of standard values. These values are intended to be used when the mandatory property values are not available for various reasons. In a scenario where there are a large number of creators e.g. >20 , the “:etal” standard value can be used to replace a subset of the “Creators”.

For example, if there are 20 Creators, the names can be included for the first 10 and then “:etal” for the 11th Creator.