tex-core
I'm writing a report and came across this issue which is putting dot or comma inside \textit{}. In my case,
by Smith \textit{et al,},~\cite{P_Cheeseman}
I have two questions: 1) is dot affected by textit{}? 2) which is better in this case about comma, should I put inside the italic mode? I know the second question has nothing to do with LaTeX, but I'm asking as a writing style.
Here is a solution without manual intervention: Rather than break lines between two page numbers, as in
Frobenius (automorphisme de) . 90,
93
I would prefer to break lines between dots, as in
Frobenius (automorphisme de) . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 93
To this end, you must insert a line-breaking opportunity into \IndexDotfill, for example
\leaders \hbox to .67em {\hss \textcolor{gray!55}{.} \hss}\hfil
\penalty0\vadjust{}
\leaders \hbox to .67em {\hss \textcolor{gray!55}{.} \hss}\hskip1em plus1fill
The left indentation is already controlled by the \item and \subitem commands. To control right indentation (so that the page numbers end flush with the right margin, but the dots 1pc before, say), you can use
\rightskip=1pc \parfillskip=-\rightskip
Finally, the dots in the hanging lines do not line up, because the amount of hanging indentation (40pt) is not a multiple of the "dot width" .67em. You get better results with a "dot width" of 10pt:
Best Answer
Logically here I think it's clear that the comma is part of the (English) sentence structure and not part of the Italic insert denoting a foreign word so
\textit{et al},is more logical (and what I'd use, if I was italicising a foreign word). Normally (or at least often) though et al. is considered an abbreviation rather than a word so\textit{et al.}where logically the . sticks with the word, followed if necessary by a comma outside the italic.Typographic conventions though don't always follow logic so if this is a reference list in a journal, just do whatever the journal wants.