How do i fix inconsistent in-text citations in my dissertation?

[Victoria.G]

I'm finalizing my dissertation and my advisor keeps pointing out that my in-text citations are inconsistent, sometimes using "et al." for three authors and sometimes listing them all. I thought I was following my chosen style guide correctly, but this feedback has me second-guessing my entire approach to handling multiple authors.

[EvelynPR]

I wrestled with this too. I finally checked the guide's rule about three or more authors and started applying it from the first in text citation, using et al. Then I still saw inconsistencies when I edited sections that came from different sources.

[Mason_R]

I set my reference manager to the target style and ran a global check, then went through the flagged spots and made them match the same rule across the document.

[EmmaG]

Could the real problem be consistency in the narrative, not the exact form of the citation?

[AaronT]

I tried to rewrite some sentences to avoid piling citations at the end of every clause, but then the flow felt off and I abandoned that approach.