Can I write "the model due to X et al"?

Until ten minutes ago I thought sentences like "The model due to X et al. (2016) explains Y and Z" were common in academic writing. Our post-doc raised doubt about the phrase's correctness, and Googling it I find very few uses. None of them I can confirm were written by a native speaker.

So, is that a common/correct way of saying X et al. proposed the model in their paper from 2016, and if not, what are alternatives?

Solution 1:

Due to in this sense is ordinarily used to express the cause of an event or state:

Our success was due to our superior model.
Icecap melting due to global warming will have far-reaching consequences.

I have seen this use of due to to express the origin or creator of an entity, but it grates on my ear. We certainly do not say that Hamlet is “due to” Shakespeare or that the General Theory of Relativity is “due to” Einstein, and your example seems similar to me. I advise you to avoid this and say something like what Stephen Kolassa suggests:

The model proposed by X et al. (2016) ...

—or “proposed in” or “put forward by/in” or “described by/in” or whatever is most appropriate to the circumstances.

By the way, this has nothing to do with the controversial question, discussed here, of whether due to phrases and clauses may be employed adverbially.