Referencing and citations in academic and research articles enable scholars and researchers to identify different texts and sources that an author has used in an article or manuscript. In other words, references and citations provide a window to the inter-textual sections on which the author has based their work, allowing readers to follow the trail of connected research in a specific area or discipline. Among the various citation methods, the term “ibid.” plays a crucial role in maintaining clarity and consistency in referencing.
What is Ibid?
Ibid. is the abbreviation of the Latin word “ibidem,” meaning “in the same place.” It is a citation reference for research papers or articles. It refers to the immediate, preceding source cited in a bibliography or footnote. Its primary function is to avoid repetitive and redundant full citations when referencing the same source consecutively. When a source is provided for the first time, its complete information is provided.
However, in the subsequent and consecutive citations, only a shortened version or ibid is provided. In other words, using ibid helps to streamline text, reduce clutter, and ensure consistency in writing styles, in addition to offering readers better clarity.
How is ibid. used?
It is important to remember that not all style guides encourage the use of ibid. For example, the MLA and the APA style guides follow in-text citations that are sometimes in condensed form. Here, ibid. is not used. Ibid. is found in the Chicago styles and Turabian styles, where end notes and footnotes are used.
In these styles, the usage of ibid. follows certain guidelines. For example, ibid. can be used only to refer to a source that was previously cited. Here, too, there are a few details to be taken care of. If the same source with the same page number is cited as the previous one, indicate the citation as ‘ibid.’.
However, if a different page number is provided, the citation should be written as ‘ibid.’ followed by a comma and the page number.
Some ibid. Examples include:
For a book citation, the entire note citation will be provided as follows:
John Paul Lederach, The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 75.
Consecutive citations to the same source will be Ibid., 80-81.
For journal citation, the full citation will be provided as:
Johan Galtung, “Twenty-Five Years of Peace Research: Ten Challenges and Responses,” Journal of Peace Research vol. 22, no.2 (1985): 414 – 431.
The second consecutive reference will be Ibid.
For book chapter citation, the citation will be:
Quincy Wright, “Analysis of the Causes of War,” Towards a Theory of War Prevention. R.Falk and S.Mendlovitz, eds., (New York: World Law Fund, 1966).
ibid. (ibid. should not be used to refer to an earlier source when a different source has been cited in between. In such cases, the source has to be re-introduced in a shorter form with the name of the author, the title, and the page number.
For example:
John Paul Lederach, The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 75.
Ibid., 101.
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Continuum, 1970), 45.
Ibid., 48-50.
Lederach, The Moral Imagination, 102.
- The previously cited source should consist of only a single source. If not, it will be difficult to understand which source the author is referring to.
Remember that ibid. can be listed only in end notes and footnotes. It should also not be used to reference different articles from the same edited volume.
Is ibid. no longer valid?
The latest update on Chicago Style (17th Edition) Citation Guide discourages the usage of ibid. and recommends the use of the shortened form of a citation called short notes. Here, too, whenever a source is cited for the first time, a full citation has to be provided. The subsequent citations are provided using short notes.
A short note should have the following details:
- Author’s last name
- A short form of the title, which should not be more than four words
- The page number(s) that has been referenced
Short notes have the advantage of referring to not only the previous source but also to earlier references to the source.
Example
Full citation
John Paul Lederach, The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 75.
Short note:
Lederach, The Moral Imagination, 77.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How to use ibid correctly?
Use ibid to reference the same source when it appears consecutively. ibid. should be written with a period to show that it is an abbreviation. To reference the same source with a different page number, the page number(s) should be included along with the ibid. If a source is referenced again after a different citation, then it should be re-introduced with full details.
2. What can I use instead of ibid?
In the Chicago style, there are other ways to shorten citations. This includes op.cit., (opus citatum) and loc.cit., (Loco citato) referring to previous citations. However, the latest edition of the Chicago style discourages their use in favor of short notes.
3. Can I use ibid. in APA or MLA?
The APA and MLA styles do not use ibid. In both styles, in-text citations are provided in parentheses, which is very short.
4. Is ibid no longer used?
The recent edition of the Chicago style guide (17th edition) discourages the use of ibid in favor of short notes. A brief note consists only of the last name of the author, a shortened title, and the page number.
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