How to Use Ibid

Download Article

Explore this Article

methods

1Using Ibid for an Immediately Repeated Citation

2Inserting Ibid into a Works Cited List

Other Sections

Expert Q&A

Tips and Warnings

Related Articles

References

Article Summary

Download Article

Ibid is an abbreviation of the Latin word ibidem, which literally means “in the same place.” Practically speaking, it means that a citation in a works cited list, endnotes, or footnotes comes from the same work as the citation preceding it. Using this small term can make it easier for your reader to understand which works are cited multiple times in your academic paper or essay. While using ibid is relatively straightforward, there are certain nuances when citing from the same or different pages of the same work.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Ibid for an Immediately Repeated Citation

Download Article

1. 
   1
   Write “Ibid.” if the same exact source is cited consecutively. Anytime a single work is immediately and exactly repeated within a single citation or across two citations, you can change the second mention to “Ibid.”

   • Let’s say you have a citation “Mike Wilson, A History of Cats (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011), 8.” and the citation immediately following is identical. You can change that second citation of the Wilson book simply to read, “Ibid.”
2. 
   2
   Add a page number after “Ibid.” if only that detail changes. Look for instances in which only the page number differs between consecutive citations of a single source. In those cases, you can change the citation that follows the first citation to read “Ibid., [page number].”

   • Let’s say your citation is, “Jen Fox, I Love Siamese Cats (New York: Random House, 2000), 9.” If the citation immediately following cites page 10 of the same book, you can change that second citation to read, “Ibid., 10.”
   Advertisement
3. 
   3
   Follow up with more “Ibid.” uses if the single source keeps repeating. Write “Ibid.” if the source following an “Ibid.” citation or an “Ibid., [page number].” citation cites the same page of the same work.

   • Let’s say that after your citation of, “Mike Wilson, A History of Cats (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011), 8.” there are 3 identical citations all from page 8 of that work. All citations after the first one can be changed to “Ibid.”
   • Similarly, if after your “Ibid, 10.” citation of the Fox book, there is another citation to page 10 of the Fox book, you can simply write, “Ibid.”
4. 
   4
   Use Ibid only to refer to a single work. If, for instance, your footnote 21 and footnote 22 both refer to the Wilson and Fox books, you can't just write "Ibid." to cover both of them in the latter footnote. "Ibid." (with or without a page number notation) can only refer to a single work.

   • However, if footnote 21 referred to Wilson and Fox (in that order), and then footnote 22 referred to Fox and Wilson (in that order), you'd start footnote 22 with "Ibid.;" since the Fox book is immediately repeated across consecutive citations.
Advertisement

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Inserting Ibid into a Works Cited List

Download Article

1. 
   1
   Consult your style guide to create a works cited list. Use the style guide assigned to you by your professor to format a works cited list for your essay. This citation list is typically its own page at the end of the essay. Here you will list all the sources you used to find quotes or other relevant materials presented in your work.

   • Depending upon your style guide, a primary citation of a book from your list may look something like this: “Mike Wilson, A History of Cats (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011), 8.”
   • Examples of common style guides include the Chicago Manual of Style, the Turabian Citation Guide, and the AMA Manual of Style.
   • For now, don’t treat sources repeated in the list any differently from one another. Simply focus on creating a proper citation for each work.
2. 
   2
   Identify primary citations. Look over your list and notice which sources repeat often. Use a highlighter to mark the first time a citation for a specific work appears in your list.

   • If a source only appears on your list once, you don’t need to worry about using ibid, as there are no subsequent references.
3. 
   3
   Use “Ibid.” or “Ibid., [page number].” for immediate repeats after primary citations. Look to the citation immediately after your primary citation. If it’s the same, or the same other than the page number, choose the appropriate version of ibid to use.

   • So if you have the citation “Mike Wilson, A History of Cats (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011), 8.” and the citation immediately following is the same, you can change that second citation of the Wilson book to, “Ibid.”
   • If the citation following that primary citation of the Wilson book is to page 9 of the book instead of page 8, change the second citation to "Ibid., 9.”
4. 
   4
   Create secondary citations when sources repeat non-consecutively. Look for places where citations to the same source repeat, but with other citations in between them. In these cases, you’ll create a secondary citation for the repeating instances. Depending on your chosen style guide, you'll write a secondary citation as something like the author’s name, a comma, the page number, and then a period.

   • Let’s say an unrelated citation appears between a primary reference to page 8 of the Wilson book and a second identical reference to the Wilson book. The second citation would become, “Wilson, 8.”
   • Similarly, if the second citation to the Wilson book is on page 9 rather than page 8, the citation would become, “Wilson, 9.”
   • Creating a secondary citation is the same whether there is one unrelated citation between the two or several.
5. 
   5
   Use “Ibid.” when secondary citations immediately repeat. Look over your works cited list for places where secondary citations repeat. Change repeat secondary citations to “Ibid.” for clarity. So, for instance, your list might look like:

   • [Smith book primary citation]
   • Ibid. [for Smith primary]
   • [Wilson book primary citation]
   • [Smith book secondary citation]
   • Ibid. [for Smith secondary]
   • Ibid., 23. [for Smith secondary with different page noted]
Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

• Question

  What's the use of a works cited page?

  

  Marissa Levis
  English Teacher

  Marissa Levis is an English Teacher in the Morris County Vocational School District. She previously worked as an English director at a tutoring center that caters to students in elementary and middle school. She is an expert in creating a curriculum that helps students advance their skills in secondary-level English, focusing on MLA formatting, reading comprehension, writing skills, editing and proofreading, literary analysis, standardized test preparation, and journalism topics. Marissa received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

  

  Marissa Levis

  English Teacher

  Expert Answer

  The works cited page is like a roadmap for your readers. It helps them find the exact sources you used in your work. So, if someone wants to research or delve deeper into the topic you've discussed, they can easily locate and examine the same sources that you relied on. Essentially, it's a tool researchers use to support one another as they continue the research by providing clear paths to the materials they've consulted.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If How.com.vn has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission.Support How.com.vn

  YesNo

  Not Helpful 0Helpful 0
• Question

  Can I also use Ibid. if the primary and secondary citation are on different pages?

  

  Donagan

  Top Answerer

  Yes. See Method 1, Step 2 above.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If How.com.vn has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission.Support How.com.vn

  YesNo

  Not Helpful 21Helpful 1
• Question

  You have the same citiation coming up at a different point in the text. How do you use ibid?

  

  GB742

  Top Answerer

  If you're citing the a source non consecutively (e.g. [1] - text A, [2] - text B, [3] - text A) use the short form of the title. Ibidem is only used where the same source is cited consecutively (e.g. [1] - text A, [2] - text A, [3] - text B can be cited as [1] - text A, [2] - Ibid., [3] - text B).

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If How.com.vn has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission.Support How.com.vn

  YesNo

  Not Helpful 3Helpful 1

See more answers

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Warnings

• Do not use ibid at all if a primary citation refers to multiple sources.
  Thanks

  Helpful1Not Helpful0
• Ibid can be used to refer to websites and online articles as well.
  Thanks

  Helpful0Not Helpful0

Advertisement