reference notes: subsequent references

Subsequent references to a work may be shorter than first references.

A first reference to The Cinnamon Peeler by Michael Ondaatje would give complete information:

• 3. Michael Ondaatje, The Cinnamon Peeler (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1992), p. 13.

But a second reference to the same work would be reduced to the last name of the author, keyword(s) in the title, and the page number(s):

• 5. Ondaatje, Cinnamon Peeler, p. 13.

If only one work—book or article—by that author is quoted, his or her name and the page number(s) will suffice:

5. Ondaatje, p. 13.

ibid.

It is now more common to give the shortened form of previously listed reference notes, as shown above; but you may want to avoid unnecessary repetition by using the Latin abbreviation ibid. (short for ibidem, meaning “in the same place”) for consecutive references to the same work:

1. Weiss, Leon, ed., Cell and Tissue Biology (Baltimore, Md.: Urban and Schwarzenberg, 1988), p. 1144.
2. ibid.
3. ibid., 1062.

Note: Reference 2 is to the same page number. Reference 3 is to another page number of the same work.

loc. cit., op. cit.

Avoid using loc. cit. (loco citato, “in the place cited”) and op. cit. (opere citato, “in the work cited”) when you are making a reference to a previously cited work and when references to other documents have intervened. Tracing that earlier reference can be frustrating for readers; use of the short form of the reference note gives them the required information immediately.