Legal Definitions - IBID.

IBID. is an abbreviation derived from the Latin word ibidem, which means "in the same place." It is used in academic and scholarly citations to indicate that the reference is to the exact same source that was cited immediately before it. When "ibid." is used without a page number, it signifies that the information comes from the same page as the preceding citation. If a different page number is specified after "ibid." (e.g., "ibid., p. 45"), it refers to the same source but a new page within that source.

• Example 1: Citing the Same Page in an Academic Paper

  Imagine a student writing a history paper. Their first footnote cites a specific fact from a book:

  ¹ Sarah Miller, The Rise of Republics (University Press, 2021), p. 75.

  Immediately after, they need to cite another piece of information from the exact same page of Miller's book. Instead of writing out the full citation again, they would use:

  ² Ibid.

  How this illustrates the term: By using "Ibid." in the second footnote, the student clearly indicates that the information for footnote 2 comes from the identical source and page (The Rise of Republics, p. 75) as footnote 1, avoiding repetition and making the citation concise.

• Example 2: Referring to a Different Page in the Same Research Article

  Consider a researcher compiling a report on climate science. They cite a key finding from an article:

  ³ Dr. Alex Kim, "Ocean Acidification Trends," Journal of Marine Biology, Vol. 15, No. 3 (2022), p. 112.

  Later in their report, they reference another point from the same article, but this time from a different page:

  ⁴ Ibid., p. 118.

  How this illustrates the term: Here, "Ibid., p. 118" tells the reader that the source for footnote 4 is still Dr. Kim's "Ocean Acidification Trends" article, which was cited immediately before, but the specific information can be found on page 118, not page 112.

• Example 3: Consecutive Citations in a Book Chapter

  Suppose an author is writing a chapter for a textbook and frequently refers to a foundational text. Their citations might look like this:

  ⁵ Professor Jane Doe, Foundations of Psychology (Academic Press, 2019), p. 45.

  ⁶ Ibid.

  ⁷ Ibid., p. 50.

  How this illustrates the term: Footnote 6 uses "Ibid." to show that the reference is to the same book and page (Foundations of Psychology, p. 45) as footnote 5. Footnote 7 then uses "Ibid., p. 50" to indicate that the reference is still to Professor Doe's Foundations of Psychology, but the information for this specific citation is located on page 50.