Bluebook 101:

Short Citation Forms

(id., supra, hereinafter)
R. 4 (and others)
Gallagher Law Library, May
2011

Purpose of Citation
Citations enable your reader
to find the sources you cite
to evaluate your argument
based (in part) on what you
cite
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Short forms help readers by

streamlining footnotes
while
preserving the ability to find
and assess cited material
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Compare
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis
Caurina) v. Hodel, 716 F.Supp. 479 (W.D. Wash.
1988) (Zilly, J.).
13.
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis
Caurina) v. Hodel, 716 F.Supp. 479, 480 (W.D.
Wash. 1988) (Zilly, J.).
14.
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis
Caurina) v. Hodel, 716 F.Supp. 479, 480 (W.D.
Wash. 1988) (Zilly, J.).
15.
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis
Caurina) v. Hodel, 716 F.Supp. 479, 481 (W.D.
Wash. 1988) (Zilly, J.).
16.
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis
Caurina) v. Hodel, 716 F.Supp. 479, 481 (W.D.
Wash. 1988) (Zilly,
J.).
Gallagher
Law Library, May 2011
12.

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with
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis
Caurina) v. Hodel, 716 F.Supp. 479 (W.D. Wash.
1988) (Zilly, J.).
13.
Id. at 480.
14.
Id.
15.
Id. at 481.
16.
Id.
12.

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Id.
short for idem (Latin for same)
used when citing the very same thing
you cited just before
can be different page or section or
even volume
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Examples
United States v. Am. Library Assn,
539 U.S. 194 (2003)
26.
Id.
27.
Id. at 203.
28.
See 3 J. PETTIGREW SCHOLAR, BIG
TREATISE ON LAW 14.6 (2006).
29.
See id. at 15.7.
30.
4 id. at 23.1 (2005).
25.

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Id. used within a footnote

60.

See, e.g., Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, GeoLocation Technologies and Other Means of
Placing Borders on the Borderless'
Internet, 23 J. MARSHALL J. COMPUTER & INFO. L.
101, 137 (2004) (arguing that geolocation technologies may...eliminate the
regulatory difficulties associated with the
Internet's borderlessness); see also id.
at 109-14 (describing filtering technologies
available for website operators and
accuracy rates).

120 Harv. L. Rev. 1031,Gallagher

1041 (2007)
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Whats wrong with this?

See, e.g., This Guy v. That Guy, 390
F.3d 123 (9th Cir. 2007); Whosis v.
Whatchamacallit, 330 F.3d 321 (6th
Cir. 2005).
55.
Id.
54.

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Supra and hereinafter

OK to use for:

Generally not OK to use

for:

books
articles
reports
nonprint sources
legislative hearings
internal cross-refs

cases
statutes
constitutions
restatements

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Font
Use the same font as if citing
the whole work e.g.,
large and small caps for book
authors
ordinary roman for author of
law review article
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Examples
JANE K. WINN & BENJAMIN WRIGHT, THE
LAW OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 3.3 (4th
ed. 2007).
108.
This Company v. That Company,
200 P.3d 789 (Cal. 2005).
109.
See WINN & WRIGHT, supra note 107.
110.
See also Svantesson, supra note
60, at 120.
107.

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Use Hereinafter
if supra form would be
cumbersome
if supra form would be
ambiguous
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Examples
See U.S. GEN. ACCOUNTING OFFICE,
CHARITABLE CHOICE: FEDERAL GUIDANCE ON
STATUTORY PROVISIONS COULD IMPROVE
CONSISTENCY OF IMPLEMENTATION 22-23
(2002) [hereinafter GAO, CHARITABLE
CHOICE]. Other stuff, another source.
85.
See GAO, CHARITABLE CHOICE, supra
note 84, at 22-23.
84.

116 Harv. L. Rev. 1353, 1377 (2003)

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Word Tips for CrossReferences

Legal Andrew,
Harness the Power of Word Cross-Re
ferences for Mammoth Documents

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Gallagher Law Library

University of Washington School of Law
Box 353025
Seattle WA 98195-3025
http://lib.law.washington.edu
We are happy to have our guides used by other
libraries, librarians, and legal researchers. Before
copying or adapting one of our guides, please
contact Cheryl Nyberg (cnyberg [at] uw.edu) to
obtain permission. Then give appropriate
attribution, such as: "Adapted from a guide by
Mary Whisner at the Gallagher Law Library
Gallagher Law Library, May 2011,
website."
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