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Introduction to "The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation": Short Form for Nonperiodicals

Quick References

Nonperiodic Short Form
Short Forms...........................R15.10
Id. Rules, Generally...................R4.1

Supra and Hereinafter.................R4.2

Typeface Conventions

Footnotes: short form name in small caps typeface

Textual Sentence: short title in italics, but author name in regular typeface

Notice


This guide is currently being updated to reflect the recent changes made in The Bluebook (20th edition). Please be aware that pages containing this notice may contain out-of-date information.

General Rules for Short Form for Nonperiodic Sources

A short form citation may be used to identify a nonperiodic source that has previously been cited in full. "Id.," if appropriate, or "supra" may be used to refer to the work later on.

"Supra" Short Form - Use the author's last name (or title if no author) along with supra, indicating the original footnote the work was fully cited in and the page(s) on which the cited material appears.

RANDsupra note 3, at 99.

For works that would be difficult to cite using the "supra" form, or for which the short form would be confusing, a shortened form using "hereinafter" can be indicated in brackets at the end of the original citation. (See Rule 4.2).

1. LONG TITLE CITATION (2013) [hereinafter SHORT TITLE].

12. SHORT TITLE, supra note 1, at 3.

Abbreviations for Nonperiodic Source Short Forms

Author - Words in Table 6 and Rule 10.2.1(c), geographic regions in Table 10, and common acronyms in Rule 6.1(b)

Title - Nothing

Parentheticals - Publishing terms in Table 14

Tips

Do not use infra to refer to works cited subsequently. Include a full citation to the nonperiodic source the first time it is referred to.