The Ibid Question in APA Citation
One question that occasionally confuses Malaysian postgraduate students is whether they can use “ibid” — the Latin abbreviation for “in the same place” — in their APA-formatted thesis. The short, clear answer is no. APA 7th edition does not use ibid or any other Latin abbreviation citation shortcuts. APA is an author-date citation system, and every in-text citation repeats the author’s name and year, regardless of how recently that same source was cited. Understanding this distinction prevents a category of citation formatting error that is immediately visible to any examiner familiar with APA conventions.
Why APA Does Not Use Ibid
Ibid is a feature of footnote-based citation systems — particularly the Chicago Notes-Bibliography style used in history and some humanities disciplines — where sources are cited in numbered footnotes at the bottom of the page. In this system, when the same source is cited in two consecutive footnotes, “ibid” in the second footnote replaces the full citation, meaning “same as the last source cited.” Because APA does not use footnotes for references and instead integrates citations parenthetically into the running text, the logic of ibid does not apply. Every APA citation identifies the source by author and year wherever it appears in the text, creating a consistent, easily verifiable citation trail.
Similarly, “op. cit.” (in the work cited) and “loc. cit.” (in the place cited) are footnote-system shortcuts with no place in APA. If you have encountered these abbreviations in older academic texts and are uncertain whether they apply to your APA-formatted thesis, they do not. Ignore them and use the standard APA author-date citation format for every in-text reference, regardless of how recently the same source was cited.
APA Shortcuts That Do Exist
While ibid has no APA equivalent, APA 7th does permit certain abbreviation shortcuts that reduce repetition legitimately. The most important is the et al. rule: for works with three or more authors, you use only the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” from the very first citation. This abbreviates the author list rather than replacing the entire citation, but it serves a similar efficiency function when multiple authors are involved.
Another APA shortcut involves repeated citations of the same work within a single paragraph. In APA 7th, if the same work is cited multiple times within a paragraph and the source is clear from context, the year may be omitted from citations after the first mention: “Ali (2022) found that motivation predicts performance. The same study also found…” However, this year omission is only appropriate when there is absolutely no ambiguity about which source is being referenced. If multiple works by Ali from different years could be meant, always include the full year to distinguish them. The principle underlying all APA citation shortcuts is clarity: any shortcut that introduces ambiguity about which source is being referenced defeats the purpose of citation.
Applying This to Your Malaysian Thesis
For your Malaysian postgraduate thesis, the practical takeaway is straightforward: use the full APA author-date format for every in-text citation. If you cite Ali (2022) at the beginning of a paragraph, cite Ali (2022) again at the end of the same paragraph rather than relying on any ibid equivalent. Your reference list will contain one entry for Ali (2022), and every time you cite this work in the text, that citation connects clearly and unambiguously to that single reference list entry. This consistency is the foundation of APA’s citation logic, and maintaining it throughout your thesis is a mark of citation literacy that your examiner will notice and appreciate.
