8. Shorten References Safely

8.1 Establish an unambiguous full reference

A short citation depends on a reader being able to identify its antecedent. Give an adequate full reference before introducing a shortened form. When a document may be divided, excerpted, or read by section, repeat enough identity information at the new boundary to make the reference usable.

Citation Code favors a recognizable short name plus the source identifier and pinpoint over an opaque abbreviation. Saving six characters is rarely valuable if it makes the reader search several pages backward.

Pattern: [Short case name], [volume] [reporter] at [pinpoint]. For a book, use [author surname], [short title], at [page], with a note cross-reference when required. These are house patterns, subject to the receiving instructions.

8.2 Use immediate-reference forms narrowly

An immediate-reference word such as Id. is useful only when the preceding source is unmistakable. Citation Code's editing practice is to avoid it after a citation containing several sources or when an intervening reference makes the antecedent uncertain. Use a short name instead.

An immediate-reference form with a new pinpoint still needs the correct new location. Without a new locator, it may suggest the same location as the preceding reference. Do not make a reader guess whether “same source” also means “same page.”

After moving paragraphs, recheck every immediate-reference citation. A word processor can preserve the text while changing the source to which it now appears to refer. This is one of the most common ways a correct draft becomes an incorrect final document.

8.3 Keep short names distinguishable

Two sources may share an author, a party name, or a generic title. Use a longer short title or another distinguishing element when necessary. If a brief cites several cases involving the same government official, the official's surname alone may be a poor short form.

Maintain a short-name list for long documents. It should map each approved short name to one full source. A collision in that list is an editing problem to resolve before the citations spread through the document.

For organizations, introduce an abbreviation only when it will recur enough to help. Retain the organization's full name in the source record. Do not create abbreviations that readers are likely to mistake for courts, reporters, statutes, or familiar legal terms.

8.4 Make note cross-references maintainable

Use automatic cross-reference fields where the drafting software supports them. Update the fields after reorganizing footnotes and again after conversion to PDF. A visible note number can be correct in Word and wrong in an exported version if the fields were stale.

Distinguish a cross-reference to your own discussion from a citation to an external source. “See Part III” directs the reader within your document. A source citation identifies the authority supporting the proposition. Internal navigation cannot replace missing support.

Review exercise — fictional. Note 14 cites an article. Note 22 refers to “supra note 14.” A new note is inserted before the article, but the number in note 22 was typed manually. The repair is to update the reference and check the destination, not merely to verify that note 14 exists.