how to write bibliography for law essays

Q. What is the format for the bibliography for Law coursework and dissertations? (OSCOLA)

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Answered By: Claire Mazer Last Updated: 16 Oct, 2023 Views: 24473

**Please check for current guidance from Brunel Law School**

In academic work more generally, a bibliography is typically used to show everything you have cited and anything else you have read, even if not cited. Recent advice from the Law School suggests that academic colleagues only wished for cited works to appear in the bibliography and not anything else. So, if you have read a source (book, article etc) , but not cited it in your footnotes, then don't include it in your bibliography.

Bibliography format for law coursework: The key points to note are that sources need to be in categories, with primary sources (cases, legislation) listed first, followed by secondary sources (books, journals, websites) all in alphabetical and then chronological order. Note that case names appear in plain text and not italics.

Note that authors names are inverted. Surname appears first followed by the initial of the first name and then a comma, i.e. Choo A, or Natile S, This does not apply to company, departmental or organisational names (including law firms and barristers chambers), i.e. European Commission, Ministry of Justice, British Red Cross, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which remain as they are in both footnotes and the bibliography.

Electronic versions of cases and journal articles: Many cases and journal articles can be found in legal databases such as Westlaw, Lexis+ etc. However, it is not necessary to cite databases as the source. Almost all law reports and journals are available in printed form. The citation itself is sufficient since it includes the law report or journal in which the case was reported or journal article was published. There are a few journals where only an electronic version is available, usually the clue is in the title: The Internet Journal of Criminology. For these titles it is necessary to add the URL in triangular brackets and the date it was accessed.

Here is a sample bibliography:

Bibliography

Pepper v Hart [1993] AC 593 (HL)

Mastercard Inc v Merricks [2021] Bus LR 25

R v Brockway (Andrew Robert) (2008) 2 Cr App R (S) 4

R v Edwards (John) (1991) 93 Cr App R 48

Legislation

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

Dembour M-B, Who believes in human rights?: reflections on the European Convention (Cambridge University Press 2006)

Herring J, Criminal Law: Text and Materials (9th edn, OUP 2020)

Norrie A, Crime, Reason and History (3rd edn, Cambridge University Press 2014)

Ashworth A, ‘Social Control and “Anti-Social Behaviour”: the Subversion of Human Rights’ (2004) 120 LQR 263

Behan C and O'Donnell I, 'Prisoners, Politics and the Polls: Enfranchisement and the Burden of Responsibility' (2008) 48(3) Brit J Criminol 31

Stephens-Chu G, ‘Is it Always All About the Money? The Appropriateness of Non-Pecuniary Remedies in Investment Treaty Arbitration’ (2014) 30(4) Arbitration International 661

Gazard B, ‘What’s happened to crime during the pandemic? How ONS has responded to the measurement challenge’ ( Office for National Statistics , 25 August 2020) <https://blog.ons.gov.uk/2020/08/25/whats-happened-to-crime-during-the-pandemic-how-ons-has-responded-to-the-measurement-challenge/> accessed 16 December 2020

Gowin J, ‘Can We Predict Crime Using Brain Scans?’ ( You, Illuminated. Psychology Today, 2013) <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/you-illuminated/201304/can-we-predict-crime-using-brain-scans> accessed 20 October 2020

Metropolitan Police, ‘What is hate crime?’ ( Metropolitan Police, 2021) < https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/hco/hate-crime/what-is-hate-crime/ > accessed 26 February 2021

Bibliography format for law dissertations: Broadly the same as above except that separate tables of cases / legislation / EU or International legal materials (as applicable) should appear between the end of the dissertation and the beginning of the bibliography. The purpose of the bibliography at dissertation level is to provide a list of secondary sources, i.e. books, journals, online documents, websites, blogs.

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Law: Referencing

European Law Databases
Foreign Law Databases
International Law Databases

Study Skills

Legal research.

Referencing

Research Support

Law - referencing.

Referencing is the academic practice of acknowledging the sources you have used in your work. Sources may be other people's words and ideas, or legal authorities such as legislation and case law.

Referencing demonstrates your ethical use of information, the range of your research and reading, provides authority to your arguments, enables others to find materials cited, and avoids accusations of plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the use of another person's work without proper acknowledgment. Most plagiarism is unintentional and the result of poor academic practice. It's is important to reference when directly quoting or paraphrasing another person's work.

Referencing styles are sets of rules governing referencing practice. They prescribe the type, order and format of information in a reference. There are 3 main types of referencing style: in-text, footnote and endnote. Always check what referencing style is required by your department or assessment, as there may be local interpretations.

Cite Them Right Online

Cite Them Right Online is the University of Warwick Library's new interactive referencing tool. It has rules and tutorials for referencing all major resource types across 8 major referencing styles including APA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, MHRA, MLR, OSCOLA and Vancouver.

Watch the short video to find out how Cite Them Right Online can help you.

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Research & Academic Support Librarian

Appointments

Your Research & Academic Support Librarian is available for 1-2-1 appointments, both on-campus and online, and can advise on all library, research and referencing matters.

Referencing Software

Referencing software allows you to manage references, insert citations and create a bibliography, in your referencing style.

EndNote is referencing software from Clarivate. EndNote Desktop supports the OSCOLA referencing style. EndNote is available from Warwick IT Services, and is supported by Warwick Library. Please see the EndNote LibGuide for further information.

OSCOLA Referencing Style

The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) is the referencing style used by the Warwick Law School and by law schools and legal publishers across the UK. It was developed by the University of Oxford and is free to download from the official OSCOLA website :

Referencing in Law Exams

Introduction.

Law School Guidance

Question: "Do I need to do OSCOLA referencing in exams?" Answer: No

OSCOLA referencing is required for essays and dissertations but not for examinations. In examinations, you need to acknowledge your source, but this should be done in-text (in brackets) and does not require footnotes or a bibliography.

If citing any authorities, include the name/title in the main body of your text (not in footnotes/references)
If citing secondary sources, include the author, an abbreviated source title and the year (in brackets in main body of your text)
If using a direct quotation, you must use "quotation marks" and acknowledge the source in your text

Examples of how to reference in law examinations:

Cases Name of Case (Year) e.g. Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton (2021)
Legislation Title of Legislation Year e.g. Human Rights Act 1998
Books (Author, Short Title of Book Year) e.g. (Bradney, How to Study Law 2021)
Articles (Author, 'Short Title of Article' Year) e.g. (Carr, 'Women in Commercial Law' 2020)

The Law School's current guidance on examinations states:

The word limit applies to the aggregate number of words used to answer all questions, and reflects the specified time set for the exam within the 24-hour period. It excludes footnotes/references, but footnotes/references will not be marked, and you will not be given credit for them. The limit is an upper bound on your wordcount and not a target. In answering all required questions, you may write less if you wish. As with any normal exam, you should put citations of authorities and names of authors in the main body of your answer text if you wish to gain credit for them. You are allowed to access module materials, notes, resources, references and the Internet.
You are not required to use footnotes or include a bibliography. You should include a treaty/ statutory provision or case name for any legal proposition you reference. You do not need to provide the full case citation If you are using a direct quote from a source, you must use quotation marks (see Academic Integrity). It is sufficient to merely state the author of the quote, an abbreviated source and a date. All references should be made in brackets in the body of the essay.

OSCOLA - An Introduction

Bibliography, subsequent citations, secondary referencing.

OSCOLA is a guide to referencing key United Kingdom legal materials including primary sources (legislation and case law), and secondary sources (books and articles). OSCOLA is not a guide to academic or legal writing, nor is it a guide to writing law essays or dissertations.

OSCOLA provide some guidance to referencing European Union and International primary sources, but no guidance to referencing primary sources from foreign jurisdictions. If referencing foreign legal materials, writers should follow referencing guidance from the home jurisdiction.

OSCOLA provides referencing rules and examples for the main types of legal information; but it is not comprehensive, and it does not provide referencing rules of all types of information, especially non-legal information. If you are referencing materials not mentioned in OSCOLA, follow the general principles and be consistent.

OSCOLA is a footnote referencing style . With footnote referencing, numbered footnote markers (superscript numbers) are inserted into your text, normally at the end of your sentence, immediately after the full-stop.¹ You can position footnote markers within your sentence if it improves clarity, e.g. after a semi-colon;² or comma,³ or after a Case Name. The reference is written in a corresponding numbered footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnote is closed with a full-stop.

Insert footnotes

Most word processing software includes footnote referencing functionality. In Microsoft Word, click on the 'References' menu, and then 'Insert Footnote'. Refer to your word processing software’s help pages for further information.

How to Insert Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word.

Multiple references

A single footnote may include more than one reference. All references should be separated with a semi-colon (;).
List primary sources (legislation and case law) before secondary sources (books and articles), and legislation before case law.
If you have more than one reference of the same type, list them chronologically, with the oldest one first.

When not to footnote

If you state the full title and year (and section where appropriate) of legislation in the main body of your text, you do not need to repeat the information in a footnote. Omit the footnote entirely but include the full reference in the Table of Authorities.

If you state the full name of the case in the main body of your text, you only need to include the case citations in the footnote. Omit the case name from the footnote, but include the citations only. Include the full reference in the Table of Authorities.

A bibliography is a list of sources or references cited in the work. OSCOLA requires a bibliography only for longer works i.e. monographs and dissertations/theses, not shorter works i.e. journal articles or essays. At law school, it is common practice to include a bibliography at the end of an essay. Please check your assessment guidance for further information.

With OSCOLA, the bibliography is split into two section: Table of Authorities (for primary sources) and Bibliography (for secondary sources). Generally, references are copied and pasted from the footnotes to the bibliography, although some minor formatting may also be required.

Table of Authorities

A Table of Authorities is a list of primary sources (legislation and case law) cited in the work. Normally there is a Table of Cases and a Table of Legislation . There may be additional tables depending on the length of work, and volume and types of sources cited.

In the Table of Cases , cases are listed in A-Z order by party name. Copy and paste the reference (case name and citations) from the footnote to the table. Remove any italics from the case name, any pinpoints for quoted pages/paragraphs, and the full-stop at the end of the reference.

In the Table of Legislation , list all Acts/Statutes in A-Z order by title, and then all Statutory Instruments in A-Z order by title. Copy and paste the references from the footnote to the table. Remove any italics from the legislation name, any pinpoints for quoted section numbers, and the full-stop at the end of the reference.

If you have cited legislation or case law from other jurisdictions, you should separate references by jurisdiction, and list international materials first, followed by regional materials i.e. European Union, and then by each national jurisdiction i.e. United Kingdom. If you have a large number of references, you may wish to have a separate table for each jurisdiction.

The bibliography is a list of secondary sources (books, journals and other commentary) cited in the work. There is only one bibliography, and references are listed in A-Z order by author's surname. You do not need to organise the bibliography into sections by material type unless otherwise instructed in your assessment guidance.

In the bibliography, copy and paste the references from the footnote to the bibliography. Invert the authors' name: from first name last name format, to last name initial format. Remove any pinpoints for quoted pages/paragraphs, and the full-stop at the end of the reference. Keep the italic font in the book or journal titles.

Personal authors (a person) should be presented as First Name Surname in the footnote e.g. Jackie Hanes, and Surname, Initials in the bibliography e.g. Hanes, J OSCOLA uses little punctuation and there are no periods after or between initials.

Corporate authors (an organisation) should be presented as the full name of the organisation, in both footnotes and the bibliography e.g. University of Warwick.

Titles and postnominals

Give the author's name as it appears in the publication, including for judges, but omit titles e.g. Lord/Lady or Sir/Dame and postnominals e.g. QC/KC.

Multiple authors

If citing between 1 and 3 authors, you should list all authors names, in the order listed on the source, in both the footnotes and the bibliography.

One author: Smith (2022)
Two authors: Smith and Jones (2022)
Three authors: Smith, Jones and Patel (2022)

If citing 4 or more authors names, you should list only the first author's name, followed by words 'and others'. Do not use et al .

Four authors +: Patel and others (2022)

Some sources have an editor instead of, or as well as, an author. If citing an editor, include the abbreviation ed (for a single editor) or eds (for multiple editors) in round brackets, after the editor(s) name(s) e.g. Jackie Hanes (ed) or Hanes, J (ed).

Short quotations, up to 3 lines of text, should be incorporated into your text, within 'single quotation marks'.
Longer quotations, over 3 lines of text, should be presented in an indented paragraph, without quotation marks.

Page numbers

All direct quotations and paraphrasing should be referenced by a footnote, including the page, paragraph or section number(s) of the original source at the end of the footnote. OSCOLA uses limited page number signals: if citing a book, book chapter or report, the page number(s) stand alone at the end of the footnote (do not use p. or pp. or at). If citing a journal article or law report, where the reference ends with the first page number, you should separate the numbers with a comma i.e. first page, quoted page.

The first time a source is cited, it should be referenced in full, normally in a footnote. If the source is cited again, the subsequent references can be abbreviated, using either ibid or a short form and cross-reference. You are advised to leave ibids and short forms until your work is finished, as the numbering of footnotes may change during editing, and may lead to incorrect cross-references.

Ibid is an abbreviation of the Latin ibidem, meaning 'in the same place'. In referencing it is used to refer to the immediately preceding footnote. If you cite a source, and then cite the same source in the very next footnote, you can use 'ibid' in place of the full reference. If you are citing the same source, but at a different page number, simply add a comma after ibid and then the new page number.

Short forms and cross-references are used to reference to other previous footnotes, where they are not immediately preceding. If you cite a source, and then cite the same source later in your work, you can use a short form and cross reference to the original footnote.

For books and articles, the short form is normally the author's surname. For case law, the short form is normally the first party name, in italics. The short form is followed by the letter 'n' and a number in (round brackets) e.g. Smith (n 5). N is an abbreviation for footnote number, and the number is the number of the footnote containing the original full reference. If you are citing the same source, but at a different page number, simply add the new page number to the end of the reference.

Full reference of Secondary Source (as cited in Full reference of Primary Source, Page)

Benjamin Bowing, Violent Racism: Victimization, Policing, and Social Context . (OUP 1998) (as cited in Steve Case and others (eds), The Oxford Textbook on Criminology (2nd edn, OUP 2012) 212).

If you are reading a source, and it mentions another source, you may wish to cite the other source in your work.

The best academic practice is to find and read the original source and then cite it directly. If you are unable to find the original source, you can cite it indirectly, 'as cited in', another source. This practice of indirect citation is known as secondary referencing .

The primary source is the one you have read; the secondary source is the one you have read about. You should cite the full reference of both sources in your footnote, but only the primary source in your bibliography. Be careful, as this practice will create very long footnotes, which take words from your word count.

OSCOLA - Primary Sources

UK Legislation
EU Legislation
ECtHR Cases
International Legislation

International Cases

Act or statute.

Short Title | Year

Human Rights Act 1998.

Footnote with section number:

Human Rights Act 1998, s 12.

Footnote if subsequently referring to Act with abbreviation:

Human Rights Act 1998, s 12 (HRA 1998).

Table of Authorities:

Human Rights Act 1998

Statutory Instrument

Title | Year, | SI | Year/Number

Working Time Regulations 1999, SI 1999/3372.

Footnote with regulation number:

Working Time Regulations 1999, SI 1999/3372, reg 3.
Working Time Regulations 1999, SI 1999/3372

Case with a neutral citation

Case Name | Neutral Citation, | Law Report Citation

Case Name | [Year] Court-Abbreviation Case-Number, | [(Year)] Volume Law-Report-Abbreviation First-Page

After 2001, cases were assigned a neutral citation, in addition to their law report citation, which identifies the case by year, court and case number.

Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783.

Footnote with page [paragraph] number (and judge):

Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783, 790.
Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783 [4].
Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783 [177] (Burrows JSC).

Footnote if full case name stated in main body of text:

[2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783.
Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20, [2022] AC 783

Case without a neutral citation

Case Name | Law Report Citation (Court-Abbreviation)

Case Name | [(Year)] Volume Law-Report-Abbreviation First-Page (Court-Abbreviation)

Before 2001, cases were identified by the law report citation and an abbreviation for the court.

Kelly v Corston [1998] QB 686 (CA).

Footnote with page number (and judge):

Kelly v Corston [1998] QB 686 (CA) 708.
Kelly v Corston [1998] QB 686 (CA) 714 (Butler-Sloss LJ).
[1998] QB 686 (CA).
Kelly v Corston [1998] QB 686 (CA)

EU Treaties

Legislation Title | [Year] OJ | Issue/First-Page

Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders [2000] OJ L239/13.

Footnote with article number:

Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders [2000] OJ L239/13, art 19.
Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders [2000] OJ L239/13, art 19 (Schengen Agreement 2000).
Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders [2000] OJ L239/13

EU Regulations, Directives etc

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1.
Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1, art 5.

Footnote if subsequently referring to legislation with abbreviation:

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1, art 5 (GDPR 2016).
Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1

Case Number | Case Name | ECLI Citation, | Law Report Citation

Case Number | Case Name | Jurisdiction:Court:Year:Case-Number, | [(Year)] Volume Law-Report-Abbreviation First-Page

After 2011, EU cases were assigned a uniform citation ( European Case Law Identifier or ECLI ), in addition to their law report citation, which identifies the case by jurisdiction/country, court, year, and case number. ECLI citations are not covered in the OSCOLA 4th edition, but are included in the OSCOLA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and are expected to feature in the next edition of OSCOLA.

Case C-311/18) Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14.

Footnote with page [paragraph] number:

Case C-311/18) Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14, 502.
Case C-311/18) Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14, para 55.
EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14.

Case Name | (Number) | ECLI Citation, | Law Report Citation

Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems (C-311/18) EU:C:2020:559, [2021] 1 CMLR 14

In the Table of Authorities, the order of case name and case number are reversed, to aid alphabetical ordering of the list of cases.

Case Name | Law Report Citation

Case Name | [(Year)] Volume Law-Report-Abbreviation First-Page

Lopez Ribalda v Spain (2020) 71 EHRR 7.
Lopez Ribalda v Spain (2020) 71 EHRR 7, 319.
Lopez Ribalda v Spain (2020) 71 EHRR 7 [109].
(2020) 71 EHRR 7.
Lopez Ribalda v Spain (2020) 71 EHRR 7

Unreported cases

Case Name | App no Number/Year | (ECtHR, Judgment Date)

Lopez Ribalda v Spain App no 1874/13 (ECtHR, 19 October 2019).
Lopez Ribalda v Spain App no 1874/13 (ECtHR, 19 October 2019)

If a case is unreported in an official series of law reports, you can cite the judgment using the application number, court and judgment date.

International Treaties

The referencing rules for international law materials are covered in a separate OSCOLA: Citing International Law guide.

Where possible, cite from the official international treaty series in preference to others i.e. UNTS (United National Treaty Series) CTS (Consolidated Treaty Series) or LNTS (League of Nations Treaty Series). Otherwise cite from national official treaty series e.g. UKTS (United Kingdom Treaty Series) or other international treaty series.

Multilateral treaties

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (adopted 19 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW).
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (adopted 19 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW) art 15.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (adopted 19 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW)

For multi-lateral treaties, state the adopted (signature) date, and the entered into force date. This information is commonly available from the UNTC Online website, and the FLARE Index to Treaties .

Bilateral treaties

Treaty Title | (Parties-To-Treaty) (adopted Date, entered into force Date) | Volume | Treaty Series | First-Page (Abbreviation)

Security Treaty Between Australia and New Zealand and the United States (adopted 1 September 1951, entered into force 29 April 1952) 1952 ATS 2 (ANZUS).
Free Trade Agreement Between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Australia (16-17 December 2021) CP 689.

If the parties to bilateral treaties are not given in the treaty title, then state them in (round brackets) after the title. Adopted and in-force dates should be given where available. Bilateral treaties may be published in national treaty series, in the above examples in the Australian Treaty Series (ATS) and as a Command Paper (CP) for the UK treaty.

The referencing rules for international law materials are covered in a separate OSCOLA: Citing International Law guide.

Cite International Court of Justice cases from the official International Court of Justice Reports (ICJ Rep) series. For other international courts, cite from an authoritative law reports series such as the International Law Reports (ILR).

International Court of Justice

Case Name | ICJ Law Report Citation

Case Name | [Year] ICJ Rep First-Page

Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan, New Zealand intervening) [2014) ICJ Rep 226.

Footnote with page number:

Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan, New Zealand intervening) [2014) ICJ Rep 226, 236.

Footnote if full case name stated in main body of text:

[2014) ICJ Rep 226.
Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan, New Zealand intervening) [2014) ICJ Rep 226

Other International Courts

Case Name | [(Year)] | Volume | Law-Report-Abbreviation | First-Page

Law Society of South Africa and Others v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others (2020) 185 ILR 313.

OSCOLA - Secondary Sources

Encyclopaedias.

Conferences

Author, Title of Book (Edition edn, Publisher Year) 

Lisa Webley, Legal Writing (4th edn, Routledge 2016).
Anthony Bradney and others, How to Study Law (9th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2021).

The edition statement is only required for second or later editions. For first editions, or books without an edition statement, do not include '1st edn' in the reference.

The place of publication is not required. It is also permissible to abbreviate the publisher e.g. Oxford University Press = OUP.

For ebooks, follow the general rules for referencing print books. It is not necessary to include the ebook platform or web address.

Book chapters

Author, ‘Title of Chapter’, in Editor ed, Title of Book (Edition edn, Publisher Year) 

Fiona Cownie and Anthony Bradney, ‘Socio-Legal Studies: A Challenge to the Doctrinal Approach’, in Dawn Watkins and Mandy Burton (eds), Research Methods in Law (2nd edn, Routledge 2017).

Title of Encyclopaedia (Edition edn, Year) vol Volume, para Paragraph

Halsbury's Laws of England (5th edn, 2014) vol 20, para 32.

Author, 'Title of Article', Title of Encyclopaedia (Date) <web address> accessed Accessed-Date

Tom Brett Young, 'British Citizenship', Westlaw Edge UK Overview (7 March 2018) <https://uk.westlaw.com/> accessed 1 September 2022.

Encyclopaedias are commonly referenced by title, volume and paragraph number. If the author and article title are known, you can include them at the start of the reference, and it will more closely follow the referencing rules for book chapters.

If the encyclopaedia is published online only, and the article does not have volume and paragraph numbers, then include the web address and accessed date at the end of the reference.

Journal articles

Author, ‘Article Title’ Citation

The journal article citation is expressed as: ([Year]) Volume Journal-Abbreviation First-Page

Sue Carr, ‘Women in Commercial Law’ [2020] JBL 91.
Christopher McCrudden, ‘Legal Research and the Social Sciences’ (2006) 122 LQR 632.

Legal abbreviations are normally stated in the journal, but if unknown, please refer to the Cardiff Index of Legal Abbreviations .

If the journal does not have a legal abbreviation, use the full title of the journal instead.

The year is normally in (round brackets), but where journals do not have volume numbers, the year should be in [square brackets].

Online journal articles

For most ejournals, follow the general rules for referencing print journal articles. Some journals are published online only, and articles do not have page numbers. For online only journals, include the web address and accessed date at the end of the reference.

Author, ‘Title of Article’ Citation <web-address> accessed Accessed-Date

India Thusi, 'Blue Lives and the Permanence of Racism' (2020) 105 Cornell L Rev <https://www.cornelllawreview.org/2020/03/03/blue-lives-the-permanence-of-racism/> accessed 1 September 2022.

Newspaper articles

Author, ‘Title of Article’, Title of Newspaper (Place, Publication-Date) First-Page

Matt Datham, 'Human Rights Overhaul Set to Limit Power of European Judges', The Times (London, 22 June 2022) 1.

Online newspaper articles

Author, ‘Title of Article’, Title of Newspaper (Place, Publication-Date) <web-address> accessed Accessed-Date

Haroon Siddique, 'What Would a British Bill of Rights Look Like?', The Guardian (London, 21 June 2022) <https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/jun/21/what-would-a-british-bill-of-rights-look-like> accessed 1 September 2022.

Author, Title of Website (Publication-Date) <web-address> accessed Accessed-Date

Equality and Human Rights Commission, University Periodic Review of Great Britain (27 April 2022) <https://equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/universal-periodic-review-great-britain> accessed 1 September 2022.

The referencing rules for websites can be adapted for other types of media including government publications, official reports and statistics, and audio-visual materials like films, documentaries, and YouTube videos.

There are specific referencing rules for parliamentary papers including Bills, Command Papers and Hansard Debates. Please refer to the full OSCOLA referencing guide for further information.

Blogs posts

Author, ‘Title of Blog Post’ ( Title of Blog , Publication-Date) <web-address> accessed Accessed-Date

David Allen Green, 'A First Glance at the Bill of Rights Bill' ( The Law and Policy Blog , 22 June 2022) <https://davidallengreen.com/2022/06/a-first-glance-at-the-bill-of-rights-bill/> accessed 1 September 2022.

The referencing rules for blog posts can be adapted for other types of serialised media including episodes of television and radio programmes, and podcasts .

Author, 'Title of Thesis' (Award, Awarding Body Year)

Martha Gayoye, 'The Role of the Judiciary in Constitution Making: The Two-Thirds Gender Principle in Kenya' (DPhil thesis, University of Warwick 2020).

Conference papers

Author, 'Title of Paper' (Title of Conference, Place, Date)

Stephanie Hare, 'Digital Ethics' (British and Irish Association of Law Librarians, Wyboston Lakes, 7 July 2022).

Lecture materials

The referencing rules for conference papers can be adapted for other types of public lecture. They can also be adapted for lectures delivered as part of taught modules, although you should generally avoid citing your lecturers or teaching materials.

Alex Sharpe, 'Flirting with Fascism: The Thin White Duke, Art and Ethical Limits' (University of Warwick, 4 February 2021) <https://youtu.be/dndz5K3-caQ> accessed 1 September 2022.
Serena Natile, 'Gender, Sexuality and Human Rights' (LA346: Gender and the Law, University of Warwick 2021).

Referencing Tutorials

Online tutorials providing an introduction to the general principles of plagiarism and referencing , and to the OSCOLA legal referencing style. If you would like to complete a How to do OSCOLA Referencing course, the online tutorials from Cardiff and IALS are recommended:

Academic and Legal Research Skills

Discover a range of library and study skills guides including how to study law, how to think critically, and how to write law essays and prepare for examinations.

Discover how to find legislation, case law, and journal articles using law databases, including Doing Legal Research online course and Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK law database training and certification courses.

Discover how to avoid plagiarism, how to use the OSCOLA legal referencing style , and how to manage references with EndNote referencing software.

Discover the library's support for researchers including literature searching, reference management, research data management, open access and publishing, and research metrics.

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Legal Citation Guides and Abbreviations

Legal citation guides (us-based), legal citation guides (other countries), general (nonlegal) citation guides, legal abbreviation lists, general (nonlegal) abbreviation lists, getting help.

Part of doing legal research is citing your authorities properly and tracking down items with unfamiliar citations. This research guide lists citation manuals and dictionaries of legal abbreviations to help you with these tasks.

When filing legal documents with a court, court rules of citation apply. Consult court rules for required citation format, usually found in the jurisdiction's Rules of Procedure. When submitting written work to non-law journals, consult the journal to determine preferred citation format.

The Bluebook is the main citation manual for law in the U.S. This guide lists Bluebook alternatives, but you should assume that Bluebook format is preferred by academic law journals and law school writing programs.

The Bluebook

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 21st ed. Compiled by the Law Review editors of Columbia, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale, this guide is the most widely used citation manual for law. It prescribes citation formats for most U.S. law sources. It is not comprehensive for foreign law. For guidance citing sources not addressed, see the Guide to Foreign and Legal Citation.
The Bluebook Online, by personal, fee-based subscription The library does not have institutional access to the Bluebook online. You may purchase individual subscriptions from this page.

Bluebook Aids

Users Guide to the Bluebook by Alan Dworsky 2020 revised for 21st ed.
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter Martin
Bluebook Citation for LL.M. Students (HLSL Guide)
Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations Reversed Provides more comprehensive list of abbreviations for legal publications than the Bluebook and better guidance for online sources like press releases, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

Bluebook Alternatives

ALWD Guide to Legal Citation, 7th ed. From the Association of Legal Writing Directors, this alternative to the Bluebook follows Bluebook-prescribed format but provides more examples and requires more bibliographic information for some sources.
(The Maroonbook) The University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation Created as a practical alternative to the Bluebook, the Maroonbook sets general guidelines and encourages the use of common sense when devising non-prescribed citation formats.
The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style by Bryan Garner 4th ed. Covers citation format but also style guidance for punctuation, capitalization and grammar. 3d edition available at same call number.
Universal Citation Guide (Harvard login) Authored by the American Association of Law Libraries, this legal citation guide suggests a vendor-neutral format to facilitate the citation of online legal sources.
The Indigo Book: An Open and Compatible Implementation of A Uniform System of Citation Free citation manual similar to the Bluebook system of legal citation.

Foreign and International Citation Guides

UCIA, Universal Citation in International Arbitration Covers citation formats for international arbitration including International Court Decisions, supporting documentary materials and arbitral proceedings.
Bluebook Table 2 Foreign Jurisdictions Citation formats for materials of non-U.S. jurisdictions is available free online.
Guide to Foreign and International Legal Citations, 2d. ed. From the NYU Journal of International Law & Politics, this guide provides citation formats for non-U.S. and International legal materials.

State Specific Legal Citation Guides

California Style Manual (Westlaw login)
Uniform Maine Citations
Massachusetts SJC Official Reports Style Manual
New York Law Reports Style Manual
New York Rules of Citation
A Guide to South Carolina Legal Research and Citation
(Texas) Manual on Usage and Style (Texas)
Wisconsin Guide to Citation

Tax Citation Guides

Citation and Style Manual U.S. Dept. of Justice Tax Division
The Canadian Tax Foundation Style Guide
TaxCite: A Federal Tax Citation and Reference Manual The American Bar Association Section of Taxation and the Virginia Tax Review authored this manual for citing tax-related documents. Tax materials are not comprehensively addressed by the Bluebook.

U.S. Court and Government Citation Manuals and Style Guides

The Supreme Court's Style Guide The style manual used by the Reporter of Decisions of the U.S. Reports. It is not prescriptive to brief-writers, but the style suggestions are worth noting.
7th Circuit's Requirements and Suggestions for Typography
Fed. Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 32, Form of Briefs, Appendices, and Other Papers (Lexis login)
U.S. GPO Style Manual: An Official Guide to the Form and Style of Federal Government (Harvard login)

Citation Guides for Foreign Law

Guide to Foreign and Legal Citations, 2nd ed. Editors from the New York University School of Law's Journal of International Law and Politics have prepared this citation manual focusing on foreign jurisdictions and international law.
HOLLIS Search for Legal Citation Manuals Add a jurisdiction on the second line to search for citation manuals for a specific jurisdiction.
International Citator & Research Guide: the Greenbook Four volumes currently available of planned 6-volume reference work focused on foreign and international legal materials.

Jurisdiction-Specific Citation Guides

Australian Guide to Legal Citation
Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill Guide)
Canadian Open Access Legal (COAL) Citation Guide/Guide Canadien de la Référence Juridique en Accès Libre (RJAL),
(Germany) Abkürzungsverzeichnis der Rechtssprache
(Great Britain) Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations
(Great Britain) OSCOLA: Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities
(Great Britain) How to Cite Legal Authorities
(India) Standard Indian Legal Citation Order a copy of the working draft.
(Ireland) Oscola Ireland
(New Zealand) Style Guide
(Quebec) Références Législatives, Jurisprudentielles et Doctrinales: Guide Pour le Droit Québécois
The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Harvard login)
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd ed.
APA Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
Harvard Referencing Harvard referencing is an in-text, author-date style. You will see references to Harvard citation format on HOLLIS records. There is no official guide to the format.
(Turabian) A Manual for Writers for Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style, 8th ed.
The Chicago Guide to Writing About Numbers, 2d ed. Useful for researchers presenting statistical information.
Cite Right: A Quick Guide to Citation Styles--MLA, APA, Chicago, the Sciences, Professions, and More, 2d ed.
The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources: a Manual for Writers & Librarians

Citation Management Software

Citation Tools at Harvard Compares Endnote, Mendeley, and Zotero and provides basic information about each.

Citation Guides for Online Sources

The Bluebook has a rule for citing Internet resources, but the following guides are more detailed and may provide extra guidance.

The Columbia Guide to Online Style
APA Quick Style Guide See Quick Answers for citing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
Citing Electronic Resources by the Internet Public Library

Abbreviations used in legal citation are often inscrutable, e.g., 54 F.R.D. 85 or 32 L. Ed. 2d 95. Before you can track down a publication, you need to figure out its complete title. The following abbreviation lists are usage oriented and include variants of citations as well as standard forms.

In addition to those listed here, Harvard Law School Library has many other jurisdiction-specific legal abbreviation lists. To locate them, use this HOLLIS search and add your jurisdiction.

Prince's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations (Formerly Bieber's) The most used list of legal abbreviations. Use it to find the full name of the reporter, code, or other legal source for which you only have the abbreviation.
World Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations by Igor Kavass Provides the full name of legal publications from many countries by their abbreviations. For historical research, there is an appendix covering pre-1607.
Black's Law Dictionary (Westlaw login) Has appendix for law-related abbreviations.
Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations by Donald Raistrick Focus is legal publications from the Commonwealth countries.
Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations Free online tool for abbreviations from the U.K. and Commonwealth countries.
Noble's Revised International Guide to the Law Reports Lists full titles for the array of English law reporter abbreviations.

The following lists are in addition to legal abbreviation lists. They will help you find the full names or words from government, legal, medical, military, and technical abbreviations.

Abbreviations and Acronyms Lists

Acronym Finder
Abbreviations.com
Acronyms, Initialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary (Harvard login) Use catalog link to online version.
International Acronyms, Initialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary International in coverage, but weak for U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
GovSpeak: A Guide to Government Acronyms & Abbreviations Acronyms and abbreviations used by the U.S. Government. Does not include military terms.
DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (large pdf) Includes acronyms.

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Footnotes, endnotes, and citations

What citations should I use in my essay?

Regular essays and timed exams

Most instructors at the undergraduate level (including instructors on law conversion courses) do not require students to do more than indicate the names of cases or statutes in the text of their essays and examinations, particularly in timed examinations. While it's preferable to give the full case name (such as Jones v Smith), in a timed examination you can get by with one name or the other. Usually people pick the first party's name, unless it's a very common name or a criminal case. Sometimes, though, you will notice that your textbook or lecturer uses the second party's name regularly. If you know that the case is commonly short-cited to the second party's name, go ahead and use that.

If you can't remember the name of a particular case or statute, simply describe it. For example, 'the snail in the bottle case' sufficiently evokes Donoghue v. Stevenson . 'The first Occupiers' Liability Act' gets you past worries about the particular year it was enacted. Of course, if you are working on a weekly essay or a long-term research project you must take the trouble of finding and putting in the proper title or citation.

Once you have used the full name once, feel free to use a short citation, such as ' Donoghue' or 'the 1984 Act.' There's no need to keep repeating the full name.

If you are writing your essay by hand, there is no need to use different coloured ink for a case or statutory citation. It often helps if you underline case names, but you won't lose points if you don't. If you are typing your essay, you can underline or italicise case names, but there's no need for elaborate type faces. Make your writing stand out rather than your design skills. Sometimes it seems that students spend more time formatting the essay than they do writing it. Don't be one of those students.

Typically, citations in a regular essay or timed examination are placed in the text next to the proposition they support. See the sample student essays in chapter 10 of the book for models.

These suggestions are only guidelines to use if you do not receive more specific instructions from your tutor or lecturer. If your university or instructors have particular rules that they wish you to follow, do so.

Long-term research essays and theses

If you are doing a long-term research project, you should use the full and proper citation, either in a footnote, an endnote or in the text. Again, once you have given the citation in full, you may use the appropriate short citation.

Very often, instructors will give formatting advice for long-term research essays. Certainly students doing masters theses will be given detailed information on the citation convention they are to use. If you have not been given any guidance, ask for it. Also, don't wait until the last minute to investigate your citation requirements. There's nothing worse than having to go back through all your research to add in specific page numbers or dates because you forgot to do it the first time. With a long-term project, you can and should plan ahead.

When should I quote and when should I paraphrase?

As mentioned in the book, quotes are good in the law. The words of Lord Justice Whozits are much more persuasive than a mere lawyer's. Use quotations freely, as long as you:

use the exact words and punctuation found in the original source;
use square brackets [ ] to indicate changes in capitalization, punctuation and language; and
provide the source of the quotation.

Remember also that extensive quotations from statutes – particularly if you are permitted to use the statute book in an otherwise closed examination – are not particularly impressive. What is more important in those situations is your interpretation and use of the statute.

Never include the precise language of a source – or language that is virtually identical – without a proper attribution. Not only does that constitute plagiarism, it is counter to the use of source material in law. The law depends on published precedent for its authority. A legal principle is only as good as its source. Therefore, you want to demonstrate where your various propositions come from, since they will be more valuable if they come from an outside source.

However, there are times when you should paraphrase rather than provide a direct quotation. If the pertinent section is very long or discusses issues that are not relevant to the point you are making, then go ahead and paraphrase. Similarly, if the point you are making is only tangential to your larger argument, a paraphrase may be appropriate. Sometimes it's wise to save your ammunition for the big issues.

If you are paraphrasing someone, it is still helpful to identify the source so that your reader knows that you are not making the proposition up out of whole cloth. Again, lawyers and judges evaluate the strength of your argument based on the strength of your sources. Show your reader how well-read you are and earn every point you possibly can.

When should I use footnotes, when should I use endnotes and when should I put the citation in the text?

For the most part, undergraduates can put their citations in the text of their essays. The citation can be set off mid-sentence through parenthesis ( Hansel v Gretel ) or can follow the sentence. Hansel v Gretel . The one exception for undergraduates is on long-term research projects, where the instructors might ask for footnotes or endnotes.

There is no formal convention on when you should use footnotes rather than endnotes. For the most part, it's a matter of style and personal choice, although the choice may not be yours to make. If you are writing a postgraduate thesis or dissertation, your faculty or your supervisor may have very strict ideas on how the work is to be presented. Follow those rules to the letter. Similarly, if you are hoping to have your work published in a periodical or legal journal, ask to see the editorial guidelines. An editor is much more likely to accept your work if it conforms to the house style.

If the issue is left entirely up to you, then you simply need to decide which form of notes you find more helpful. Footnotes can be seen to break the flow of the text, but they also help the reader follow the argument, particularly if the text is comparing and contrasting different sources. Footnotes are also more useful than endnotes if the footnotes contain substantive information rather than simply providing source material. For the most part, British and European writers do not include anything in their foot- or endnotes other than the citations themselves, possibly with a “see also” reference to additional material. American authors, on the other hand, fill their footnotes with additional substantive information. Often the best information in an American law review article can be found in the footnotes.

American legal texts are also known for dropping a footnote at the end of almost every sentence, whereas texts from other countries do so much less, usually only following a direct quote. The reason why American journals use as many footnotes as they do is because most American law journals are edited by law students. British and European journals are peer-reviewed, meaning that an article is only accepted if it passes muster with other academics and/or practitioners. Therefore, the text of the article is verified before it is accepted for publication. American students are not experts in their fields, so they must – and do – check the substance of each and every footnote by hand to make sure that it supports the proposition stated. Therefore, American law journals contain excellent source material for researchers, since the footnotes point the reader to a wide variety of verified information and additional resources. Because American footnotes contain so much information, it makes sense to place them on the same page as the text they support rather than at the end of the article or book.

If you are writing for a non-American audience, you should strongly consider putting citations only into your notes. Once you have made that decision, it matters less whether you put the note on the page or at the end of the piece. If you have a multi-chaptered work (such as a book or doctoral dissertation), then you might consider putting the notes at the end of each chapter rather than at the end of the work as a whole. However, it is highly unlikely that the decision to use footnotes or endnotes will be left to your discretion if you are writing a book or dissertation. Again, conform your text to the guidelines of your institution.

Do remember your punctuation, however. Footnotes and endnotes should both end with a full stop.

What is 'proper' citation form?

If you are an undergraduate writing a weekly essay or timed examination, a case name or the short title of a statute should be sufficient, unless you are told otherwise. If you are writing a more elaborate work, you should follow proper citation guidelines.

There are entire books written on how to cite legal authorities. If you are writing a detailed research paper such as a thesis or dissertation, you should consult one of those books so that you cite your sources properly. Your law librarian can help you find those resources. Also, you should know that each jurisdiction has its own conventions on how to cite legal authorities, so the style of case citation, for example, may not appear consistent if you are citing materials from different countries, even if the individual citations are correct.

In the U.K., authors generally do not give parallel (i.e., multiple) citations except when citing both a neutral reporter and an official reporter, though they must follow strict rules regarding punctuation (or the lack thereof), the type of brackets, typeface, etc. Examples of common British case citations are as follows.

Walker v Sitter [2004] EWHC 1000 (Ch) [5]-[7] (neutral citation, pinpointing paragraphs 5 to 7)

Yin v Yang [2004] QB 123 (QB) at 125 (Schmidt, J) (pinpointing page, noting author)

Tweedledee v Tweedledum [2003] 2 All ER 456 (HL)

Re Luftborough Airport [2002] 1 WLR 89 (Com Ct)

Barking Mad Ltd v Crazy Horse Int'l Inc (2005) Times, 15 April (QB)

The neutral citation system was introduced in the U.K. in January 2001. All cases since then have a neutral citation as well as numbered paragraphs instead of page numbers. The abbreviations indicate which court heard the case. For example, the jurisdictions include:

UK United Kingdom (used only with House of Lords decisions)

EW England and Wales

Scot Scotland

NI Northern Ireland

The court abbreviations which follow the jurisdictional abbreviation in a neutral citation are:

HL House of Lords

CA Civ Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

CA Crim Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

HC (Ch) High Court (Chancery Division)

HC (QB) High Court (Queen's Bench)

HC (Admin) High Court (Administrative Court Division)

HC (Fam) High Court (Family Division)

HC (Pat) Patents Court

HC (Comm) Commercial Court

HC (Admlty) Admiralty Court

HC (TCC) Technology & Construction Court

European jurisprudence follows its own conventions. You might see citations along the following lines:

Case 26/97 Commission v. Ireland [1999] ECR 321

Case 177/75 Belgium v. Spain [1976] ECR 722, para. 3

Case C-123/92P Y v Commission [1994] ECR I-4321

American legal citations follow a different format, using the style known as the 'Bluebook', which is a citation guide put out by the Harvard Law Review. You'll usually see citations similar to the following:

Darth Vader v Skywalker , 103 F.3d 1049 (2d Cir. 2005)

In re Ballyhoo , 998 F.Supp. 22 (D. D.C. 1999)

Grasshopper v The Ant , 37 App. 2d 24 (Ill. App. Div. 2003)

Cowboy v Cow , 42 S.W.3d 444 (Tex. 2004)

Many common words (railway, limited, public limited company) can be abbreviated in a case name. Those abbreviations can be found in citation guides such as OSCOLA, which is described below. Similarly, many reporting series are known by their abbreviations. Some of the more common British reporters follow, with their short titles. Be aware that some of these series may also have numbers appearing before the volume name (for example, 2 QB).

Official Law Reports AC, QB, Ch, Fam, P

Weekly Law Reports WLR

European Court Reports ECR

All England Law Reports All ER, All ER Com

Common Market Law Reports CMLR

Criminal Appeal Reports Cr App R

Family Law Reports FLR

Lloyd's Law Reports Lloyd's Rep

Official Journal of the EC OJ

Scots Law Times CLT

The Times The Times

Citation of statutes in the U.K. is a straightforward affair. Typically a student needs only cite the name of the legislation and the year, along with the appropriate section, chapter or paragraph number. For example:

Companies Act 1985, sch. 1, para. 3

Arbitration Act 1996, s. 69

European legislation is equally simple, though the titles are often longer and appear in lower case.

Council Regulation (EC) 2693/94 addressing the need to conform widget size in automobiles [1994] OJ L123

Directive 77/331 applying competition rules to the dairy industry [1977] OJ L78/41

When citing American federal legislation and rules, do not include the name of the enactment.

28 U.S.C. § 1391

Fed. R. Civ. P. 4

Students should be aware that two well-known U.S. treatise series – the Restatement (of Tort, of Contract, of Foreign Relations, etc.) and A.L.R. (American Law Reports) do not constitute binding authority in the U.S. Instead, these works simply generalise about the laws of the various U.S. states and should not be considered as authoritative in any particular jurisdiction. While some courts may adopt the Restatement position on a particular issue, the Restatement does not constitute the law in that jurisdiction until a court has so stated. In all instances, the authority comes from the court, not the Restatement.

Which reporting series should I use?

Since the introduction of the neutral citation system in 2001, it is always proper to cite to that series, using paragraph numbers instead of page numbers. If a case is reported in the official Law Reports (AC, QB, etc.), then you should use that report in addition to the neutral citation (at least for decisions after 2001). If the case is not reported in the official Law Reports, you should use to the Weekly Law Reports and All England Law Reports, in that order. After that, you may turn to any other published source, including specialist series such as Lloyd's or the Times.

What is OSCOLA and how does it relate to the Harvard citation style?

'OSCOLA' refers to the Oxford Standard Citation of Legal Authorities, which is available free of charge on the University of Oxford Faculty of Law website ( www.law.ox.ac.uk ). The faculty releases two publications: 'Big OSCOLA', which is over 300 pages in length, and 'Little OSCOLA', which is about 30 pages long. Both documents give you detailed instructions on how to cite cases, statutes, books, journals and other legal materials. Most people should start with Little OSCOLA unless they are doing a postgraduate degree at Oxford or are directed to use Big OSCOLA. The OSCOLA system reflects a common understanding of how British legal authorities should be cited and is a good place to learn how British and European cases should be referenced. Notably, the OSCOLA system proposes a citation methodology that conflicts with American usage, and those whose work includes a large number of American cases may prefer to consult the latest edition of the Bluebook, which is available in many university law libraries, for U.S. sources.

You may also hear about the Harvard style of citation, particularly if you conduct socio-legal or other multi-disciplinary research. The Harvard style is not the same as the Bluebook, even though that guide is also put out by Harvard. The Harvard style of citation focuses primarily on non-legal sources such as books and journal articles, and, as such, is not as useful for those taking a strict law course as OSCOLA is. Under the Harvard style of citation, cases are cited in the text, rather than in the footnotes.

Citation signals

Older sources make wide use of Latin phrases such as infra, supra, ante, id, op cit, loc cit and contra . American sources continue to use many of these phrases in addition to a number of signals ( see, see also, but see, cf., accord ) at the beginning of a cite and descriptors ( cert. denied , aff'd by, rev'd by, superseded by , etc.) following a cite. Current British usage avoids all Latin phrases except for ibid , which means 'in the place of' and refers to the preceding citation only. You may only use ibid if the subsequent citation is to the same page; otherwise, use ibid 345 (if, for example, the new citation is to page number 345) or ibid art. 3 (if, for example, the new citation is to article 3). You may also use cf (compare) as a signal, but avoid the American use of see, see also, but see , etc.

Select your Country

How to write a first-class bibliography for a legal essay

November 9, 2010

How to write a bibliography to conclude your first-class dissertation

There are three stages for completing an abundant and competent bibliography. First, go into the footnotes on your document, select all, copy and paste to the foot of your article, then separate into different categories. Then, second, go back through the materials which you have read and add them. Finally, third, sort alphabetically using Word or Excel.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 7.1. TABLE OF CASES A and others v Denmark [1996] ECHR 2 AG of Zambia v Meer Care and Desai [2005] EWHC 2102 (Ch), appeals dismissed [2006] EWCA Civ 390 Airbus Industrie GIE v Patel [1999] 1 AC 119 Airey v Ireland [1979] ECHR 3 Al-Bassam v Al-Bassam [2004] EWCA Civ 857 Amuur v France (1996) 22 E.H.R.R. 533 Andreucci v Italy [1992] ECHR 8 Ashingdane v United Kingdom [1985] ECHR 8 Att. Gen. v Arthur Anderson & Co [1989] ECC 224 Axelsson v. Sweden, no.11960/86, 13 July 1990 Bensaid v United Kingdom (2001) 33 EHRR 10 Berghofer v. ASA SA Case 221/84 [1985] ECR 2699 Berisford Plc v New Hampshire Insurance [1990] 2 QB 631 Bock v. Germany [1989] ECHR 3 Boddaert v Belgium (1993) 16 EHRR 242 Bosphorus Hava Yollari Turizm Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi(“Bosphorus Airways“) v Ireland (2006) 42 EHRR 1 Bottazzi v. Italy [1999] ECHR 62 Brazilian Loans (PCIJ Publications, Series A, Nos. 20-21, p.122) Bristow Heliocopters v Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation [2004] 2 Ll Rep 150 British Airways v Laker Airways [1983] AC 58 British South Africa Co v Companhia de Moçambique [1893] AC 602 Buchholz v Germany [1981] ECHR 2 Carel Johannes Steven Bentinck v Lisa Bentinck [2007] EWCA Civ 175 Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka AS v Nomura International Plc [2003] IL Pr 20 Chellaram v Chellaram [1985] 1 Ch 409 Connelly v RTZ Corpn plc [1998] AC 854 Credit Agricole Indosuez v Unicof Ltd [2004] 1 Lloyd.s Rep 196 Cumming v Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd, The Times June 8, 1995 Darnell v United Kingdom (1993) 18 EHRR 205 Delcourt v Belgium (1979-80) 1 EHRR 355 Derbyshire CC v Times Newspapers Ltd [1992] QB 770 Deweer v Belgium (1979-80) 2 EHRR 439 Di Mauro v. Italy ECHR 1999-V Drozd and Janousek v France and Spain (1992) 14 EHRR 745 Eckle v Germany (1983) 5 EHRR 1 Elderslie Steamship Company v Burrell (1895) 22 R 389 Elefanten Schuh GmbH v Jacqmain (Case 150/80) [1981] ECR 1671 Erich Gasser GmbH v Misat Srl, C-116/02 [2005] QB 1 ERT v DEP C-260/89 [1991] ECR I-2925 F v Switzerland [1987] ECHR 32 Ferrari v Italy [1999] ECHR 64 Foti v Italy (1982) EHRR 313 Fritz and Nana v France, 75 DR 39 Golder v. United Kingdom [1975] ECHR 1 Gorbachev v Russia, No. 3354/02, Judgment of 15 February 2007. Government of the United States of America v Montgomery (No 2) [2004] UKHL 37 Guincho v Portugal (1984) 7 EHRR 223 H v France (1990) 12 EHRR 74 Hesperides Hotels Ltd v Aegan Turkish Holidays Ltd [1979] AC 508 Hewit’s Trs v Lawson (1891) 18 R 793. Huseyin Erturk v Turkey [2005] ECHR 630. Irish Shipping Ltd v Commercial Union [1991] 2 QB 206. Iveco Fiat v Van Hool Case 313/85 [1986] ECR 3337 Jones v Saudi Arabia [2004] EWCA Civ 1394 JP Morgan Europe Ltd v Primacom [2005] EWHC 508 Katte Klitsche de la Grange v Italy (1994) 19 EHRR 368 Klockner Holdings GmbH v Klockner Beteiligungs GmbH [2005] EWHC 1453 Konamaneni v Rolls-Royce Industrial Power (India) Ltd [2002] 1 WLR 1269 Konig v Federal Republic of Germany (1978) 2 EHRR 170 Krombach v Bamberski Case C-7/98 [2001] QB 709 Kudla v Poland [2000] ECHR 512 Lacey v Cessna Aircraft (1991) 932 F.2d 170 Ledra Fisheries Ltd v Turner [2003] EWHC 1049 Lubbe v Cape Industries Plc [2000] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 383 Malone v United Kingdom (1985) 7 EHRR 1 Malstrom v Sweden (1983) 38 Decisions and Reports 18 Manieri v Italy [1992] ECHR 26 Margareta and Roger Andersson v Sweden (1992) 14 EHRR 615. Markovic v Italy [2006] ECHR 1141 Maronier v Larmer [2003] QB 620 Matthews v United Kingdom [1999] ECHR 12. Messier-Dowty v Sabena [2000] 1 WLR 2040 Netherlands 6202/73 1975 1 DR 66 OT Africa Line Ltd v Hijazy (The Kribi) [2001] Lloyd’s Rep 76 Owens Bank Ltd v Bracco [1992] 2 AC 433 Owners of the Atlantic Star v Owners of the Bona Spes (The Atlantic Star and The Bona Spes) [1974] AC 436 Owusu v Jackson and Others C-281/02 [2005] QB 801 Pafitis v Greece (1999) 27 EHRR 566 Pfeiffer and Plankl v Austria (1992) 14 EHRR 692 Philip Morris International Inc v Commission of the European Communities [2003] ECR II-1 Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein v Germany ECHR 2001-VIII. R (Razgar) v Special Adjudicator [2004] 1 AC 368 R v Jones [2003] 1 AC 1 R. (Alconbury Developments Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Environment [2001] 2 WLR 1389 R. (on the application of Ullah) v Special Adjudicator [2004] UKHL 26 Riccardo Pizzati v Italy [2006] ECHR 275 Robins v United Kingdom (1998) 26 EHRR 527 Salesi v Italy [1993] ECHR 14 Salotti v RUWA Case 23/76 [1976] ECR 1831 Santambrogio v Italy [2004] ECHR 430 Scopelliti v Italy (1993) 17 EHRR 493 Sim v Robinow (1892) 19 R 665 Soc Divagsa v Spain (1993) 74 DR 274. Soering v United Kingdom (1989) 11 EHRR 439 Spiliada Maritime Corporation v Cansulex Lid [1987] 1 AC 460 Standard Steamship Owners Protection and Indemnity Association v Gann [1992] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 528 Stogmuller v Austria (1979) 2 EHRR 155 Stubbings v United Kingdom [1996] ECHR 44 Sunday Times v United Kingdom (1979-80) 2 EHRR 245 The Al Battani [1993] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 219 The Benarty [1984] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 244 The Fehmarn [1958] 1 WLR 159 The Jalakrishna [1983] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 628 The Lakhta [1992] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 269 The Nile Rhapsody [1992] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 399 The Pioneer Container [1994] 2 AC 324 The Polessk [1996] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 40 The Vishva Ajay [1989] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 558 Toepfer International G.M.B.H. v. Molino Boschi Srl [1996] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 510 Trendex v Credit Suisse [1982] AC 679 Turner v Grovit and Others [2005] 1 AC 101 Union Alimentaria SA v Spain (1990) 12 EHRR 24 Vocaturo v Italy [1991] ECHR 34. Wemhoff v Germany (1968) 1 EHRR 55 Winterwerp v The Netherlands [1979] ECHR 4 X v France [1992] ECHR 45 Xn Corporation Ltd v Point of Sale Ltd [2001] I.L.Pr. 35 Z and Others v. United Kingdom (2002) 34 EHRR 3 Zimmermann and Steiner v Switzerland [1983] ECHR 9 7.2. TABLE OF LEGISLATION European Union EC Treaty Art 6(2) Art 307 Council Regulation 44/2001 (Brussels Regulation) Art 2 Art 4 Art 27 Art 28 Art 30 Art 34(1) Art 34(2) Art 35(3) Art 71 Italy Law no.89 of 24 March 2001 (the “Pinto Act”). United Kingdom Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 11 r 3.1(2)(f) Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) s1(1)(a) s2(1)(a) s3(1) s6(3)(a) 7.3. TABLE OF CONVENTIONS Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Brussels Convention) Art 21 Art 22 Art 57 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Art 5 Art 6 Art 7 Art 13 7.4. TEXTBOOKS Anton, A.E., and Beaumont, P., 1995. Anton & Beaumont’s Civil Jurisdiction in Scotland: Brussels and Lugano Conventions. 2nd ed ., Edinburgh: Greens Bell, A., 2003. Forum Shopping and Venue in Transnational Litigation. Oxford: OUP Briggs, A., 2002. The Conflict of Laws, Oxford: OUP. Briggs, A., and Rees, P., 2002. Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments. 3rd ed., London: LLP Briggs, A., and Rees, P., 2005. Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments. 4rd ed., London: LLP Clarkson, C.M.V., and Hill, J., 2002. Jaffey on the Conflict of Laws. 2nd ed., Oxford: OUP Clarkson, C.M.V., and Hill, J., 2006. The Conflict of Laws. New York: OUP Clayton, R. and Tomlinson, H., 2000. The Law of Human Rights. Oxford: OUP Collier, J.C., 2001. Conflict of Laws. 3rd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Collins, L., et al (eds), 2006. Dicey Morris and Collins on the Conflict of Laws. 14th ed. London: Sweet and Maxwell Crawford, E.B., and Carruthers, J.M., 2006. International Private Law in Scotland. 2nd ed, Edinburgh: Greens Einhorn, T. and Siehr, K., 2004. Intercontinental Cooperation Through Private International Law – Essays in Memory of Peter E. Nygh. The Hague, The Netherlands: T.M.C. Asser Press. Fawcett, J.J., 1995. Declining jurisdiction in private international law: reports to the XIVth congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, Athens, August 1994. Oxford: Clarendon Press Fawcett, J.J., Harris, J. and Bridge, M., 2005. International Sale of Goods in the Conflict of Laws. Oxford: OUP Grosz, S., Beatson, J. and Duffy, P., 2000. Human Rights: The 1998 Act and the European Convention,.London: Sweet and Maxwell Harris, D.J., O’Boyle, M., Warbrick, C., 1995. Law of the European Convention on Human Rights. London: Butterworth Hill, J., 2005. International Commercial Disputes in English Courts. 3rd ed Portland: Hart Publishing McClean, D. and Beevers, K., 2005. Morris on the Conflict of Laws. 6th ed., London: Sweet and Maxwell North, P.M. and Fawcett, J.J., 2004. Cheshire and North’s Private International Law. 13th ed. Oxford: OUP Ovey, C. and White, R., 2002. The European Convention on Human Rights. New York: OUP Raitio, J., 2003. The Principle of Legal Certainty in EC Law. The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers Reed, R. and Murdoch, J., 2001. A Guide to Human Rights Law in Scotland. Edinburgh: Butterworths Scotland Starmer, K., 1999. European Human Rights Law. London: Legal Action Group 7.5. ARTICLES Baldwin, J., and Cunnington, R., 2004. “The Crisis in Enforcement of Civil Judgments in England and Wales.” 2004 PL (SUM) 305-328 Briggs, A., 2005a. “Foreign Judgments and Human Rights.” 121(APR) L.Q.R. 185-189 Briggs, A., 2005b. “The Death of Harrods: Forum non Conveniens and the European Court.” 121(OCT) L.Q.R. 535-540 Clarke, A., 2007. “The Differing Approach to Commercial Litigation in the European Court of Justice and the Courts of England and Wales” 18 E.B.L.Rev. 101-129 Collins, L., 1995. “The Brussels Convention Within the United Kingdom”, 111 LQR 541 Costa, J-P., 2002, Rivista internazionale dei diritti dell’uomo, 435, cited in Kinsch, P., 2004. “The Impact of Human Rights on the Application of Foreign Law and on the Recognition of Foreign Judgments – A Survey of the Cases Decided by the European Human Rights Institutions,” in Einhorn, T. and Siehr, K., 2004. Intercontinental Cooperation Through Private International Law – Essays in Memory of Peter E. Nygh, The Hague, The Netherlands: T.M.C. Asser Press, pp197-228, p228 n100 Crawford, E.B., 2005. “The Uses of Putativity and Negativity in the Conflict of Laws.” 54 ICLQ 829-854 Crifo, C., 2005. “First Steps Towards the Harmonisation of Civil procedure: The Regulation Creating a European Enforcement Order for Uncontested Claims.” C.J.Q. 2005, 24(APR), 200-223 Eardley, A., 2006. “Libel Tourism in England: Now the Welcome is Even Warmer.” 17(1) Ent. L.R. 35-38 Fabri, M., and Langbroek, P.M., 2003. “Preliminary draft report: Delay in Judicial Proceedings: A preliminary Inquiry into the Relation Between the Demands of the Reasonable Time Requirements of Article 6(1) ECHR and Their Consequences for Judges and Judicial Administration in the Civil, Criminal and Administrative Justice Chains”, CEPEJ (2003) 20 Rev Farran, S., 2007. “Conflicts of Laws in Human Rights: Consequences for Colonies”, (2007) 1 EdinLR 121 Fawcett, J.J., 2007. “The Impact of Article 6(1) of the ECHR on Private International Law.” 56 ICLQ 1-48 Fentiman, R., 2005. “English Domicile and the Staying of Actions” [2005] 64 CLJ 303 Flannery, L., 2004. “The End of Anti-Suit Injunctions?” New Law Journal, 28 May 2004, 798 Franzosi, M., 2002. “Torpedoes are here to stay” [2002] 2 International Review of Industrial Property and Copyright Law 154 Franzosi, M., 1997. “Worldwide Patent Litigation and the Italian Torpedo” 19 (7) EIPR 382 Green, L., 1956. “Jury Trial and Mr. Justice Black,” 65 Yale LJ 482 Halkerston, G., 2005. “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” 155 NLJ 436 Hare, C., “Forum non Conveniens in Europe: Game Over or Time for ‘Reflexion’” JBL 2006, Mar, 157-179 Harris, J., 2001. “The Brussels Regulation.” 20 Civil Justice Quarterly 218 Harris, J., 2005. “Stays of Proceedings and the Brussels Convention.,” 54 ICLQ 933 Hartley, T.C., 1994. “Brussels Jurisdiction and Judgments Convention: Agreement and Lis Alibi Pendens.” 19(5) E.L.Rev 549-552 Hartley, T.C., 2001. “International Law and the Law of the European Union – A Reassessment”, 72 BYBIL 1 Hartley, T.C., 2005a. “Choice-of-court agreements, lis pendens, human rights and the realities of international business: reflection on the Gasser case” in Le droit international privé: mélanges en l’honneur de Paul Lagarde, (Dalloz, Paris, 2005), pp383-391 Hartley, T.C., 2005b. “The European Union and the Systematic Dismantling of the Common Law Conflict of Laws”, 54 ICLQ 813 Higgins, R., 2006. “A Babel of Judicial Voices? Ruminations From the Bench.” 55 ICLQ 791-804. Hogan, G., 1995. “The Brussels Convention, Forum non Conveniens and the Connecting Factors Problem.” 20(5) E.L. Rev. 471-493 Hood, K.J., 2006. “Drawing Inspiration? Reconsidering the Procedural Treatment of Foreign Law.” 2(1) JPrIL 181-193. Hunt, M., 1998. “The “Horizontal Effect” of the Human Rights Act”. 1998 Public Law 423-443 Hunter-Henin, M., 2006. “Droit des personnes et droits de l’homme: combinaison ou confrontation? (Family Law and Human Rights: Can They Go Along or Do They Exclude Each Other?),” 95(4) Revue critique de droit international privé pp743-775. Kennett, W., 1998. “Service of Documents in Europe.” 17(JUL) C.J.Q. 284-307 Kennett, W., 2001. “The Brussels I Regulation.” 50 ICLQ 725 -737 Kennett, W., 2001. “The Enforcement Review: A Progress Report.” 20(Jan) CJQ 36-57 Kennett, W., and McEleavy, P., 2002. “(Current Development): Civil and Commercial Litigation” 51 ICLQ 463 Kinsch, P., 2004. “The Impact of Human Rights on the Application of Foreign Law and on the Recognition of Foreign Judgments – A Survey of the Cases Decided by the European Human Rights Institutions,” in Einhorn, T. and Siehr, K., 2004. Intercontinental Cooperation Through Private International Law – Essays in Memory of Peter E. Nygh, The Hague, The Netherlands: T.M.C. Asser Press, pp197-228. Lester, A., and Pannick, D., 2000. “The Impact of the Human Rights Act on Private Law: The Knight’s Move.” 116 LQR 380-385 Loucaides, L.G., 2003. “Questions of a Fair Trial Under the European Convention on Human Rights.” (2003) HRLR 3(1), pp27-51. Lowenfield, A.F., 2004. “Jurisdiction, Enforcement, Public Policy and Res Judicata: The Krombach Case,” in in Einhorn, T. and Siehr, K., 2004. Intercontinental Cooperation Through Private International Law – Essays in Memory of Peter E. Nygh, The Hague, The Netherlands: T.M.C. Asser Press, pp229-248 Mance, J., 2004a. “Civil Jurisdiction in Europe – Choice of Court Clauses, Competing Litigation and Anti-Suit Injunctions – Erich Gasser v. Misat and Turner v. Grovit: Address to Second Conference of European Commercial Judges, (“Problems of enforcement of european law”)” Paris – 14th October 2004; http://www.courdecassation.fr/formation_br_4/2004_2034/jonathan_mance_8239.html, (Accessed 10 March 2007) Mance, J., 2004b. “Exclusive Jurisdiction Agreements and European Ideals.” 120 LQR 357 Mance, J., 2005. “The Future of Private International Law.” 1(2) JPrIL 185-195 Mance, J., 2007. “Is Europe Aiming to Civilise the Common Law?” 18 EBLRev 77-99 McLachlan, C., 2004. “International Litigation and the Reworking of the Conflict of Laws” 120(OCT) LQR 580-616 Meidanis, H.P., 2005. “Public Policy and Ordre Public in the Private International Law of the EU: Traditional Positions and Moderns Trends.” 30(1), ELRev, 95-110 Merrett, L., 2006. “The Enforcement of Jurisdiction Agreements within the Brussels Regime,” 55 ICLQ 315 Muir Watt, H., 2001. “Evidence of an Emergent European Legal Culture: Public Policy Requirements of Procedural Fairness Under the Brussels and Lugano Conventions.” 36 Tex. ILJ, p. 539. North, P., 2001. “Private International Law: Change or Decay?” 50 ICLQ 477-508 Orakhelashvili, A., 2006. “The Idea of European International Law.” 17 Eur. J. Int’l L. 315 Peel, E., 2001. “Forum non Conveniens Revisited.” 117(APR) L.Q.R. 187-194 Robertson, D.W., 1987. “Forum Non Conveniens in America and England: ‘A rather fantastic fiction’.” 103 LQR 398 Robert-Tissot, S., and Smith, D., 2005. “The Battle for Forum”, New Law Journal, 7 October 2005, p1496 Robert-Tissot, S., 2005. “The Battle for Forum.” 155 NLJ 1496 Rodger, B.J., 2006. “Forum non Conveniens: Post Owusu.” 2(1) JPrIL 71 Schiavetta, S., 2004. “The Relationship Between e-ADR and Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights pursuant to the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights.” 2004 (1) The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT). http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2004_1/schiavetta/ (Accessed 28 February 2007) Sinopoli, L., 2000. Le droit au procès équitable dans les rapports privés internationaux (doctoral dissertation, University of Paris-I, 2000) Slater, A.G., 1988. “Forum Non Conveniens: A View From the Shop Floor.” 104 LQR 554 Svantesson, D.J.B., 2005. “In Defence of the Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens.” (2005) HKLJ 395 Van Hoek: 2001. “Case note on Krombach v Bamberski” (2001) 38 CMLR 1011. Wade, H.W.R., 2000. “Horizons of Horizontality.” 116 LQR 217-224 Williams, J.M., 2001. “Forum non Conveniens, Lubbe v Cape and Group Josi v Universal General Insurance.” J.P.I. Law 2001, 1, 72-77 Zhenjie, H., 2001. “Forum Non Conveniens: An Unjustified Doctrine.” 48 NILR 143

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Bluebook Guide

Citing Cases
Introduction
Finding the Bluebook
Using the Bluebook
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Basic Case Citation

The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. You should review the rest of this section on citing cases (and the relevant rules in The Bluebook ) before trying to format a case citation for the first time. However, the basic format of a case citation is as follows:

Note: In court documents (briefs, motions) and legal memoranda, a full case name is usually italicized or underlined. In academic legal writing (i.e., a law review article), full case names are generally not underlined or italicized.

Rule & Tables

Rule 10 (and Rule B10 in the Bluepages) governs how to cite cases. It contains extensive instructions on how to format case citations, and Rule 10 also provides guidance on citing briefs, court filings, and transcripts.

In addition to Rule 10, you may need to consult the following tables in order to format the case citation:

Table 1 : A list of (1) reporters* and reporter abbreviations, (2) courts and court abbreviations, and (3) preferred sources to cite for federal courts and each state's courts
Table 6 : Abbreviations for terms used in case names (e.g., America[n] = Am.)
Table 7 : Abbreviations for court names that you would use in the event a court abbreviation is not provided in Table 1
Table 10 : Abbreviations for geographical terms (e.g., Virginia = Va.)

*What Is a Reporter?* A reporter is a publication containing the opinions of a particular court or jurisdiction, organized chronologically by date of decision. The opinions of a given court or jurisdiction are often published in more than one reporter. As you'll see below, for example, opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court are published in three reporters. If a case is published in a reporter, The Bluebook prescribes which reporter is the preferred one to cite (Table 1).

For more on reporters, see our Case Law Research Guide or watch Anatomy of a Case, Case Citation, and the Case Law Reporter System in our Case Law Research Tutorial (on the right).

Case Citations Tutorial

Case Law Research Tutorial

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A publication of the harvard college writing program.

Harvard Guide to Using Sources

The Honor Code

Writing in Law

- by Nora Flum '07, HLS '11

As a new associate at a law firm, you will likely be asked to determine if the law supports your client's position. To do this, you will begin to research cases, looking for precedents and analyzing them for fact patterns that can be analogized to your situation. You will also look for legal doctrines and patterns of logic that can be imported into your argument to organize the structure of your propositions. You might also conduct a historical analysis, researching the legislative history to understand why a particular law was passed and how the historical perspective should impact its current application. Additionally, you could look through law reviews and academic journals for broad theoretical perspectives that inform the way you approach the problem.

Once you have done your research, you will need to write up your conclusions in the form of an argument that the partner can use to make the case.

Bibliography
Legislation
Journal articles
Books and chapters
Reports and newspapers
Dictionaries, encyclopaedias and commentaries
Web and social media
International materials
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Other styles AGLC4 APA 7th Chicago 17th (A) Notes Chicago 17th (B) Author-Date Harvard MLA 9th Vancouver
Referencing home

Getting started

The Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC4) is the official citing and referencing style for legal citations in Australia. A free copy of AGLC4 is available to view and download from the publisher's website .

This guide is designed to help you:

Our interactive online tutorials can help you understand the basics of citing and referencing, and why it's important.

Elements of citing and referencing in AGLC4 style

There are two places you need to write references in your assignments.

1. Footnote citations

Use footnote citations to avoid plagiarism and show how your work is influenced by others. You write these citations by creating footnotes in your paper. The format changes depending on the source you are citing.

Footnote citations: rules

2. Bibliography

At the end of your assignment you need to provide a record of all the sources you have cited in your assignment. It is placed on a new page at the end of your essay and has a specific format you will need to follow.

Bibliography: rules and examples

For when you need support beyond this guide

Next: Footnotes >>

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Research Guides: Legal Research and Writing Bibliography

The following titles are available in the library to assist in learning the art of studying, researching, and writing in law school.

Legal Research

Title	Call Number
An Introduction to U.S. Law	KF385 H3913 1991
How to Find the Law	KF240 C538 1989 Reserve
Legal Research in a Nutshell	KF240 C54 2000 Reserve
Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law	KF240 E35 1999 Reserve
An Introduction to the Legal System of the United States	KF387 F37 1996 Reserve
Fundamentals of Legal Research	KF240 J3 1998
Winning Research Skills	KF240 J65 1996
The Process of Legal Research: Successful Strategies	KF240 P76 1996
Using American Law Books: Including Online Services	KF240 L47 1995
Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It	KF240 O36 1999 Ref. Res.
Law in the United States	KF385 V66 1987
The Legal Research Manual: A Game Plan for Legal Research and Analysis	KF240 W7 1986
American Legal Systems: a resource and reference guide	KF240 F56 1997
The Lawyer's Research Companion: a concise guide to sources	KF240 L37 1998 Ref. Res.
California Legal Research Handbook	KFC74 D47 1997 Ref. Res.
Henke's California Law Guide	KFC74 M37 1999 Ref. Res.
Legal Research in California	KFC74 H36 1999 Ref. Res

Legal Writing

Title	Call Number
Professional Writing for Lawyers	KF250 J64 1998 Reserve
Clear and Effective Legal Writing	KF250 C33 1995
Legal Analysis: the Fundamental Skill	KF240 R63 1998
A Practical Guide to Legal Writing and Legal Method	KF250 P72 1994
The Little Book on Legal Writing	KF250 D88 1990 Ref. Res.
The Elements of Legal Writing	KF250 F38 1994 Ref. Res.
Successful Legal Analysis and Writing	KF250 C52 2003
Legal Writing in Plain English	KF250 G373 2001
Writing and Analysis in the Law	KF250 S5 1999
The Literate Lawyer: Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy	KF250 S63 1995
Legal Writing in a Nutshell	KF250 S68 1996 Reserve
Plain English for Lawyers	KF250 W9 1998 Reserve
Synthesis: Legal Reading, Reasoning, and Writing	KF250 S36 1999
Brief Writing & Oral Argument	KF251 R4 1999
Introduction to Advocacy: Research, Writing, and Argument	KF281 A2 I57 1996
The Legal Writing Handbook: Research, Analysis, and Writing	KF250 O18 1998
The Bluebook: Uniform System of Citation	KF245 B58 2000 Reserve
Basics of Legal Document Preparation	KF250 C83 1997
A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage	KF156 G367 1995 Ref. Res.
Drafting Legal Opinion Letters	KF250 D73 1992
The Elements of Legal Prose	KF250 P76 1999
The Elements of Legal Style	KF250 G37 1991 Ref. Res.
Legal Drafting in a Nutshell	KF250 H33 1996 Reserve
Legal Writing: Getting it Right and Getting it Written	KF250 R39 2000
Legal Writing: The Strategy of Persuasion	KF250 B73 1994
Untangling the Law: Strategies for Legal Writers	KF250 W66 1987
The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts	KF251 G37 1999
Writing to Win: The Legal Writer	KF250 S82 2000
The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing	K23 C75

Learning how to Study the Law

Title	Call Number
How to Study Law and Take Law Exams in a Nutshell	KF283 B87 1996 Reserve
Learning Legal Reasoning: Briefing, Analysis, and Theory	KF251 D45 1989 Reserve
Learning the Law: Success in Law School and Beyond	KF283 F73 1992 Ref. Res.
Introduction to the Study and Practice of Law in a Nutshell	KF273 H4 1995 Reserve
The Bramble Bush: On our Law and Its Study	KF273 L54 1960 Reserve
Learning Law: The Mastery of Legal Logic	KF273 M35 1993
Starting off Right in Law School	KF273 N97 1997

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Knowledge Base
Citing sources

How to Cite Sources | Citation Generator & Quick Guide

Citing your sources is essential in academic writing . Whenever you quote or paraphrase a source (such as a book, article, or webpage), you have to include a citation crediting the original author.

Failing to properly cite your sources counts as plagiarism , since you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

The most commonly used citation styles are APA and MLA. The free Scribbr Citation Generator is the quickest way to cite sources in these styles. Simply enter the URL, DOI, or title, and we’ll generate an accurate, correctly formatted citation.

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text.

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When do you need to cite sources, which citation style should you use, in-text citations, reference lists and bibliographies.

Scribbr Citation Generator

Other useful citation tools

Citation examples and full guides, frequently asked questions about citing sources.

Citations are required in all types of academic texts. They are needed for several reasons:

To avoid plagiarism by indicating when you’re taking information from another source
To give proper credit to the author of that source
To allow the reader to consult your sources for themselves

A citation is needed whenever you integrate a source into your writing. This usually means quoting or paraphrasing:

To quote a source , copy a short piece of text word for word and put it inside quotation marks .
To paraphrase a source , put the text into your own words. It’s important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don’t want to do this manually.

Citations are needed whether you quote or paraphrase, and whatever type of source you use. As well as citing scholarly sources like books and journal articles, don’t forget to include citations for any other sources you use for ideas, examples, or evidence. That includes websites, YouTube videos , and lectures .

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Usually, your institution (or the journal you’re submitting to) will require you to follow a specific citation style, so check your guidelines or ask your instructor.

In some cases, you may have to choose a citation style for yourself. Make sure to pick one style and use it consistently:

APA Style is widely used in the social sciences and beyond.
MLA style is common in the humanities.
Chicago notes and bibliography , common in the humanities
Chicago author-date , used in the (social) sciences
There are many other citation styles for different disciplines.

If in doubt, check with your instructor or read other papers from your field of study to see what style they follow.

In most styles, your citations consist of:

Brief in-text citations at the relevant points in the text
A reference list or bibliography containing full information on all the sources you’ve cited

In-text citations most commonly take the form of parenthetical citations featuring the last name of the source’s author and its year of publication (aka author-date citations).

An alternative to this type of in-text citation is the system used in numerical citation styles , where a number is inserted into the text, corresponding to an entry in a numbered reference list.

There are also note citation styles , where you place your citations in either footnotes or endnotes . Since they’re not embedded in the text itself, these citations can provide more detail and sometimes aren’t accompanied by a full reference list or bibliography.

(London: John Murray, 1859), 510.

A reference list (aka “Bibliography” or “Works Cited,” depending on the style) is where you provide full information on each of the sources you’ve cited in the text. It appears at the end of your paper, usually with a hanging indent applied to each entry.

The information included in reference entries is broadly similar, whatever citation style you’re using. For each source, you’ll typically include the:

Author name
Publication date
Container (e.g., the book an essay was published in, the journal an article appeared in)
Location (e.g., a URL or DOI , or sometimes a physical location)

The exact information included varies depending on the source type and the citation style. The order in which the information appears, and how you format it (e.g., capitalization, use of italics) also varies.

Most commonly, the entries in your reference list are alphabetized by author name. This allows the reader to easily find the relevant entry based on the author name in your in-text citation.

In numerical citation styles, the entries in your reference list are numbered, usually based on the order in which you cite them. The reader finds the right entry based on the number that appears in the text.

Because each style has many small differences regarding things like italicization, capitalization , and punctuation , it can be difficult to get every detail right. Using a citation generator can save you a lot of time and effort.

Scribbr offers citation generators for both APA and MLA style. Both are quick, easy to use, and 100% free, with no ads and no registration required.

Just input a URL or DOI or add the source details manually, and the generator will automatically produce an in-text citation and reference entry in the correct format. You can save your reference list as you go and download it when you’re done, and even add annotations for an annotated bibliography .

Once you’ve prepared your citations, you might still be unsure if they’re correct and if you’ve used them appropriately in your text. This is where Scribbr’s other citation tools and services may come in handy:

Plagiarism Checker

Citation Checker

Citation Editing

Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own. It’s a serious offense in academia. Universities use plagiarism checking software to scan your paper and identify any similarities to other texts.

When you’re dealing with a lot of sources, it’s easy to make mistakes that could constitute accidental plagiarism. For example, you might forget to add a citation after a quote, or paraphrase a source in a way that’s too close to the original text.

Using a plagiarism checker yourself before you submit your work can help you spot these mistakes before they get you in trouble. Based on the results, you can add any missing citations and rephrase your text where necessary.

Try out the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker for free, or check out our detailed comparison of the best plagiarism checkers available online.

Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

Scribbr’s Citation Checker is a unique AI-powered tool that automatically detects stylistic errors and inconsistencies in your in-text citations. It also suggests a correction for every mistake.

Currently available for APA Style, this is the fastest and easiest way to make sure you’ve formatted your citations correctly. You can try out the tool for free below.

If you need extra help with your reference list, we also offer a more in-depth Citation Editing Service.

Our experts cross-check your in-text citations and reference entries, make sure you’ve included the correct information for each source, and improve the formatting of your reference page.

If you want to handle your citations yourself, Scribbr’s free Knowledge Base provides clear, accurate guidance on every aspect of citation. You can see citation examples for a variety of common source types below:

And you can check out our comprehensive guides to the most popular citation styles:

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.

“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .

Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.

The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.

Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.

MLA Style is the second most used citation style (after APA ). It is mainly used by students and researchers in humanities fields such as literature, languages, and philosophy.

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The Basics of In-Text Citation | APA & MLA Examples

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VIP 617: Academic & Professional Writing (Li): Citation Help

About the Library
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Citation Management Resources

Citation Management Software Supported at MSU Libraries
MSU Libraries Zotero Guide
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Citation Management Software

EndNote and EndNote Online Information on EndNote bibliographic software, including a link to free training sessions held at the library.

Zotero An online tool for citation management, formatting, and collaboration. Includes a link to free training sessions.

Mendeley A free reference manager and academic social network. Includes a link to free training sessions held at the library.

Papers A reference manager with features for managing citations and PDFs, searching for and sharing scholarly articles, and adding citations to manuscripts.

Citation Generators

Bibcitation A tool for formatting bibliographies in MLA, APA, Chicago, and many other styles.

Citation Wizards From the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy: converts to MLA, APA, and CSE (formerly known as (CBE) style.

*Disclaimer: These sites are maintained by third parties outside of the MSU Libraries. Always double-check any citations generated by these sites to ensure accuracy.

MLA Citation Style

MLA Citation Guide, 9th Edition (Purdue OWL)

MLA Formatting and Style Guide, 8th Edition (Excelsior College) Online style guide

APA Citation Style (7th Edition)

APA Formatting and Style Guide - 7th Edition Online style guide

Chicago Citation Style

Turabian Citation Style

FYI: Turabian is the student version of Chicago style.

Turabian Quick Guide Online style guide by the publisher of the guide.

Further Help with Citations

If you want to talk through citation questions with an actual person, we recommend the following services:

MSU Writing Center By appointment. The Writing Center has locations in the Main Library, as well as Bessey Hall, and the Neighborhood Engagement Centers
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Bibliographies
A bibliography appears at the end of a document and lists all sources relied upon (not just those referred to in text and in footnotes)
Do not include pinpoint references in a bibliography (Note that the starting page of some sources, such as journal articles and reported cases, forms part of the citation and is separate from the pinpoint)
Do not place a full stop at the end of a citation
In a bibliography, the author's surname comes before their first name, separated by a comma (if a source has more than one author, only the first author is listed as surname first)
Case name or legislation title
The first listed author's surname
The name of the institution (excluding the word 'the')
Where there is no author, the first word of the title (excluding the word 'the')
A bibliography may be divided into the sections as shown below (you may change/remove/add other categories or subdivisions as relevant/needed):

A Articles/Books/Reports

B Cases

C Legislation

D Treaties

E Other

Example bibliography

Bibliography.

A Articles/Books/Reports

Bedford, Narelle and Monica Taylor, 'Model No More: Querulent Behaviour, Vexatious Litigants and the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005 (Qld)' (2014) 24(1) Journal of Judicial Administration 46

Boulle, Laurence and Rachael Field, Mediation in Australia (LexisNexis Buttersworths, 2018)

Haas, Ulrich and Deborah Healey (eds), Doping in Sport and the Law (Hart, 2016)

James, Nickolas et al, Business and Company Law (Wiley, 2 nd ed, 2019)

Kenny, Paul, Michael Blissenden and Sylvia Villios, 'Wine Options of Australian Tax Reform' (2017) 15(1) eJournal of Tax Research 22

Kirby, Michael, 'Judicial Independence and Accountability: An Asia-Pacific Perspective' [2009] (1) LAWASIA Journal 1

OECD, The Future of Education and Skills: Education 2030 (Report, 2018)

Ong, Denis, Trusts Law in Australia (Federation Press, 5 th ed, 2018)

Svantesson, Dan Jerker B and William Van Caenegem, 'Is it Time for an Offence of "Dishonest Algorithmic Manipulation for Electoral Gain"?' (2017) 42(3) Alternative Law Journal 184

Vivian, Alison et al, 'Indigenous Self-Government in the Australian Federation' (2017) 20(1) Australian Indigenous Law Review 215

B Cases

AAT Case 7422 (1991) 22 ATR 3450

Blundell v Queensland Building and Construction Commission [2018] QSC 58

Brown v Tasmania (2017) 261 CLR 328

Moroccanoil Israel Ltd v Aldi Foods Pty Ltd (2017) AIPC ¶92-533

Morris v Morris [1982] 1 NSWLR 61

Palmer v Ayres [2017] HCA 5

R v Schelvis (2016) 263 A Crim R 1

R v Visconti [1982] 2 NSWLR 104

Re Nguyen and Migration Agents Registration Authority [2012] AATA 925

Ross v Chambers (Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Kriewaldt J, 5 April 1956)

Waddy v Rabba [1982] Qd R 20

C Legislation

Australian Constitution

Constitution of Queensland 2001 (Qld)

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)

High Court Rules 2004 (Cth)

Refugee Protection Bill 2018 (Cth)

Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld)

Right to Information Bill 2009 (Qld)

Right to Information Regulation 2009 (Qld)

Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld)

D Other

CCH Australia, Australian Family Law and Practice Premium Commentary (online at 28 February 2019)

Crowe, Jonathan and Zali Brookes, 'How Do We Think About Lolita? Difference, Alterity and Animal Liberation' (Speech, Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy Annual Conference, 6–8 July 2018)

Explanatory Memorandum, Freedom to Marry Bill 2016 (Cth)

Explanatory Notes, Right to Information Bill 2009 (Qld)

Jackson, Melanie and Daniel Walker, 'Boolean Guess Who? Using Gamification to Engage First Year Law Students with Advanced Legal Research Techniques', Centre for Professional Legal Education (Blog Post, 3 December 2022) <https://www.cple.blog/posts/boolean-guess-who-using-gamification-to-engage-first-year-law-students-with-advanced-legal-research-techniques>

LexisNexis, Halsbury's Laws of Australia (online at 27 February 2019) 10 Administrative Law

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Critical Writing Program: Climate Science and Action: Earth in Crisis - Fall 2024: Chicago Manual of Style: Citing Images

Getting started
News and Opinion Sites
Academic Sources
Grey Literature
Substantive News Sources
What to Do When You Are Stuck
Understanding a citation
Examples of Quotation
Examples of Paraphrase
Chicago Manual of Style: Citing Images
Researching the Op-Ed
Researching Prospective Employers
Resume Resources
Cover Letter Resources

Chicago Manual of Style

The Chicago Manual of Style citation style provides guidelines for "Author-Date" or in text citation as well as for using footnotes or endnotes along with the bibliography. Images can be cited using captions or in a bibliography. Check with your instructor for the correct format.

For information on specific guidelines for images visit the online site , and use the table of contents to find:

Chapter 14: Notes and Bibliography Section: 14.235: Citing paintings, photographs, and sculpture Chapter Contents / Special Types of References / Artwork and Illustrations

The Manual states, "Information about paintings, photographs, sculptures, or other works of art can usually be presented in the text rather than in a note or bibliography. If a note or bibliography entry is needed, list the artist, a title (in italics), and a date of creation or completion, followed by information about the medium and the location of the work. For works consulted online, add a URL."

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part3/ch14/psec235.html

Examples of Citing Images

Footnote/endnote (general) 18 Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night , 1889, oil on canvas, 29 in. x 36 ¼ in., Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Caption (general)*note: captions can be done as figure, fig., illustration, or ill. Fig. 1: Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889, oil on canvas, 29 in. x 36 ¼ in., Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Bibliographic entry, online (websites or databases) Duveneck, Frank.Whistling Boy, 1872. Oil on canvas, 28 in. x 21 ½ in. Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati. <http://cincinnatiartmuseum.stores.yahoo.net/frduwhboy.html>, accessed 12 Aug. 2007.

Footnote/endnote, online (websites or databases) 4 Henri Matisse, The Woman with the Hat , 1905, oil on canvas, 81.3 cm x 60.3 cm, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco.

Caption, online (websites or databases) Ill. 1: Frank Duveneck, Whistling Boy , 1872, oil on canvas, 28 in. x 21 ½ in. Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati,<http://cincinnatiartmuseum.stores.yahoo.net/frduwhboy.html>

Credit lines Images with copyright restrictions: Reproduced with permission from Jan Newstrom Thompson, Duveneck: Last Paintings Found (Santa Clara, CA: Triton Museum of Art, 1987), 55, © 1987 by Triton Museum of Art.

Images without copyright restrictions: Man and boy fishing in Ohio River, September 14, 1929. Courtesy of Rosemary Bart

Photograph courtesy of Cincinnati Art Museum

Unknown Artist, Title, or Date

When all or part of an image source is unknown or unknowable, use these points to guide your MLA image caption:

Unknown Artist, Author or Creator List that source by title in your works cited list. The title should be followed by the name of the source in the citation, and the remainder of the citation composed as appropriate for the source type. Alphabetize reference list entries beginning with a title using the primary word of the title (excluding a, an, or the).

An image without a title if an image is not titled, create a brief, descriptive title for it. do not italicize this title or place it in quotes, and capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns., undated sources use "n.d." (for "no date") in the appropriate place in your citation. when this is used after a period in a citation, capitalize the "n" ("n.d.")., for more information ....

Boxes on this page were copied from the " Cite Images " page on the Penn Libraries guide for Finding images , developed by Patty Guardiola, Director of the Fisher Fine Arts Library. Please visit the full page for more information on working with images.

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What is the format for the bibliography for Law coursework and
Bibliography format for law coursework: The key points to note are that sources need to be in categories, with primary sources (cases, legislation) listed first, followed by secondary sources (books, journals, websites) all in alphabetical and then chronological order. Note that case names appear in plain text and not italics.
Referencing & Citations Guide For Law Essays
Guide to Referencing and Citations for Law Essays. Accurate and consistent referencing is essential in all academic work. Whenever you refer to either the work or ideas of someone, or are influenced by another's work, you must acknowledge this. Similarly if you make a direct quotation from someone's work this should be referred to accurately.
How to Cite a Law in APA Style
Revised on December 27, 2023. To cite federal laws (also commonly referred to as statutes or acts) in APA Style, include the name of the law, "U.S.C." (short for United States Code), the title and section of the code where the law appears, the year, and optionally the URL. The year included is when the law was published in the source ...
HOW TO CREATE A BIBLIOGRAPHY
All you need to do is input the author's name, title of the source, year of publication, and other essential details. Then the does the rest by instantly creating your citation and reference list in line with the OSCOLA style guidelines. It's a reliable and efficient tool, designed to make your referencing easier, and save you time and effort ...
Bluebook Legal Citation System Guide
This guide will introduce you to how to use the Bluebook. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Legal Citation by the editors of the Columbia law review, the Harvard law review, the University of Pennsylvania law review, and the Yale law journal. Publication Date: 21st edition, 2020. Print copies of the Bluebook are available in the Library in ...
Basic Legal Citation
Basic Legal Citation. About LII. Get the law. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Lawyer directory. Legal encyclopedia.
Citations and Parentheticals Done Right
One option is a parenthetical: "The rule of plevin requires courts to inquire further when parties dispute the terms of an agreement. Park v. Hoffman, 654 F.2d 578 (2012) (considering contract dispute and explaining courts cannot stop at the plain language when interpreting).". Another is a quote:
Referencing
A bibliography is a list of sources or references cited in the work. OSCOLA requires a bibliography only for longer works i.e. monographs and dissertations/theses, not shorter works i.e. journal articles or essays. At law school, it is common practice to include a bibliography at the end of an essay.
Research Guides: Legal Citation Guides and Abbreviations: Home
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 21st ed. Compiled by the Law Review editors of Columbia, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale, this guide is the most widely used citation manual for law. It prescribes citation formats for most U.S. law sources. It is not comprehensive for foreign law.
Footnotes, endnotes, and citations
If you are writing your essay by hand, there is no need to use different coloured ink for a case or statutory citation. It often helps if you underline case names, but you won't lose points if you don't. If you are typing your essay, you can underline or italicise case names, but there's no need for elaborate type faces.
How to write a first-class bibliography for a legal essay
November 9, 2010. WardBlawg. How to write a bibliography to conclude your first-class dissertation. There are three stages for completing an abundant and competent bibliography. First, go into the footnotes on your document, select all, copy and paste to the foot of your article, then separate into different categories.
How to Reference Law Essays (Quick Guide to OSCOLA Style)
The trick is in figuring out which 20-30% are applicable. If you need help deciphering the OSCOLA style, I have included a quick, to the point tutorial on the most relevant rules in my First Class Law Essay Writing Course along with some more advance first class referencing tricks. But you can also find a basic summary of four most important ...
Citing Cases
The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. You should review the rest of this section on citing cases (and the relevant rules in The Bluebook) before trying to format a case citation for the first time.However, the basic format of a case citation is as follows:
Writing in Law
Writing in Law. - by Nora Flum '07, HLS '11. As a new associate at a law firm, you will likely be asked to determine if the law supports your client's position. To do this, you will begin to research cases, looking for precedents and analyzing them for fact patterns that can be analogized to your situation. You will also look for legal ...
Getting started
You write these citations by creating footnotes in your paper. The format changes depending on the source you are citing. 2. Bibliography. At the end of your assignment you need to provide a record of all the sources you have cited in your assignment. It is placed on a new page at the end of your essay and has a specific format you will need to ...
Structure Of Law Essays and Reports
A good structure for a law report would be as follows: Title Page: showing the title of the report, the author, the person for whom the report is prepared, and the date of completion. Summary/Synopsis/Executive Summary: (approx 10% of word count) - this will identify: The purpose of the report, The scope of the report - issues covered/not ...
How to Research for Law Essays
The purpose of doing the essay is to think with the writer or judge about the application and outcome of the law. This is the crucial difference in making the step from passive to active reading. Step 2: Look For Theories, Patterns, Key Cases and Quotes. If you already have your central argument in mind and are looking for sources to help back ...
Law: Legal essay
There are a number of strategies that may help you in starting, structuring and presenting a law essay. 1. Starting your answer. The first step to a successful law essay is understanding the question. One of the most effective ways of breaking down the question is to identify the direction, content, and scope or limiting words.
Research Guides: Legal Research and Writing Bibliography
KF240 O36 1999 Ref. Res. Law in the United States. KF385 V66 1987. The Legal Research Manual: A Game Plan for Legal Research and Analysis. KF240 W7 1986. American Legal Systems: a resource and reference guide. KF240 F56 1997. The Lawyer's Research Companion: a concise guide to sources. KF240 L37 1998 Ref. Res.
Citation Styles Guide
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is the main style guide for legal citations in the US. It's widely used in law, and also when legal materials need to be cited in other disciplines. Bluebook footnote citation. 1 David E. Pozen, Freedom of Information Beyond the Freedom of Information Act, 165, U. P🇦 . L.
How to Cite Sources
To quote a source, copy a short piece of text word for word and put it inside quotation marks. To paraphrase a source, put the text into your own words. It's important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don't want to do this manually.
VIP 617: Academic & Professional Writing (Li): Citation Help
EndNote and EndNote Online Information on EndNote bibliographic software, including a link to free training sessions held at the library.. Zotero An online tool for citation management, formatting, and collaboration.Includes a link to free training sessions. Mendeley A free reference manager and academic social network.Includes a link to free training sessions held at the library.
LibGuides: New Citation Styles Guide Testing: Overview
If you need more functionality, e.g., you are working on a longer-term project, need to create a long bibliography, want to build a library to use across multiple projects, or want to share citations with others, we recommend looking at the Citation Management Tools page on this guide.
Bibliographies
Arrange the sources of each section in alphabetical order according to: Case name or legislation title. The first listed author's surname. The name of the institution (excluding the word 'the') Where there is no author, the first word of the title (excluding the word 'the') A bibliography may be divided into the sections as shown below (you may ...
Example Law Essays
The example law essays below were written by students to help you with your own studies. If you are looking for help with your law essay then we offer a comprehensive writing service provided by fully qualified academics in your field of study. Law Essay Writing Service.
Chicago Manual of Style: Citing Images
The Chicago Manual of Style citation style provides guidelines for "Author-Date" or in text citation as well as for using footnotes or endnotes along with the bibliography. Images can be cited using captions or in a bibliography. Check with your instructor for the correct format. For information on specific guidelines for images visit the online site, and use the table of contents to find:
Registration now open for the 2025 High School Appellate Brief Writing
The Florida Bar today announced the commencement of its annual High School Appellate Brief Writing & Moot Court Competition, an event that provides high school students in Florida with a "unique and enriching experience in the world of law and advocacy." Registration is now open for teams that would like participate in the 2025 competition.

Q. What is the format for the bibliography for Law coursework and dissertations? (OSCOLA)

Answered By: Claire Mazer Last Updated: 16 Oct, 2023 Views: 24473

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OSCOLA Referencing Style

Referencing in Law Exams

Question: "Do I need to do OSCOLA referencing in exams?" Answer: No

Examples of how to reference in law examinations:

OSCOLA - An Introduction

Insert footnotes

Multiple references

When not to footnote

Table of Authorities

Titles and postnominals

Multiple authors

Page numbers

OSCOLA - Primary Sources

International Cases

Statutory Instrument

Case with a neutral citation

Case without a neutral citation

EU Treaties

EU Regulations, Directives etc

Unreported cases

International Treaties

Multilateral treaties

Bilateral treaties

International Court of Justice

Other International Courts

OSCOLA - Secondary Sources

Book chapters

Journal articles

Online journal articles

Newspaper articles

Online newspaper articles

Blogs posts

Conference papers

Lecture materials

Referencing Tutorials

Academic and Legal Research Skills

About the Library

Legal Citation Guides and Abbreviations

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U.S. Court and Government Citation Manuals and Style Guides

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How to write a first-class bibliography for a legal essay

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