citation for law essay

APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

• Basics of APA Formatting
• In Text Quick View
• Block Quotes
• Books & eBooks
• Thesis/Dissertation
• Audiovisual
• Conference Presentations
• Social Media
• Legal References

Standard Format

Formatting rules, various examples.

• Reports and Gray Literature
• Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
• Additional Resources
• Reference Page
• Legal style order- Title, source, and date (What, Where, When)
• Optional- provide a URL for the version used
• Court Cases: Title or name of the case is written in standard type for reference entry (italics for in-text citation)
• Use this format for enacted bill or resolution not signed into law
• Bills and resolutions passed by Congress & signed by the President to become law should be cited as statutes

Additional Resources:

Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School : Guidance on legal citations.  Verify legal references containing necessary information and reflect current statues of legal authority (so you're not using amended, repealed or overturned cases).

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• Last Updated: Nov 1, 2023 3:17 PM
• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/APA7th

Bluebook Legal Citation System Guide

Getting started, six steps to creating a citation, bluebook navigation, bluebook troubleshooting, beyond the bluebook, citing & bluebooking faqs, getting help, what is the bluebook.

The Bluebook is a guide to a system of legal citation frequently used by law schools and law journals. This guide will introduce you to how to use the Bluebook. 

Print copies of the Bluebook are available in the Library in Reference and on Reserve at circulation. Copies can also be purchased in print or online at https://www.legalbluebook.com/ .

References to page numbers in this guide are from the 21st edition.

Before You Start

• There are other citation formats.
• Pick the correct one for your project.
• There are gaps in the Bluebook, particularly for non-traditional and non-U.S. sources.
• Use the closest analogous rule.
• Make sure that you are citing the same source or types of sources in the same way. 
• Keep in mind that the main goal for all citation systems is to make it easy for your reader to find the source you are citing. 

Six Steps to Your Citation

To create a Bluebook citation follow this six step process:

1. Identify the Type of Source

What  type of source do you want to cite?

• The Bluebook rules are organized by source type
• Common types include cases, statutes, books and book chapters,  journal articles, web pages, etc.

2. Find the Bluebook Rule

Go to the  Bluebook rule  for that source type. 

• Check the Quick Guides on the inside cover to identify major source types
• Use the index to find rules for other types of sources not included in the Quick Guides
• If you found a traditionally printed source online, review both the rules for the print source and the rules for online sources
• The print and online rules are often used together

3. Read the Rule & Examples

• Read the rule carefully
• Study any examples provided closely
• Examples are provided inside the front cover, at the beginning of each rule, and within the text of the rules
• Note which components are required to create a citation for a specific type of source

4. Gather the Citation Components

• Gather the required components of the citation from your source

5. Draft a Citation

• Draft a citation that looks like the most relevant example
• Do your best, but don't worry if your first draft isn't perfect

6. Edit the Citation

• Edit your draft citation using the Bluebook's style rules and tables
• Note typeface and punctuation conventions for different types of sources
• Note the rules for abbreviations and use the tables to abbreviate your citation

The Six-Step Process in Action

To see an example of how this process works with an article from the NY Times website, check out the powerpoint below.

• PowerPoint Slides: Six-Step Citation Creation Process

Organization & Blue and White Pages

The Bluebook is organized into sections:

• Style Rules
• Primary Law
• Secondary Law
• Internet & Electronic Sources
• Foreign & International Materials
• Tables: Jurisdictions & Abbreviations

Use the Bluepages   when drafting citations that will appear in documents like legal memoranda and court filings. 

Use the Whitepages  when drafting citations that will appear in legal academic publications.

Quick Guides

The Quick Reference inside front and back covers of the print include rule cross references and sample citations for common citation types:

• Inside Front: Quick Reference: Citations in Law Review Footnotes
• Inside Back: Quick Reference: Citations in Court Documents & Legal Memoranda

There is also a Quick Style Guide online for common citation types used in law reviews:

• Online: Quick Style Guide for Citations in Law Review Footnotes

Finding Aids

Consult the following to find the appropriate rule or table for your citation

• Back cover compact table of contents
• Full table of contents (pp. IX-XVI)
• Index (pp. 329-365)

Solving Citation Problems

The Bluebook isn't always clear.  Try the following if you're having difficulty with a citation:

• Make sure you have the correct rule for your type of resource
• If your type of resource isn't specifically included, find the one that is most similar
• If you are citing material for a country that isn't in the Bluebook, find a country with a similar legal system to base your citation on
• Search recent articles in law reviews on Hein, Westlaw and Lexis. Has anyone else cited this material?
• Check the resources linked in Beyond the Bluebook 
• Be consistent with the citation format you pick
• Make sure to include enough information for a reader to follow in your footsteps.

Library Help

We are not Bluebook experts, but we're happy to help guide you through the Bluebooking process.

• Provide access to Library copies of the Bluebook
• Assist you as you navigate Bluebook rules
• Help you locate supplemental citation guides and self-help materials

We cannot check footnotes for you, proofread your paper or provide authoritative Bluebook interpretations. 

Bluebook Orders, Comments & Corrections

• The Harvard Law School Library is not affiliated directly with  The Bluebook or the Harvard Law Review Association
• The Bluebook is compiled by the editors of the Columbia Law Review , the Harvard Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review , and the Yale Law Journal  and is published and distributed by the Harvard Law Review Association

Please contact the editors of The Bluebook directly ( https://www.legalbluebook.com/ ) with orders, questions, comments or corrections. 

Additional Bluebook Help

• Bluebook Guide (Georgetown Law Library)
• Foreign Law by Jurisdiction: Citation (NYU Law) List of citation guides and abbreviation dictionaries for foreign and international law sources.
• Cornell LII: Introduction to Basic Legal Citation

Over It? Here Are Some Other Options...

• ALWD Guide to Legal Citation The ALWD (Association of Legal Writing Directors) Guide to Legal Citation explains legal citation formats for all types of legal documents in a clear, pedagogically sound manner. The Guide’s plain language, numerous examples, and clear, integrated structure to explaining the legal system of citation for legal materials is easy for students, professors, practitioners, and judges to understand and use.
• The Indigo Book The Indigo Book is a free, Creative Commons-dedicated implementation of The Bluebook’s Uniform System of Citation. The Indigo Book was compiled by a team of students at the New York University School of Law, working under the direction of Professor Christopher Jon Sprigman.
• OSCOLA: Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities is designed to facilitate accurate citation of authorities, legislation, and other legal materials. It is widely used in law schools and by journal and book publishers in the UK and beyond.

All Citation/Bluebook FAQs

Contact Us!

  Ask Us!  Submit a question or search our knowledge base.

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Email: [email protected]

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• Last Updated: Dec 14, 2023 3:52 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/law/bluebook

Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

• Table of contents
• Citing Judicial Opinions ... in Brief
• Citing Constitutional and Statutory Provisions ... in Brief
• Citing Agency Material ... in Brief
• The Bluebook
• ALWD Citation Manual
• Introduction
• Purposes of Legal Citation
• Types of Citation Principles
• Levels of Mastery
• Citation in Transition
• Who Sets Citation Norms
• Electronic Resources
• Judicial Opinions
• Constitutions & Statutes
• Agency & Exec. Material
• Arbitrations
• Court Rules
• Law Journal Writing
• Case Documents
• Words in Case Names
• Case Histories
• Omissions in Case Names
• Reporters & Courts
• Spacing & Periods
• In Citations
• Items Not Italicized
• Citations & Related Text
• Short Form Citations
• Tables of Authorities
• Changes in The Bluebook
• Table: Bluebook
• Table: ALWD Manual
• Table: State-Specific Practices

Documenting Legal Works in MLA Style

Gaining familiarity with the legal-citation practices used to document legal works may be impractical for student writers and sometimes even for scholars working in nonlegal fields. Nonspecialists can use MLA style to cite legal sources in one of two ways: strict adherence to the MLA format template or a hybrid method incorporating the standard legal citation into the works-cited-list entry. In either case, titles of legal works should be standardized in your prose and list of works cited according to the guidelines below.

Legal Style

Legal publications have traditionally followed the style set forth in the Harvard Law Review Association’s Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation , although some law reviews, such as the University of Chicago Law Review , have published their own style manuals. A more streamlined version of the Bluebook ’s legal-citation method, the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation , was introduced in 2000. The Legal Information Institute, a nonprofit associated with Cornell Law School, publishes an online guide to legal citation geared toward practitioners and nonspecialists instead of academics.

Those working in law are introduced to the conventions of legal citation during their professional training. Legal style is a highly complex shorthand code with specialized terminology that helps legal scholars and lawyers cite legal sources succinctly. It points specialists to the authoritative publication containing the legal opinion or law, regardless of the version the writer consulted.

Students and scholars working outside the legal profession and using MLA style should follow the MLA format template to cite laws, public documents, court cases, and other related material. Familiarize yourself with the guidelines in the MLA Handbook , sections 5.17–22, for corporate authors and government authors.

Following one of the fundamental principles of MLA style, writers citing legal works should document the version of the work they consult—not the canonical version of the law, as in legal style. As with any source in MLA style, how you document it will generally depend on the information provided by the version of the source you consulted.

Titles pose the greatest challenge to citing legal works in MLA style. Since MLA style keys references in the text to a list of works cited (unlike court filings, which cite works in the text of the brief, or academic legal writings, which cite works in footnotes ), writers should, with a few exceptions (noted below), standardize titles of legal sources in their prose and list of works cited. Following the MLA Handbook , italicize the names of court cases (70):

Marbury v. Madison

When you cite laws, acts, and political documents, capitalize their names like titles and set them in roman font (69):

Law of the Sea Treaty

Civil Rights Act

Code of Federal Regulations

When a legal source is contained within another work—for example, when the United States Code appears on a website that has a separate title—follow the MLA Handbook and treat the source as an independent publication (27). That is, style the title just as you would in prose—in italics if it is the name of a court case, in roman if it is a law or similar document; even though the legal source appears within a larger work, do not insert quotation marks around the title:

United States Code. Legal Information Institute , Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text.

For more on titles in legal citations in MLA style, see “Tips on Titles,” below.

Commonly Cited Sources

A few examples of using MLA style for commonly cited legal sources follow.

United States Supreme Court Decisions

United states supreme court dissenting opinions, federal statutes (united states code), public laws, federal appeals court decisions, federal bills, executive orders, state court of appeals, unpublished decisions, state senate bills, constitutions, international governing bodies.

Where you read the opinion of a United States Supreme Court decision will dictate how you cite it in MLA style. Legal-citation style, in contrast, points to the opinion published in the United States Reports , the authoritative legal source for the United States Supreme Court’s decisions, and cites the elements of that publication.

For example, the case Brown v. Board of Education is commonly abbreviated “347 U.S. 483” in legal citations: 347 is the volume number of United States Reports ; “U.S.” indicates that the opinion is found in United States Reports , which is the official reporter of the Supreme Court and indicates the opinion’s provenance; and the first page number of the decision is 483. (The American Bar Association has published a useful and concise overview of the components of a Supreme Court opinion .)

Regardless of the version you consult, you must understand a few basic things about the source: that it was written by a member of the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the majority and that, when you cite the opinion, the date on which the case was decided is the only date necessary to provide.

Following are examples of works-cited-list entries in MLA style for Brown v. Board of Education . The entries differ depending on whether the information was found on the Legal Information Institute website, published by Cornell University Law School, or on the Library of Congress website.

Legal Information Institute

The works-cited-list entry includes

• the government entity as author
• the name of the case (“Title of source” element)
• the year of the decision; it would also not be incorrect to include the day and month if it appears in your source
• the title of the website containing the case (“Title of container” element)
• the publisher of the website
• the website’s URL (“Location” element)

United States, Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education . 17 May 1954. Legal Information Institute , Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483.

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress site allows researchers to link to or download a PDF of the opinion from the United States Reports . To locate the case, the researcher must know the volume number of the United States Reports in which Brown v. Board of Education was published. A works-cited-list entry in MLA style would include the author (the government entity) and the title of the case, as well as the following information for container 1:

• United States Reports (“Title of container” element)
• vol. 347 (“Number” element)
• the date of the decision (“Publication date” element)
• page range (“Location” element)

Container 2 includes the name of the website publishing the case and its location, the URL. The publisher of the site is omitted since its name is the same as that of the site.

United States, Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education . United States Reports , vol. 347, 17 May 1954, pp. 483-97. Library of Congress , tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep347/usrep347483/usrep347483.pdf.

Sometimes, Supreme Court justices write dissenting opinions that accompany the published majority opinion. They are part of the legal record but not part of the holding—that is, the court’s ruling. If you cite only the dissent, you can treat it as the work you are citing:

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader. Dissenting opinion. Lilly Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. United States Reports , vol. 550, 29 May 2007, pp. 643-61. Supreme Court of the United States , www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/boundvolumes/550bv.pdf.

In MLA style, it will generally be clearest to create an entry for the United States Code in its entirety and cite the title and section number in the text, especially if you are referring to more than one section of the code.

If an online search directs you to the web page for a specific section of the United States Code, it would not be incorrect to cite the page for that section alone. For example, if you want to use MLA style to document title 17, section 304, of the United States Code—commonly abbreviated 17 U.S.C. § 304 in legal citations—title 17 can be treated as the work and thus placed in the “Title of source” slot on the MLA template, or if you cite the United States Code in its entirety, title 17 can be placed in the “Number” slot.

Your entry will once again depend on the version you consult. Below are examples from various websites.

website for the United States Code

On the website for the United States Code, you would likely determine that the United States House of Representatives is the author of the code. The United States Code is the title of the source, and since the source constitutes the entire website, no container needs to be specified: the source is self-contained, like a book (see p. 34 of the MLA Handbook ). The site lists the Office of the Law Revision Counsel as publisher, so you would include that name in the “Publisher” slot, followed by the date on which the code was last updated, and the URL as the location:

United States, Congress, House. United States Code. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 14 Jan. 2017, uscode.house.gov.

The body of your text or your in-text reference must mention title 17 and section 304 so the reader can locate the information you cite. It would not be wrong to include chapter 3 as well (title 17, ch. 3, sec. 304), although a discerning researcher will note that section numbers (304) incorporate chapter numbers (3), making “chapter 3” unnecessary to include.

If you do not include title 17 and section 304 in the text, you must include that information in the works-cited-list entry:

United States, Congress, House. United States Code. Title 17, section 304, Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 14 Jan. 2017, uscode.house.gov.

A nonspecialist would not be able to determine from the Legal Information Institute site that the United States House of Representatives is the author of the United States Code. A basic citation would include the title of the code as displayed on the site, the title of the website as the title of the container, the publisher of the website, and the location:

Government Publishing Office website

The website of the Government Publishing Office (variously referred to as the Government Printing Office) displays each statute heading (or “title”) as a web page:

You can treat title 17 as the work and the United States Code as the title of the container, as follows:

Title 17. United States Code, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2011, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title17/html/USCODE-2011-title17.htm.

Or you can treat the United States Code as the title of the source and title 17 as a numbered section within the code, by placing title 17 in the “Number” slot on the MLA template:

United States Code. Title 17, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2011, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title17/html/USCODE-2011-title17.htm.

Below are examples of how to cite other common legal sources in MLA style.

United States, Congress. Public Law 111-122. United States Statutes at Large , vol. 123, 2009, pp. 3480-82. U.S. Government Publishing Office , www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-123/pdf/STATUTE-123.pdf.

United States, Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Moss v. Colvin . Docket no. 15-2272, 9 Jan. 2017. United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit , www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions.html. PDF download.

It is customary to title court cases by using the last name of the first party on each side of the v . You may also wish to shorten a long URL, as we have done here .

United States, Congress, House. Improving Broadband Access for Veterans Act of 2016. Congress.gov , www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/6394/text. 114th Congress, 2nd session, House Resolution 6394, passed 6 Dec. 2016.

United States, Congress, House, Committee on Education and Labor. The Future of Learning: How Technology Is Transforming Public Schools . U.S. Government Publishing Office, 16 June 2009, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg50208/html/CHRG-111hhrg50208.htm. Text transcription of hearing.

After a president signs an executive order, the Office of the Federal Register gives it a number. It is then printed in the Federal Register and compiled in the Code of Federal Regulations. Executive orders usually also appear as press releases on the White House website upon signing.

United States, Executive Office of the President [Barack Obama]. Executive order 13717: Establishing a Federal Earthquake Risk Management Standard. 2 Feb. 2016. Federal Register , vol. 81, no. 24, 5 Feb. 2016, pp. 6405-10, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-02-05/pdf/2016-02475.pdf.

Minnesota State, Court of Appeals. Minnesota v. McArthur . 28 Sept. 1999, mn.gov/law-library-stat/archive//ctapun/9909/502.htm. Unpublished opinion.

Wisconsin State, Legislature. Senate Bill 5. Wisconsin State Legislature , 20 Jan. 2017, docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2017/related/proposals/sb5.

If a constitution is published in a named edition, treat it like the title of a book:

The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription . National Archives , U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 28 Feb. 2017, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript.

The Constitution of the United States, with Case Summaries . Edited by Edward Conrad Smith, 9th ed., Barnes and Noble Books, 1972.

References to the United States Constitution in your prose should follow the usual styling of titles of laws:

the Constitution

But your in-text reference should key readers to the appropriate entry:

( Constitution of the United States, with Case Summaries )

If the title does not indicate the country of origin, specify it in the entry:

France. Le constitution. 4 Oct. 1958. Legifrance , www.legifrance.gouv.fr/Droit-francais/Constitution/Constitution-du-4-octobre-1958.

Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. United Nations, 1998, nfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf. Multilateral treaty.

United States, Senate. Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. Congress.gov , www.congress.gov/114/cdoc/tdoc8/CDOC-114tdoc8.pdf. Treaty between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.

Swiss Confederation. Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft. 18 Apr. 1999. Der Bundesrat , 1 Jan. 2016, www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/19995395/index.html.

United Nations, General Assembly. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Resolution 217 A, 10 Dec. 1948. United Nations , www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/. PDF download.

Writing for Specialists: A Hybrid Method

A writer using MLA style to document a legal work for a specialized readership that is likely to be familiar with the conventions of legal documentation may wish to adopt a hybrid method: in place of the author and title elements on the MLA format template, identify the work by using the Bluebook citation. Then, follow the MLA format template to list publication information for the version of the source you consulted.

For example, to cite the United States Code using the hybrid method, treat the section cited as the work. As above, you can omit the title of the website, United States Code , since the code constitutes the entire website and is thus a self-contained work.

17 U.S.C. § 304. Office of Law Revision Counsel, 14 Jan. 2017, uscode.house.gov.

If you are citing a court case, begin the entry with the title of the case before listing the Bluebook citation. In the hybrid style, cite Brown v. Board of Education as found on the Legal Information Institute website thus:

Brown v. Board of Education . 347 U.S. 483. Legal Information Institute , Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483.

Other sources (public laws, federal appeals court decisions, etc.) can be handled similarly.

If using the hybrid method, do not follow the handbook’s recommendation to alphabetize works that start with a number as if the number is spelled out. Instead, list works beginning with numbers before the first lettered entry and order numbered works numerically.

TIPS ON TITLES Styling titles when you document legal sources in MLA style may be challenging. Below are some guidelines. Standardize titles of legal sources in your prose unless you refer to the published version: as the MLA Handbook indicates, italicize the names of court cases, but capitalize the names of laws, acts, and political documents like titles and set them in roman font. When a legal source is contained within another work—for example, when the United States Code appears on a website with another title—follow the MLA Handbook , page 27, and treat the work as an independent publication. That is, style the title just as you would in prose—in italics if it is the name of a court case, in roman if it is a law or similar document; even though the legal source appears in a larger work, do not insert quotation marks around the title. In the names of court cases, use the abbreviation v. consistently, regardless of which abbreviation is used in the version of the work you are citing. To determine the name of a court case, use only the name of the first party that appears on either side of “v.” or “vs.” in your source; if the name is a personal name, use only the surname. To shorten the name of a court case in your prose after introducing it in full or in parenthetical references, use the name of the first-listed nongovernmental party. Thus, the case NLRB v. Yeshiva University becomes Yeshiva . If your list of works cited includes more than one case beginning with the same governmental party, list entries under the governmental party but alphabetize them by the first nongovernmental party: NLRB v. Brown University

NLRB v. Yeshiva University

Refer to the nongovernmental party in your prose and parenthetical reference, alerting readers to this system of ordering in a note .

Special thanks to Noah Kupferberg, of Brooklyn Law School, for assistance with these guidelines.

30 Comments

Laurie nebeker 08 august 2017 at 02:08 pm.

My eleventh-grade English students write research papers about Supreme Court cases. In the MLA 7th edition (5.7.14) there was a note about italicizing case titles in the text but not in the list of works cited or in parenthetical references. Has this changed for the 8th edition? Also, you've given examples about formatting SCOTUS rulings, but most of the resources my students use are articles about the cases from news sources, specialty encyclopedias, etc. Should case titles be italicized when they appear within article titles? Thanks!

Your e-mail address will not be published

Angela Gibson 09 August 2017 AT 07:08 AM

You are correct to note this change. To make legal works a bit easier to cite, we now recommend that writers italicize the names of court cases both in the text and the list of works cited. When the name of a court case is contained within another work, style the title just as you would anywhere else. Thus, a SCOTUS ruling in the title of a news article would appear in italics. Thanks for reading; I hope this helps!

Nia Alexander 31 January 2018 AT 06:01 PM

How would I cite the 2015 National Content Report? It contains information similar to that of a census.

Angela Gibson 01 February 2018 AT 07:02 AM

There is an example here: https://style.mla.org/citing-tables/.

Nathan Hoepner 12 February 2018 AT 01:02 AM

One of my students wants to use the Versailles Treaty (officially, "Treaty of Peace with Germany"). The Library of Congress has a pdf copy posted. Should he list the treaty in his sources with the URL, or, since is just a copy of the official treaty, just list title, date, and "multilateral treaty"?

ben zuk 17 March 2018 AT 06:03 PM

how would I cite Supreme Court case from Justia?

Patricia Morris 27 March 2018 AT 10:03 AM

Can you give an example for citing the Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics?

Michael Park 03 May 2018 AT 12:05 PM

How do i cite a introduced bill into congress

ML Chilson 04 November 2018 AT 05:11 PM

How do I cite a pending case that is still at the trial court level, including citation to the briefs that have been filed by the various parties?

Blah 08 November 2018 AT 11:11 AM

how do you cite a complaint in mla format

Marlow Chapman 10 December 2018 AT 08:12 PM

How would one cite a Title (specifically Title VII) from the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Angela Gibson 11 December 2018 AT 05:12 PM

How you cite it will depend on where you access it. Some points: following the MLA format template, your entry will start with the title of the law. This will either be Civil Rights Act or Title 7 (see the discussion of Federal Statutes above for considerations about which title to begin your entry with). Your in-text citation (whether in prose or parentheses) should direct the reader to the first element in your works-cited list (in other words, the title).

Jeff Jeskie 04 February 2019 AT 08:02 AM

How do my students properly list the Supreme Court cases that are linked on the Exploring Constitutional Law site by Doug LInder at UMKC Law School site?

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/home.html?

Patricia Moseley 14 February 2019 AT 10:02 AM

I need help. My 8th grade history class is answering questions on the US Constitution and citing their answer.

There are five rights in the First Amendment, which include freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for a redress of their grievances (U.S. Constitution).

Is this in-text citation done correctly? Also, are the amendments spell out or does one use the Roman numeral in text?

Thank You!!!

Angela Gibson 15 February 2019 AT 10:02 AM

If U.S. Constitution is the first element in the works-cited-list entry, the in-text citation is correct. Spell out ordinal numbers (First Amendment), but use numerals for numbers of count (Amendment V) and, by convention, use Roman numerals for divisions of legal works that use them.

Ella 05 December 2019 AT 08:12 PM

How would you cite a state supreme court case?

Ana 06 December 2019 AT 09:12 AM

How would I cite an Act? More precisely, I want to cite The New York State Dignity for All Students Act. How would I do it on in-text citations and on the work cited page? Thanks!

Amanda 17 April 2020 AT 05:04 PM

How would I cite a tribal constitution? Do I use the date of the original publication or the most recent amendment or resolution?

most are found on their tribal government websites so would i treat it like this:

(italicized) Title of Document: Subtitle if Given (italicized) . Edition if given and is not first edition, Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Publication Date, URL. Accessed Day Month Year site was visited.

yet, I still do not know what date to use. Or should i just cite it from a print publication or Nat. Archives so I can use the example given in your list above?

Angela Gibson 20 April 2020 AT 09:04 AM

Cite the version you're looking at and use the date of access if it's the only date you can provide.

Marissa 25 October 2020 AT 05:10 PM

How would you cite The Declaration of Independence?

Jennifer A. Rappaport 26 October 2020 AT 08:10 PM

Thanks for your question. Please consult Ask the MLA: https://style.mla.org/category/ask-the-mla/

Carol Holyoke 19 January 2021 AT 10:01 PM

Could you please tell me how to cite the Declaration of Independence? Do I put it in the Works Cited List?

Angela Gibson 20 January 2021 AT 09:01 AM

It is generally a good idea to create a works-cited-list entry for the version of the document you are transcribing a quotation from (e.g., see our example for the Constitution). Create your entry just as you would for any other source--follow the template of core elements and list any relevant elements that apply.

Diane 23 February 2021 AT 07:02 PM

How do I correctly cite a Congressional public law In Text? I can only find how to cite in works cited pages. Thank you!

Rowena 28 April 2021 AT 09:04 AM

If I quote sections from a piece of legislation does it need to be italicised as well as quotation marks?

Charlotte Norcross 15 November 2021 AT 11:11 AM

How do I correctly cite the congressional record from a specific session? Thanks!

Carl Sandler 02 February 2022 AT 02:02 PM

I am submitting a report to an attorney consisting of investigative findings related to an automobile accident. Some of the information in my report will be technical in nature and other information will be in the form of my opinion(s) based on conclusions drawn from deposition testimony of witnesses and persons knowledgeable of the event. Considering the report will be read by both legal professionals and others not of the legal profession, what approach and format (with examples, please) should be used to cite deposition testimony and also Exhibits presented during the taking of the deposition? I am familiar with Bluebook style of legal citations, however not all persons reading my report would have this same understanding.

Lev 18 April 2022 AT 11:04 AM

Dear MLA Editor: When citing court cases in another language (French), should I keep the title of the case in the original language, translate it, or provide a translation in brackets? The same question goes for the name of the docket number, court, date of publication, and other elements. The MLA manual does not offer any guidance on this! Thanks in advance for any help.

Heidi 27 April 2023 AT 10:04 AM

What is the proper way to reference a recently filed lawsuit (a pending case) in legal writing (letters and memos)? Thanks!

Jennifer Washington 13 February 2024 AT 11:02 PM

How are state educational codes shaping standards for textbooks and materials cited in-text and on works cited?

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• A Quick Guide to OSCOLA Referencing | Rules & Examples

A Quick Guide to OSCOLA Referencing | Rules & Examples

Published on 28 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 5 May 2022.

The Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) is a referencing style used by students and academics in law.

OSCOLA referencing places citations in footnotes, which are marked in the text with footnote numbers:

The judge referred to the precedent established by Caulfield v Baldwin . 1

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Table of contents

Citing sources with oscola footnotes, oscola referencing examples, oscola tables and bibliography.

A citation footnote appears whenever you quote from, paraphrase or otherwise refer to the content of a source in your text.

A footnote is marked in the text with a footnote number, which appears at the end of the relevant sentence or clause. The number is displayed in superscript (i.e. 1) and appears after any punctuation like a comma or full stop:

These footnotes contain full information on the source cited. The format in which you present this information varies according to the type of source; examples are presented in the following section. A footnote always ends with a full stop:

Standard abbreviations

To save space in OSCOLA citations, abbreviations are used for the names of various publications and legal bodies.

For example, ‘UKSC’ is the United Kingdom Supreme Court, and ‘Cr App R’ refers to the Criminal Appeal Reports.

A full, searchable index of these abbreviations can be found here .

Pinpointing

In OSCOLA referencing, referring to a specific page number within a source is called pinpointing. To pinpoint, simply include a page number at the end of your reference, in addition to any page numbers already included.

For example, in the following citation, the first number refers to the page on which the report begins , while the second number pinpoints the passage you’re referring to :

Where available, paragraph numbers should be used instead of page numbers. Only do this if paragraph numbers are explicitly used in the text. Paragraph numbers appear in square brackets and can be used for pinpointing in the same way as page numbers:

Note that if you’re pinpointing a judge’s comments within a case report, you include the name of the judge, and some special terms and abbreviations are used in the citation and in the text.

If the judge is a peer, refer to them as ‘Lord’, e.g. Lord Williams. If they are a Lord/Lady Justice, use ‘LJ’, e.g. Williams LJ. If neither of these is the case, use ‘J’ for judge, e.g. Williams J:

Cross-referencing repeated citations of the same source

OSCOLA uses a system of cross-referencing to save space when you repeatedly cite the same source. This means that for subsequent references of a source, you don’t have to repeat the full citation.

When you refer to the same source you have just referred to (i.e. when the previous footnote was also about that source), you can simply use ‘ibid’ (Latin for ‘in the same place’):

In this example, the second footnote also refers to Davis v Dignam, but to page 522 instead of page 519.

When the previous reference to the source was in an earlier footnote (i.e. when other citations appear in between), use the author’s last name or the title (shortened if it’s a longer title), followed by the number of the previous citation (in brackets and preceded by ‘n’), then the page number you’re pinpointing (if different than the first citation):

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OSCOLA provides formats for a variety of source types. The most common ones are covered below.

Case reports

When citing a case, you’ll usually begin with a neutral citation – a way of referring to the case that does not relate to a particular report – and then give the details of the report afterwards. If no neutral citation exists, as with cases before 2002, you can just begin with the report.

Additionally, note that the year (for the report) is displayed differently depending on whether it is essential to the citation. For reports where each year is also identified with a volume number, the year appears in normal brackets. For those where multiple volumes appear in one year, the year appears in square brackets.

• Case report with neutral citation
• Case report with no neutral citation

Acts of Parliament

Use a short version of the title if the full title is longer than three words. If necessary, refer to specific parts of an Act of Parliament using section, subsection and paragraph numbers.

Statutory instruments

Statutory instruments (SIs) are numbered consecutively throughout the year; it’s this number that appears at the end of the citation – the example below is the 149th SI of 2020.

House of Commons bills are cited slightly differently from House of Lords bills. You write ‘HC Bill’ or ‘HL Bill’ depending upon which house it is, and bill numbers for Commons bills appear in square brackets.

• House of Commons bill
• House of Lords bill

Hansard is the official transcript of parliamentary debates in the UK. As with bills, write ‘HC’ for the House of Commons and ‘HL’ for the House of Lords. ‘Deb’ is short for ‘debate’, ‘vol’ for volume, and ‘col’ for column.

Use the full name of the author(s) as written in the source. List the edition (abbreviated to ‘edn’) when it is stated on the title page. Note that OSCOLA recommends abbreviating ‘Oxford University Press’ to ‘OUP’; this is not the case with other publishers.

Certain older books are listed by OSCOLA as ‘works of authority’ and given special abbreviated citations. For example, the following is a citation of volume 3, page 75 of Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England :

OSCOLA provides a list of these abbreviations in their full guide , section 4.2.3.

Journal articles

As with case reports, square brackets are used for years in a journal citation if the year also identifies the volume; normal brackets are used when there are multiple volumes in a year.

Note that standard abbreviations are also used for journal names; here ‘MLR’ refers to Modern Law Review.

In a longer work, such as a thesis or dissertation , OSCOLA requires you to include tables listing any cases and legislation you cited, as well as a bibliography listing any secondary sources . For shorter essays, this is usually not necessary, but do check your institution’s guidelines.

The tables and bibliography appear at the end of your text. The table of cases comes first, followed by the table of legislation, and then the bibliography.

Sources are listed in alphabetical order within each table and in the bibliography.

Table of cases

Cases are written in a similar format here and in the main text; the only difference is the names of the parties involved are not italicised in the table of cases:

Table of legislation

The table of legislation includes all legal sources used other than cases – for example, bills, Acts of Parliament and SIs. Items in the table of legislation are listed in identical form to how they are cited in the text.

Bibliography

A bibliography lists all your secondary sources – that is, everything other than cases and legislation. For example, here you would list Hansard , any books and journal articles cited, and other sources such as blogs, social media and newspapers.

Bibliography entries differ from citations in terms of their presentation of the author’s name. Author names in the bibliography are inverted, and initials are used in place of the first name:

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, May 05). A Quick Guide to OSCOLA Referencing | Rules & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 20 March 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/oscola/

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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.

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APA Law Citation – Citation Format With Examples

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When citing federal laws, statutes, or acts in research papers or essays, it is crucial to include the name of the law, title, and section of the code using the APA law citation style. Since existing legal references are written in legal style, they typically don’t require changes when listing them in the reference list entry. If you’re looking to modify APA law citation, here’s everything you need to know, including APA examples to guide your understanding. These APA examples can provide clear illustrations of how to accurately format your citations, aiding both novice and experienced researchers alike.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 APA Law Citation – In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: APA law citation
• 3 APA law citation: Symbols and abbreviations
• 4 APA law citation: Public law number
• 5 APA law citation: Citing state laws

APA Law Citation – In a Nutshell

• For the reference list , order the APA law citations in alphabetical order. Remember the recommended format for each resource type.
• In in-text citations , use the format you would use in APA for work with no authors. For instance, the APA law citation should be as follows; style of cause, date, page or paragraph number. The name of the case is written in italics .
• Unlike other references in APA style, APA law citation requires italicizing the in-text citation while the case name or style of cause is written in standard type.

Definition: APA law citation

Legal materials are usually cited using the Bluebook style , the standard legal citation used in all disciplines. APA law citation also defers to the Bluebook style for legal materials and relies on the templates and formats in bibliographies . Cases and court decisions include the following elements relevant to APA law citation:

• Name of the case or title: For example, Plessy v. Ferguson
• Citation: It indicates the volume and page of reporters or books where case decisions are published.
• Jurisdiction of the court: It is usually included in parentheses, for example, the US Supreme Court or Court of Appeals.
• The date: It is added in the same parentheses as jurisdiction and shows the date the court decision was made.
• URL: It aids in finding the source, but it’s optional.

APA law citation: Symbols and abbreviations

Law compilations and the United States Code are divided into parts and sections. While no symbol is used in the title or case name in your reference, the section number is preceded by a section symbol ( § ). Creating a section symbol in a Word document requires the following steps:

• Click on the ‘Insert’ tab on your screen.
• When the insert ribbon appears, click the ‘Symbols’ button and select the ‘More Symbols’
• Select the ‘Special Character’ tab, where you will find a Section symbol.

When a law you are referencing is spread across multiple sections, you add the term ‘et seq,’ a Latin word for ‘and following ’. You add ‘et seq’ after the initial section number. In APA law citation, the term is written in italics, followed by a period.

Anti-Smuggling Act, 59 U.S.C. § 21 et seq. (1950).

APA law citation: Public law number

Some laws have a public law number , which isn’t used in APA law citation except in special instances. For instance, you can use the public law number when the law is spread across non-consecutive sections or is not included in the United States Code.

Laws not included in the U.S.C.

When a law has not been published in the United States Code, you should cite it using the public law number and provide information on where it was published.

The law example below is published in the United States Statutes, abbreviated as ‘Stat.’

Laws spread across different sections

If a law or statute is codified for diverse sections of the U.S.C., you can cite it in APA law citation using a public law number. It is important to include the location of the sections in the Statutes at Large.

In the example below, the law was codified in titles 3, 25 and 52 of the code. Hence, it is cited using the public law number.

APA law citation: Citing state laws

The laws and statutes of individual states in the US are cited in a similar manner as federal laws using the APA law citation. The only exception is that the U.S.C. code is replaced with the state’s law code. Some state codes use chapter numbers and articles instead of section numbers. Hence, adapting the APA law citation to the state’s standards is essential. For example, Virginia uses the following format:

Is it necessary to include a URL in an APA legal reference?

Adding a URL to your APA law citation is optional in reference entries. However, you can add them to aid the reader in finding the source.

How can I cite a court case available in multiple publications?

In APA law citation, you need to cite all publications reporting cases in which the court case appears. You can cite all the publications by separating them with commas in the reference entry.

How can I cite a court case with no page number?

When a court case doesn’t have a specific page number, use three underscores in the place where the page number would appear.

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Law: Referencing

• European Law Databases
• Foreign Law Databases
• International Law Databases

Study Skills

• Legal Research Certification
• Referencing
• UK Official Publications
• EU Official Publications
• UN Official Publications

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

An introduction to the general principles of referencing, including why, when and how to reference.

Research & Academic Support Librarian

OSCOLA Workshops

Learn OSCOLA at our Introduction to OSCOLA workshops. Learn about footnote referencing, how to cite primary and secondary sources of legal information, how to do subsequent citations using short forms and ibids, and how to structure your bibliography. 

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

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

• 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

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

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

Legal Research

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

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Legal sources

Citing and referencing: legal sources.

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APA Contents

• Introduction to APA style
• In-Text Citations
• Abbreviations
• Audio and Visual media
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• Sample reference list
• For detailed guidelines, the APA style guide refers readers to The Bluebook: A uniform system of citation (19th ed, 2010);  however, this does not cover Australian law and cases.  Check with your faculty for any specific requirements . In Australia, a common resource to use is the following book: Melbourne University Law Review Association, & Melbourne Journal of International Law. (2018). Australian guide to legal citation (4th ed.) . Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University Law Review Association. (AGLC)
• The AGLC should also be consulted when referencing international legal documents.
• Round brackets are used when the report series is organised by volume numbers, square brackets are used when the reports are organised by year rather than volume. Ensure that the brackets used in your citation match the type of brackets used in your source.
• In references to legislation, the year is in italics as it is considered to be part of the title of the Act.
• Secondary sources : if you do not read the actual case or Act, but only read about them in another source, only include the source in your reference list.
• Cases and legislation retrieved electronically require the electronic source to be added to the reference.  If the content of the document is likely to be updated, include the retrieved date.  If the URL address of the case or Act is too long or cumbersome it is sufficient to give the URL of the database from where they can be retrieved. Use the words 'available from' to clarify that you won't go directly to the documentment but it can be downloaded from there.
• Jurisdictions are abbreviated and in brackets e.g (Cth ) for Commonwealth, (Vic) for Victoria, (UK) for United Kingdom etc.

Legislation

Bills should appear in the same format as legislation but titles and year should not be italicised.

Legal cases

Multilateral treaty documents, e.g. united nations.

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• Referencing and plagiarism
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Table of contents

Introduction, cite them right harvard, cite them right oscola, referencing accessible formats.

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This guide should be used only when you are studying an OU Law undergraduate module (W1xx, W2xx or W3xx). It should be read in conjunction with Sections 8–8.2.2 (requires login) of the Law undergraduate guide.

If you are studying a Law postgraduate module (W8xx), you should not use this guide. Please refer to the information under the 'Assessment: plagiarism and referencing' section under the 'Discover' tab on the Law Postgraduate Home website.

If you are studying any other module, use the Quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right) .

This guide provides a quick introduction to Cite Them Right (CTR) Harvard and OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities) referencing styles. CTR is a practical guide to referencing, and is available through the OU Library. If you are viewing CTR in any mode other than full-screen, you might have to scroll down to find the information you require.

For general help and support with referencing, have a look at the Library’s page on referencing and plagiarism . If you need guidance referencing OU module material using CTR Harvard you can check out which sections of Cite Them Right are recommended when referencing physical and online module material .

Two categories of material

When you are studying an OU Law module, you will need to refer to two categories of material: general academic sources, and legal sources. On Law undergraduate modules, these two types of source require different referencing styles: CTR Harvard and CTR OSCOLA.

General academic sources

You will reference these using the CTR Harvard . These sources are sometimes referred to as ‘secondary sources of law’, and include module materials, books, databases, journal articles and websites.

When you are referring to module materials, you should:

• follow the style shown in Tutors’ lecture notes in VLEs (Harvard) (this item is under the 'Learning Environments and online support' sub-heading under the 'Digital & Internet' heading in CTR Harvard),
• include section numbers to enable your tutor to find the part of the materials that you used, and
• use suffix letters to distinguish between the units, as explained in Sections 8–8.2.2 (requires login)  of the Law undergraduate guide .

Legal sources

You will reference these sources, which are listed under the 'Legal' heading in CTR OSCOLA .

These sources include various reports and papers, and primary sources of law, including:

• UK cases (these are listed as ‘Law reports (cases)’)
• UK statutes (these are listed as ‘UK Statutes (Acts of Parliament)’ under the ‘Official records of Parliament’ sub-heading)
• UK secondary legislation (this is listed as ‘Statutory Instruments (SIs)’ under the ‘Official records of Parliament’ sub-heading)
• Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru) legislation (this is in the examples of ‘Legislation from UK devolved legislatures’ under the ‘Official records of Parliament’ sub-heading)
• EU legislation (this is listed under the ‘International’ sub-heading)
• EU cases (these are listed under the ‘European Case Law Identifier’ under the ‘International’ sub-heading)
• International treaties and case law (these are in the examples of ‘International legal sources’ listed under the ‘International’ sub-heading)
• The European Convention on Human Rights and cases from the European Court of Human Rights

Back to top

In-text citations and full references

Referencing consists of two elements:

• in-text citations, which are inserted in the body of your text and are included in the word count. An in-text citation gives the author(s) and publication date of a source you are referring to. If the publication date is not given, the phrase 'no date' is used instead of a date. If using direct quotations, you also need the page number/s, if available, or paragraph number for web pages.
• full references, which are given in alphabetical order in a reference list at the end of your work and are not included in the word count. Full references give full bibliographical information for all the sources you have referred to in the body of your text.

Difference between reference list and bibliography

A reference list only includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text.

A bibliography includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text AND sources that were part of your background reading that you did not use in your assignment.

Examples of in-text citations

There are a number of ways of incorporating in-text citations into your work. Examples are provided below:

In-text citations to your online module units should also include the section number (e.g. The Open University (2023a, 5.1)).

Note: When referencing a chapter of an edited book, your in-text citation should give the author(s) of the chapter.

Examples of full references

Online module materials.

(Includes written online module activities, audio-visual material such as online tutorials, recordings or videos).

Surname, Initial. (Year study of module started) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

OR, if there is no named author - this is the case for all undergraduate Law modules :

The Open University (Year study of module started) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

Hypothetical example:

The Open University (2029) 'Unit 4: Rules and regulations'. W376: Law for life . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=XXXXXXXX (Accessed: 7 March 2032).

You can also use this template to reference videos and audio that are hosted on your module website.

The Open University (2022) ‘Video: Blue v Ashley [2017]’. W212: Contract law . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2009935 section=3.1.2 (Accessed: 14 June 2023).

The Open University (2022) ‘Audio: FutureProofing, 2015’. W302: Equity, trusts and land . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1973369 section=5.1 (Accessed: 14 June 2023).

Note: if a complete journal article has been uploaded to a module website, or if you have seen an article referred to on the website and then accessed the original version, you should reference the original journal article, and not mention the module materials. If only an extract from an article that you want to reference is included in your module materials, you should use secondary referencing, with the module materials as the 'cited in' source, as described above.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of message', Title of discussion board , in Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

Pywell, S. (2023) ‘Welcome to the Right Cites forum', Right Cites: avoiding plagiarism and citing correctly , in W112: Civil justice and tort law . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=4311441 (Accessed: 14 June 2023).

Note: When an ebook looks like a printed book, with publication details and pagination, reference as a printed book.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title . Edition if later than first. Place of publication: publisher. Series and volume number if relevant.

For ebooks that do not contain print publication details

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title of book . Available at: DOI or URL (Accessed: date).

Example with one author:

Bell, J. (2014) Doing your research project . Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Example with two or three authors:

Goddard, J. and Barrett, S. (2015) The health needs of young people leaving care . Norwich: University of East Anglia, School of Social Work and Psychosocial Studies.

Example with four or more authors:

Young, H.D., Freedman, R.A., Sandin, T.R., and Ford, A.L. (2015) Sears and Zemansky's university physics . San Francisco, Calif.: Addison-Wesley.

Note: You can choose either method to reference four or more authors, and your approach should be consistent.

Note: You should create full references for the printed versions of the module materials only if you receive them for reasons related to additional requirements that you have declared to the OU. If you have chosen to have printed versions of the module materials, but can access the online versions, your full references should refer to the online versions, as described above.

Surname, Initial. (Year study of module started) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Place of publication: Publisher.

The Open University (Year study of module started) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Place of publication: Publisher.

The Open University (2029) 'Unit 4: Rules and regulations'. W376: Law for life . Milton Keynes: The Open University.

Note: An edited book has an editor, or editors, and chapters written by different authors.

Surname of chapter author, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of chapter or section', in Surname of book editor, Initial. (ed.) Title of book . Place of publication: publisher, Page reference.

Franklin, A.W. (2012) 'Management of the problem', in Smith, S.M. (ed.) The maltreatment of children . Lancaster: MTP, pp. 83–95.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference.

Or if accessed online:

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference. Available at: DOI OR URL (if required) (Accessed: date).

Foran, M. (2022) ' The cornerstone of our law: equality, consistency and judicial review', Cambridge Law Journal , 81(2), pp. 249–272.

Cahill-O’Callaghan, R. and Mulcahy, L. (2022) ‘Where are the numbers? Challenging the barriers to quantitative socio-legal scholarship in the United Kingdom’, Journal of Law and Society , 49(1), pp. S105–S118. Available at: https://doi- org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/10.1111/jols.12376.

Candi, M., Melia, M. and Colurcio, M. (2019) ‘Two Birds with One Stone: The Quest for Addressing Both Business Goals and Social Needs with Innovation’, Journal of Business Ethics , 160(4), pp. 1019–1033. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/45278183 (Accessed: 14 June 2023).

Surname, Initial. (Year) Title of photograph . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Kitton, J. (2013) Golden sunset . Available at: https://www.jameskittophotography.co.uk/photo_8692150.html (Accessed: 21 November 2021).

stanitsa_dance (2021) Cossack dance ensemble . Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/COI_slphWJ_/ (Accessed: 13 June 2023).

Note: If no title can be found then replace it with a short description.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper (Edition, if any), Day and month, Section and page reference (if available).

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper (Edition, if any), Day and month, Section and page reference (if available).Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Ashton,, J. (2023) ‘Capital flows through London like the Thames. Don't divert it’, Evening Standard , 13 June, p. 23.

Ellis, L. (2023) ‘Job Enthusiasm Dims As Frustrations Grow’, Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), 14 June. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2825379095/fulltext/67C087F32B96422BPQ/... (Accessed: 14 June 2023).

Surname, Initial. (Year that the site was published/last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Organisation (Year that the page was last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Robinson, J. (2007) Social variation across the UK . Available at: https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/social-variation ... (Accessed: 21 November 2021).

The British Psychological Society (2018) Code of Ethics and Conduct . Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct (Accessed: 22 March 2019).

Note: CTR offers guidance for referencing webpages that do not include authors' names or dates. However, be extra vigilant about the suitability of such webpages.

In-text footnote numbers, and full citations in footnotes

An OSCOLA reference must include two elements:

• in-text footnote numbers , presented as superscripts if possible, immediately after the punctuation at the end of every clause or sentence where cited material appears in your work. You should insert these references using your word-processor’s ‘insert footnote’ facility; in modern versions of Word, this appears under the ‘References’ tab. If you do not insert a space between the punctuation and the superscript, the superscript will not be included in your word count.
• footnotes , each consisting of a number and a full citation, at the bottom of every page that includes one or more in-text footnote numbers; the material in these footnotes is not included in your word count. It does not matter whether these footnote numbers are presented as superscripts or normal-sized text, but you should be consistent within each piece of work. The examples below demonstrate the use of both styles.

For primary sources of law – eg UK cases and statutes, UK secondary legislation, Welsh legislation, EU cases and legislation, international treaties and case law, the European Convention on Human Rights and cases from the European Court of Human Rights – that you have found listed in your OU module materials , copy all the details, including the citation, from the footnote or (if there is no footnote) the text of the unit, and paste them into your footnotes. (These primary sources should not be included in the reference list at the end of your work.)

For other sources listed under the ‘Legal’ heading in CTR OSCOLA, and primary sources of law that you find in non-OU publications , use the CTR OSCOLA guidance to construct the footnote.

Examples of how to cite cases from the UK courts are found in ‘Law reports (cases)’ under the 'Legal' heading in CTR OSCOLA.

If you need to refer to a legal source that is not covered by CTR OSCOLA, you should make a genuine attempt to include all the information that would be necessary in order to enable your tutor to find it.

There is a note about citing treaties at the end of this Quick Guide.

You may choose to include the titles of some legal sources in the text of a piece of work, but you must also include their full citations in footnotes.

Most Law assignments will require both types of reference, so each piece of work is likely to include:

• CTR Harvard in-text citations , and a reference list , for general academic sources
• CTR OSCOLA in-text footnote numbers , and footnotes , for legal sources.

Examples of using in-text footnote numbers and corresponding footnotes

The facts in the example below have, of course, been overtaken by events, but they have been used because it is very rare for so many different sources of law to be relevant to one situation.

If you include the name of a case in the text, you do not need to include its date in the text. The date for every case is part of its citation, so it must appear in the footnote.

If you include the title of a piece of legislation in the text, you must include its date in the text.

The ‘triggering’ process set out in the EU Treaty enables a member state to leave the EU within two years of giving formal notice of its intention to do so. 1 The High Court ruled, in R (Miller) v The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union , 2 that the UK could not give notice of its intention to leave without the authority of an Act of Parliament. On 24 January 2017, this decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in R (on the application of Miller and another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union . 3 Parliament subsequently passed the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017, which came into force on 16 March 2017, giving the Prime Minister the discretionary power to notify the EU of the UK’s intention to withdraw. The UK’s exit date was originally set for 29 March 2019, 4 but an extension was unanimously agreed by Parliament, and granted by the EU, and the date was amended to 31 October 2019. 5 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the European Union [2008] OJ C115/13, art 50. R (Miller) v The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2016] EWHC 2768 (Admin). R (on the application of Miller and another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5. European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, s 20(1). European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Exit Day) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/859, reg 2(2).

Examples of how to construct citations for footnotes

Report citation with specific ‘pinpoint’ reference to a page.

Footnote number. Name of parties involved in the case [Year] Volume number Abbreviation First page of report, page number (Judge's name). [Use square brackets for the year if it is needed to identify the volume of the law report].

1. Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council [1992] 2 AC 1, 23 (Lord Templeman).

Report citation without specific ‘pinpoint’ reference

Footnote number. Name of parties involved in the case (Year) Volume number Abbreviation First page of report. (Use round brackets if each annual volume is numbered so the year is not necessary to identify the volume of the law report).

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

Neutral citation with a specific ‘pinpoint’ reference to a paragraph

Names of parties involved in the case [Year] Court Number of case in that year [number of the paragraph].

3. Humphreys v Revenue and Customs [2012] UKSC 18 [8].

Footnote number. Short title Year enacted, s section number(subsection number).

4. Human Rights Act 1998, s 6(1).

Footnote number. Short title House (Parliamentary session) [Bill number].

5. Transport HC Bill (1999–2000) [8].

European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

The treaty that you will be most likely to need to cite is the European Convention on Human Rights . You can use this shortened wording in the main text of your work, and you should insert a footnote superscript after it.

In the footnote itself, you should use the full title, followed (if necessary), by the article number:

European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms art 50.

EU treaties

Instructions about how to cite the EU treaties are given under the ‘EU legislation, directives, decisions and regulations’ sub-heading under the 'International' tab in CTR OSCOLA.

Other international treaties

CTR OSCOLA requires more details about an international treaty than are likely to be given in your module units. If you cannot easily find all the details required by CTR, you can simply copy the full citation from your unit, and put it into a footnote.

In accordance with the University’s Referencing accessible formats , individual arrangements will be made for students who advise the University that they have a disability that makes them unable to create references or to use CTR Harvard or CTR OSCOLA.

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Citing and referencing legal resources using Harvard

• UK case law

UK statutes

Uk statutory instruments, devolved legislation.

• European Union resources
• Other legal resources

A statute is another name for an Act of Parliament. 

As explained in Cite them right UK statutes (Acts of Parliament) , you will need to reference a statute in the following way: Title of Act year, chapter number. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

In-text citation: The legislation (Food Standards Act 1999) states that...

Reference list: Food Standards Act 1999, c. 28 . Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/28/contents (Accessed: 30 January 2018).

Cite them right also provides guidance on UK statutory instruments  (also known as secondary or delegated legislation). Your reference will be made up of the following elements: Name/title of SI year (SI year and number). Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

In-text citation: In relation to the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 ,....

Reference list: Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2996). Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/2996/made (Accessed: 24 January 2018).

Cite them right  gives details on how to cite and reference legislation from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland . You will need to consult this for details of how to cite Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Statutory Instruments; Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland; and legislation of the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Statutory Instruments.

A Bill is a draft law. It needs to be approved in the Houses of Parliament and receive Royal Assent before it becomes an Act of Parliament.

As explained by Cite them right Bills from the House of Commons or House of Lords , the type of information you need to include in your reference list is as follows: Title (year of publication). Parliament: House of Commons OR Parliament: House of Lords. Bill no.[  ]. Place of publication: publisher.

In-text citation: The Sugar in Food and Drinks (Targets, Labelling and Advertising) Bill (2016) had its first reading on....

Reference list: Sugar in Food and Drinks (Targets, Labelling and Advertising) Bill (2016). Parliament: House of Commons. Bill no. 70. London: The Stationery Office.

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• Last Updated: Nov 23, 2023 4:57 PM
• URL: https://libguides.city.ac.uk/Harvardreferencinglawresources

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Legal, Public and Unpublished Materials

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This section contains information on The Chicago Manual of Style method of document formatting and citation. These resources follow the seventeenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style , which was issued in 2017.

General Guidelines for Public and Unpublished Materials

Notes and bibliographic entries for public documents, like other documents, should include the elements needed to locate the items. These essential elements often include the following:

• Country, city, state, province, county, etc.
• Legislative body, executive department, court, bureau, board commission or committee, etc.
• Subsidiary divisions
• Title, if any, of the document or collection
• Individual author (editor or compiler), if given
• Report number or any other identification necessary or useful in finding the specific document
• Publisher, if different from issuing body

Footnote or Endnote (N):

1. Firstname Lastname, “Title of Document” (source type identifier, Place of Publication, year of publication), page number(s).

Corresponding Bibliographic Entry (B):

Legal Materials and Government Documents

Legal materials and other government documents should be cited using footnotes, endnotes, and/or citation sentences (with clauses including the same information required in a footnote). Print copies of the sources tend to be preferred to digital, though verified digital sources are acceptable.

When writing for law journals or other legal publications, these sources are not usually required to be cited in a bibliography or on a references page. Citation sentences alone are an acceptable form of citation, so long as the document has only a few legal citations (for more information, see The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., sections 14.269-305 and 15.58.)

Court Decisions and Cases

Notes for court cases should include case name, number, volume number, abbreviated name(s) of reporter, and, in parentheses, the abbreviated name of the court and the date. Case names written in full are typeset in roman, while in subsequent shortened citations the short form of the case name is italicized. Citations are assumed to refer to decisions as a whole unless a particular page is cited using “at” (see example 3 below). The CMOS offers the following note examples in section 14.276:

United States v. Christmas, 222 F.3d 141, 145 (4th Cir. 2000).

Profit Sharing Plan v. Mbank Dallas, N.A., 683 F. Supp. 592 (N.D. Tex. 1988).

Christmas, 222 F.3d at 145. The court also noted that under United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7 (1989), police may briefly detain a person without probable cause if the officer believes criminal activity “may be afoot.” Christmas, 222 F.3d at 143; see also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968).

Theses and Dissertations

Thesis and dissertation titles appear in quotation marks, not in italics, but are cited in all other ways like books. Include name, title, type of document, academic institution, and date, in that order. If the item was found online, include a URL or DOI (see guidelines for citing online sources ).

1. Tara Hostetler, “Bodies at War: Bacteriology and the Carrier Narratives of ‘Typhoid Mary’” (master’s thesis, Florida State University, 2007), 15-16.

Hostetler, Tara. "Bodies at War: Bacteriology and the Carrier Narratives of ‘Typhoid Mary.’” Master’s thesis, Florida State University, 2007.

Letters and Unpublished Manuscripts

Letters and unpublished materials that have not been archived may be cited like other unpublished material, with information on location replaced by wording such as “private collection of Trinity Overmyer” or “in the author’s possession.” The location is not mentioned.

Scribbr Citation Generator

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• Introduction
• Finding sources

Evaluating sources

• Integrating sources

Citing sources

Tools and resources, a quick guide to working with sources.

Working with sources is an important skill that you’ll need throughout your academic career.

It includes knowing how to find relevant sources, assessing their authority and credibility, and understanding how to integrate sources into your work with proper referencing.

This quick guide will help you get started!

Finding relevant sources

Sources commonly used in academic writing include academic journals, scholarly books, websites, newspapers, and encyclopedias. There are three main places to look for such sources:

• Research databases: Databases can be general or subject-specific. To get started, check out this list of databases by academic discipline . Another good starting point is Google Scholar .
• Your institution’s library: Use your library’s database to narrow down your search using keywords to find relevant articles, books, and newspapers matching your topic.
• Other online resources: Consult popular online sources like websites, blogs, or Wikipedia to find background information. Be sure to carefully evaluate the credibility of those online sources.

When using academic databases or search engines, you can use Boolean operators to refine your results.

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In academic writing, your sources should be credible, up to date, and relevant to your research topic. Useful approaches to evaluating sources include the CRAAP test and lateral reading.

CRAAP is an abbreviation that reminds you of a set of questions to ask yourself when evaluating information.

• Currency: Does the source reflect recent research?
• Relevance: Is the source related to your research topic?
• Authority: Is it a respected publication? Is the author an expert in their field?
• Accuracy: Does the source support its arguments and conclusions with evidence?
• Purpose: What is the author’s intention?

Lateral reading

Lateral reading means comparing your source to other sources. This allows you to:

• Verify evidence
• Contextualize information
• Find potential weaknesses

If a source is using methods or drawing conclusions that are incompatible with other research in its field, it may not be reliable.

Integrating sources into your work

Once you have found information that you want to include in your paper, signal phrases can help you to introduce it. Here are a few examples:

Following the signal phrase, you can choose to quote, paraphrase or summarize the source.

• Quoting : This means including the exact words of another source in your paper. The quoted text must be enclosed in quotation marks or (for longer quotes) presented as a block quote . Quote a source when the meaning is difficult to convey in different words or when you want to analyze the language itself.
• Paraphrasing : This means putting another person’s ideas into your own words. It allows you to integrate sources more smoothly into your text, maintaining a consistent voice. It also shows that you have understood the meaning of the source.
• Summarizing : This means giving an overview of the essential points of a source. Summaries should be much shorter than the original text. You should describe the key points in your own words and not quote from the original text.

Whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source, you must include a citation crediting the original author.

Citing your sources is important because it:

• Allows you to avoid plagiarism
• Establishes the credentials of your sources
• Backs up your arguments with evidence
• Allows your reader to verify the legitimacy of your conclusions

The most common citation styles are APA, MLA, and Chicago style. Each citation style has specific rules for formatting citations.

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Scribbr offers tons of tools and resources to make working with sources easier and faster. Take a look at our top picks:

• Citation Generator: Automatically generate accurate references and in-text citations using Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator, MLA Citation Generator , Harvard Referencing Generator , and Chicago Citation Generator .
• Plagiarism Checker : Detect plagiarism in your paper using the most accurate Turnitin-powered plagiarism software available to students.
• AI Proofreader: Upload and improve unlimited documents and earn higher grades on your assignments. Try it for free!
• Paraphrasing tool: Avoid accidental plagiarism and make your text sound better.
• Grammar checker : Eliminate pesky spelling and grammar mistakes.
• Summarizer: Read more in less time. Distill lengthy and complex texts down to their key points.
• AI detector: Find out if your text was written with ChatGPT or any other AI writing tool. ChatGPT 2 & ChatGPT 3 supported.
• Proofreading services : Have a human editor improve your writing.
• Citation checker: Check your work for citation errors and missing citations.
• Knowledge Base : Explore hundreds of articles, bite-sized videos, time-saving templates, and handy checklists that guide you through the process of research, writing, and citation.

• Plagiarism and grammar
• Citation guides

LAWS Citation Generator

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Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper

Consider your source's credibility. ask these questions:, contributor/author.

• Has the author written several articles on the topic, and do they have the credentials to be an expert in their field?
• Can you contact them? Do they have social media profiles?
• Have other credible individuals referenced this source or author?
• Book: What have reviews said about it?
• What do you know about the publisher/sponsor? Are they well-respected?
• Do they take responsibility for the content? Are they selective about what they publish?
• Take a look at their other content. Do these other articles generally appear credible?
• Does the author or the organization have a bias? Does bias make sense in relation to your argument?
• Is the purpose of the content to inform, entertain, or to spread an agenda? Is there commercial intent?
• Are there ads?
• When was the source published or updated? Is there a date shown?
• Does the publication date make sense in relation to the information presented to your argument?
• Does the source even have a date?
• Was it reproduced? If so, from where?
• If it was reproduced, was it done so with permission? Copyright/disclaimer included?

MLA Format: Everything You Need to Know and More

Filled with a wide variety of examples and visuals, our Citation Machine® MLA guide will help you master the citation process. Learn how to cite websites, books, journal articles, magazines, newspapers, films, social media, and more!

MLA Citation Generator | Website | Books | Journal Articles | YouTube | Images | Movies | Interview | PDFs

Comprehensive Guide to APA Format

Our Citation Machine® APA guide is a one-stop shop for learning how to cite in APA format. Read up on what APA is, or use our citing tools and APA examples to create citations for websites, books, journals, and more!

APA Citation Generator | Website | Books | Journal Articles | YouTube | Images | Movies | Interview | PDFs

Everything You Need to Know About Chicago Style

Creating citations in Chicago style has never been easier thanks to our extensive Citation Machine® Chicago style guide and tools. Learn about footnotes, endnotes, and everything in between, or easily create citations for websites, books, journal articles, and more!

Chicago Citation Generator | Website | Books | Journal Articles | YouTube | Images | Movies | Interview | PDFs

Citation Machine®’s Ultimate Writing Guides

Whether you’re a student, writer, foreign language learner, or simply looking to brush up on your grammar skills, our comprehensive grammar guides provide an extensive overview on over 50 grammar-related topics. Confused about reflexive verbs, demonstrative adjectives, or conjunctive adverbs? Look no further! Learn about these grammar topics and many, many more in our thorough and easy to understand reference guides!

Citing Sources Guide | Grammar Guide | Plagiarism Guide | Writing Tips

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