For a case, cite in full the first time. For further references to the case, use a short form of the case name and a cross-citation in brackets to the original footnote. If the case name is included in the text, omit it in the footnote.

If the subsequent citation is directly after the full citation, simply use the term ‘ibid’. If pinpointing specific paragraphs, place these in square brackets.

When referring to a previous citation a number of footnotes back, use the short version of the case and add n as an abbreviation signposting the number of the footnote

For subsequent citation of legislation, abbreviations are acceptable. For subsequent citation of secondary sources, you only need the author’s surname.

For more detailed information see OSCOLA 1.2

For multiple references within one footnote use semi-colons to distinguish between them and put them in chronological order with the oldest first. For example, this footnote refers to two cases:

If one or more references are more relevant than the others put these first and then ‘see also’. For example:

Also, order the sources with legislation before cases, and primary sources before secondary.

For more detailed information, see OSCOLA 1.1 and 1.2

A pinpoint is a precise reference to the part of a judgment or report through numbered paragraphs or page numbers. There are a number of ways you can pinpoint specific details within publications, depending on what the publication is. When citing more than one paragraph, place the numbers in square brackets. In this first example the pinpoints are at the end to paragraphs 42 and 45 of the case:

In this example for a secondary source the page number 131 is given at the end:

 For more detailed information, see OSCOLA 2.1.6 and OSCOLA 4.2.5

Cross citation is when you are referring to discussion in another part of your writing, for example on an earlier page or in a previous chapter. It is good practice to use cross citation as little as possible.

Try to be specific and use a specific footnote number (For example See n 52 for the footnote. OR: See text to n 22.)

For more detailed information see OSCOLA 1.2.2 

You need to be very precise when using quotations.

Short quotations (less than three lines)

Use single quotation marks and include within the text. For example:

In-text

Footnote

Longer quotations (longer than three lines)

Use an indented paragraph, no quotation marks and a line space above and below.

In-text:

Footnote

For more detailed information, see OSCOLA 1.5

This means referring to a source you have not read that you have found within another source that you are using. Try to avoid secondary referencing as it is always preferable to use the original source and you should always try to locate this.

If you find you have to use secondary referencing, in the footnote cite the source you have read, followed by ‘citing’… For example:

In the bibliography insert only the source you have read. There is no specific guidance on this within OSCOLA. 

When referring to a judge within a case, use the judge’s surname followed by the correct abbreviation. (Mr or Mrs Justice Smith should be called Smith J in your text).

The exception to this rule is when the judge holds a title. A Court of Appeal Judge who is Lord or Lady Smith should be referred to as Smith LJ.

• A House of Lords judge should be referred to as Lord or Lady Smith and should not be abbreviated.
• A Supreme Court judge should be referred to as Lord Smith SCJ.
• The Lord Chief Justice can be abbreviated to Lord Woolf CJ.

For more detailed information see OSCOLA 2.1.7

You do not need to include any information about Westlaw or Lexis Library in your citations, as this is just the portal through which you accessed the report, legislation or article. Simply reference the relevant source as you would a paper copy. 

The only Latin term that is acceptable to use within the OSCOLA style is ‘ibid’, for the instances when you are referring to the same source in consecutive footnotes. Do not use other terms such as supra, op cit, loc cit.

For more information see OSCOLA 1.2.3 u 

OSCOLA abbreviates a wide range of legal sources and institutions.

Do not use punctuation when using an abbreviation. Eg, the Director of Public Prosecutions should appear as DPP not D.P.P.

For a comprehensive list of legal abbreviations, use the Cardiff index. You can search by abbreviation to find the title, or by title to find the abbreviation.

For more detailed information, see OSCOLA Appendix 4.2 

You should refer to the year the Act was passed rather than the year it came into force. 

Use the short title and refer to specific sections of the Act eg

In text:

 OR use s for Section in the middle of a sentence. For example:

Footnote: 

You do not need to footnote an Act if you make it identifiable in the text. 

Bibliography: 
List Legislation and Cases separately in alphabetical order in the bibliography. 

See the OSCOLA guides and our Referencing with Confidence OSCOLA Guide for more details. 

Case citations including neutral citations:
List cases in the bibliography in alphabetic order of case names. Use the following format to cite cases.

Case name in italics [year] court number, [year] OR (year) volume report abbreviation first page

If you have included the case name in the text, you do not have to include the case names in the footnote:
In text: refer to the text giving case names in italics eg: In Phipps v Boardman³¹ …..

Footnote:

Bibliography:

For most sources in OSCOLA, the bibliographic format is the same as the footnote.
List legislation, cases and secondary sources in separate sections of your bibliography in alphabetical order. 

Treat case notes with titles as if they are journal articles. Where there is no title, use the name of the case in italics instead, and add (note) at the end of the citation:

See 3.3.2 OSCOLA 4th ed. for more details. 

Book 1 author

Capitalise the first letter of each major word of the title. Page numbers stand-alone without p or pp. use the following format for the footnote:

Information to include:
Author, Title in Italics (edition, publisher date) page.

Footnote:

Bibliography:

Book 2 or 3 authors

If the book has up to three authors, include ‘and’ in between each author. Use Initials or forename unpunctuated and with no spaces followed by surname. 

Information to include:
Author, Title in Italics Capitalising Major Words (Edition, Publisher Year) page. 

Footnote: 

Bibliography: 

See 3.2 OSCOLA 4th edn for more details. 

Book (4 or more authors)

If a book has more than three authors, include ‘and others’ after the name of the first author.

Footnote:

Bibliography:

Chapter in an edited book

Information to include:
author, ‘Title of chapter' in editor (ed), title in italics (additional information, publisher year)

Footnote: 

Bibliography:

See 3.2.3 OSCOLA 4th edn for more details. 

Edited book

Footnote:

Bibliography:

See 3.2.2 OSCOLA 4th edn for more details. 

Journal article / paper (print copy)

Footnotes:
author, | ‘title’ | [year] | journal name or abbreviation | first page of article / paper,| specific page referred to

[OR]

author, | ‘title’ | (year) | volume | journal name or abbreviation | first page of article / paper

Put a comma after the first page of the article / paper if you want to refer to a particular page or set of pages:

If the year serves as the volume identifier, put the year in square brackets [ ]. If there is a separate volume number, put the year in round brackets ().

In the Young example, 72 is the volume number.

Bibliography:

Omit reference to specific page numbers (other than the first page of the article / paper) in your bibliographic entry.

Journal article / paper (electronic copy)

If you source a publication online which is also available in hard copy, cite the hard copy version. There is no need to cite an electronic source for such a publication.

author, | ‘title’ | [year] OR (year) | volume/issue | journal name or abbreviation | <web address> | date accessed

Footnote:

If the information is only available online, give the URL before the accessed date information.

Bibliography:

See 3.3.4 OSCOLA 4th edn for more details. 

Cite a Bill by its title, the House in which it originated, the Parliamentary session in brackets, and the running number assigned to it. Running numbers for House of Commons Bills are put in square brackets; those for House of Lords Bills are not. When a Bill is reprinted at any stage it is given a new running number.

Title | HC Bill | (session) | [number] OR title | HL Bill | (session) | number

Footnote and bibliography: 

In the bibliography, list bills in alphabetical order under the heading Secondary Sources.

Copied from 2.4.5 OSCOLA 4th edn. 

Where there is no relevant advice elsewhere in OSCOLA, follow the general principles for secondary sources when citing websites and blogs. If there is no author identified, and it is appropriate to cite an anonymous source, begin the citation with the title in the usual way. If there is no date of publication on the website, give only the date of access.

Author, 'Web page title' (Website in Italics, Full Date) <URL> accessed Date

Footnote: 

Bibliography:

See OSCOLA 4th edn 3.4.8 for more details. 

If you read a book that was translated from another language (eg, you read an English translation of a book orginally written in German), cite the translation:

If there is an author and translator, reference as follows:

See 3.2.2  OSCOLA 4th ed. for more details. 

If you read a book in a language other than English (eg, you read a book written in German), cite the primary source in the original language:

Footnote: 

Bibliography: 

See 1.4 OSCOLA 4th edn for more details. 

Footnote:

Cite a book review in the same way as a journal article, but without the quote marks. For example,

Bibliography: 

Copied from OSCOLA FAQs

The abbreviation preceding a command paper number depends on the year of publication:

1833–69 (C (1stseries)) 1870–99 (C (2nd series)) 1900–18 (Cd) 1919–56 (Cmd) 1957–86 (Cmnd) 1986– (Cm)

Footnotes and bibliography:

In the bibliography, list Command Papers alphabetically by author in Secondary Sources. 

For more details see 3.4.3 OSCOLA 4th ed. 

See 3.4.6 OSCOLA 4th ed. for more details. 

Dictionary (hard copy)

Footnote:

Dictionary (online)

Also consider elements of the style advice for websites and blogs (section 3.4.8).

For the OED online, open the full entry for the word, and click on the Cite button (top right above the definition). Follow that example, tidying it up to make it consistent with OSCOLA styles (eg, change double quotes to single and full stops to commas, removing those that are unnecessary; change OED Online to italics; change Oxford University Press to OUP and put it before the date; and remove http:// from the web address and delete any text after the Entry number, then put angle brackets around the url):

Footnote:

For other online dictionaries, follow the general advice above. You need a date of publication or at least a date of access (ie when you looked at it), as they are generally updated regularly.

Copied from OSCOLA FAQs. 

When citing personal communications, such as emails and letters, give the author and recipient of the communication, and the date. If you are yourself the author or recipient of the communication, say ‘from author’ or ‘to author’ as appropriate.

Footnote:

See 3.4.11 OSCOLA 4th edn for more details

Cite as a book but exclude author or editor and publisher. Include the edition and year. Pinpoints such as volumes and page numbers come after the publication information.

If citing an online encyclopedia, give the URL and date of access:

See OSCOLA 4th edn 3.2.6 for more details. 

Footnote: 

Bibliography: 

List in the bibliography in alphabetical order under Secondary Sources. 

There are three series of Hansard, one reporting debates on the floor of the House of Commons, one debates in the House of Lords, and one debates in the Public Bill committees of the House of Commons, which replaced standing committees in 2007. When referring to the first two series, cite the House abbreviation (HL or HC), followed by ‘Deb’, then the full date, the volume and the column. Use ‘col’ or ‘cols’ for column(s). In the House of Commons, written answers are indicated by the suffix ‘W’ after the column number; in the House of Lords, they are indicated by the prefix ‘WA’ before the column number.

HL Deb OR HC Deb | date, | volume, | column

See 3.4.2 OSCOLA 4th ed. for more details. 

When citing an interview you conducted yourself, give the name, position and institution (as relevant) of the interviewee, and the location and full date of the interview. If the interview was conducted by someone else, the interviewer’s name should appear at the beginning of the citation.

Footnotes and bibliography:

See 3.4.10 OSCOLA 4th ed. for more details. 

When citing personal communications, such as emails and letters, give the author and recipient of the communication, and the date. If you are yourself the author or recipient of the communication, say ‘from author’ or ‘to author’ as appropriate.

Footnote and bibliography:

When citing newspaper articles, give the author, the title, the name of the newspaper in italics and then in brackets the city of publication and the date. Some newspapers have ‘The’ in the title and some do not. If known, give the number of the page on which the article was published, after the brackets. If the newspaper is divided into sections, and the page numbering begins afresh in each section, put the section name in roman before the page number, with a space but no comma between the two. If the reference is to an editorial, cite the author as ‘Editorial’. If the article is sourced from the web and there is no page number available, provide the web address and date of access.

Footnotes:

Bibliography: 

List under Secondary Sources

Copied from OSCOLA 4th edn 3.4.9 

The general principles for ‘other secondary sources’ (OSCOLA 4th ed. 3.4.1) suggest the following form for citing podcasts, YouTube videos and similar sources:

Author, ‘Title’ (publication date) <url> accessed xx month 2014

If there is no clear author, give the organisation providing the source as the author. The examples below include a suggestion for citing the comments of a particular person.

Examples:

If referring to comments by someone in particular, add that information as you would a pinpoint, before the url. Include the person's position if relevant. For example:

Another alternative, particularly if the podcast is quite long, would be to provide the minutes and seconds of the excerpt:

Copied from OSCOLA FAQs 

Footnotes:

Author, 'Title' (additional information, publisher year)

Examples taken from OSCOLA FAQs

Bibliography:

List by author in Secondary Sources 

Footnote:
Speaker (if a direct quote)/Presenter, 'Title of the programme' (Radio station, date of the programme)

Bibliography:

Enter in alphabetical order in the Secondary Sources. If there is a direct quote/speaker, reverse the author's name as usual.

Use this format:

Author, 'Title' (Additonal information, edition if later than first, Publisher day Month year if available) page number if required.

Footnotes: 

Bibliography: 

List alphabetically in author order in secondary sources, giving the authors surname first.

Author, Title of book (First published publication year, Edition if late than first, publisher, publication year) page if required.

Footnote: 

Bibliography:

Footnote: 
Use the following format: Main contributor [Role of main contributor],'Title of programme' [Television series episode] in Title of series (Additional information if required, Publisher, Year )

If you wish to refer to someone speaking during the programme, follow this format: Cite the name of the speaker (if a direct quote), the title of the programme, the radio station and the date of the programme. If there is no obvious author/speaker, begin the citation with the title of the programme. If available online, include the URL and date of access. For example:

Bibliography:

List under Secondary Sources in alphabetical order

When citing an unpublished thesis, give the author, the title and then in brackets the type of thesis, university and year of completion.

Footnote: 

Bibliography: 

Copied from 3.4.7 OSCOLA 4th edn.

If the information is available in print, reference the print version. If only available on the web, reference as follows: 

Footnote and Bibliography:

OR

In the bibliography, list in Secondary Sources.