OSCOLA Referencing Guide

OSCOLA Referencing Overview

There are two types of citations required in OSCOLA Referencing:

1. Footnotes
   - used to indicate the authority for the preceding text or idea. There will be a superscript number in-text which corresponds to the relevant authority at the bottom of the page.
2. Bibliographies
   - located at the end of the work, and include a categorised list of all sources used in the work. A full explanation of the bibliography can be found at the end of this guide.

General guidelines

Under the OSCOLA guidelines, each authority should be cited in a consistent, uniform manner. The different categories of sources are cited in different formats. Before examples are given, some general rules should be mentioned:

• The footnote should appear after the relevant punctuation in the text, unless for clarity it is necessary to put it directly following the word or phrase
• If the cited phrase/idea is inside brackets, the footnote should be before the closing bracket
• Punctuation in citations are minimal, for example, UKHL rather than U.K.H.L.
• Footnotes should be closed with a full stop
• Titles of books and case names are to be italicised
• Semi-colons may be used to separate a reference to two different sources in a footnote
• Quotations longer than three lines should be presented within an indented paragraph with no quotation marks

Repetition of references and cross-references

When referencing an identical authority to one already referenced you may briefly identify the sources and provide a cross-citation in brackets directing the reader to the number of the corresponding footnote. In the example below, the citation was used in the 4th footnote, therefore the subsequent citation directs the reader to that footnote.

If the subsequent citation is directly following the previous citation, you may use ibid.

You can insert a page number following the cross-reference or ibid to cite a different page of the same authority.

Footnotes example

Bibliography guidelines and examples

The bibliography should be split into three main sections:

• Table of legislation
• Table of cases
• Bibliography of secondary sources

Table of legislation

The table of legislation should include all treaties, conventions, legislation and statutory instruments cited. These should be ordered in alphabetical order by the first significant word of the title. You may choose to separate the legislation by jurisdiction.

Table of cases

The table of cases should include any cases cited in the work. These should be listed in alphabetical order of the first significant word. You may choose to separate the cases by jurisdiction.

Bibliography

The bibliography should include all secondary sources cited in the work in alphabetical order.

The referencing in the bibliography for all sources will be identical to the referencing in the footnotes, aside from one minor difference in the formatting of the authors name.

OSCOLA Reference Examples

The following guidelines give examples of the citation required in the footnote, so remember to make the required amendments to the author's name in the bibliography.

Primary sources

UK Cases

When referencing a case as authority, you must give the full name of the case along with its neutral citation. Case name should always be in italics both in-text and in the footnotes, but not in the bibliography

If you have actually said the full name of the case in the text, only the subsequent information is required in the footnote. For the above examples, the footnote would only read

If you are referencing an exact paragraph/passage of the judgement, a pinpoint reference to the relevant part in the judgment should follow the citation.

The years of cases could be in either round or square brackets according to the style of the law report, use the corresponding style.

UK Legislation

Legislation should be cited using its short title and year.

To reference a specific section of the legislation, insert a comma with the section following.

UK Statutory Instruments

Statutory instruments require the name, year and the SI number.

EU Cases

EU Legislation

Treaties and protocols

Directives, regulations, decisions, recommendations and opinions

European Court of Human Rights cases

You may cite the official reports, or the reports of judgments and decisions. Just ensure to be consistent with your approach.

Cases and legislation from other jurisdictions

These should be cited as they are cited in their own jurisdiction.

Secondary sources

Books with one author

Books with two authors

Books with three authors

Books with four or more authors

Articles

Hansard - House of Commons debates

Hansard - House of Lords debates

Public Bill committees

Websites and blogs

If there is no author, begin the citation with the title. If there is no date of publication, provide the date you accessed it.

Printed newspaper article

Online newspaper article

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