PRACTICE SPECIAL QUESTIONS: Referencing

This is part two of the Practical Special on Referencing, which includes five questions and answers. Scroll down to the ‘ANSWER’ section with the black heading for the answer to each question.

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QUESTION 1:

Which of the following references to an article in a legal journal (in a footnote) is fully correct?

1) Adolf Berle, ‘Corporate Powers as Powers in Trust’ (1931) 44(7) Harv LR 1049.

2) Berle A, ‘Corporate Powers as Powers in Trust’ [1931] Harv LR 44(7).

3) Adolf Berle, Corporate Powers as Powers in Trust (1931) 44 Harv LR 7

QUESTION 2:

Imagine I have referenced page 3 of the article ‘Democracy, the Rule of Law and Judicial Review’ by David Feldman in footnote 1, and I want to reference page 17 of the same article in footnote 19. Which of the following examples of cross-referencing is correct?

1) 19 Feldman (n 1).

2) 19 ibid 17.

3) 19 Feldman (n 1) 17.

QUESTION 3:

Which of the following references to an article in a bibliography is correct?

1) Stephen Weatherill, ‘Comparative Internal Market Law: The UK and the EU’ (2021) 40(1) YEL 431, 434.

2) Weatherill S, ‘Comparative Internal Market Law: The UK and the EU’ (2021) 40(1) YEL 431

3) Weatherill S, ‘Comparative Internal Market Law: The UK and the EU’ (2021) 40(1) YEL 431.

QUESTION 4:

Which of the following references is not fully correct?

1) BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA [2022] UKSC 25.

2) Ebrahimi v Westbourne Galleries Ltd [1973] AC 360 (HL).

3) Vedanta Resources Plc v Lungowe [2019] USKC 20, [2020] AC 1045.

QUESTION 5:

Which of the following references to a chapter in an edited volume is correct?

1) Catherine Barnard and Steve Peers (eds), European Union Law (2nd edn, OUP 2017): Niamh Nic Shuibhne, ‘Exceptions to the Free Movement Rules’.

2) Niamh Nic Shuibhne (ed), Exceptions to the Free Movement Rules in Catherine Barnard and Steve Peers, ‘European Union Law’ (2nd edn, OUP 2017).

3) Niamh Nic Shuibhne, ‘Exceptions to the Free Movement Rules’ in Catherine Barnard and Steve Peers (eds), European Union Law (2nd edn, OUP 2017).

ANSWERS:

QUESTION 1:

Answer: 1 is correct.

For 2, the year should be in round (not square) brackets, the author’s name is entered incorrectly (since this is a footnote and not a bibliography, full name is required), and the journal and issue number should be before the journal name, not after. Number 2 is also missing the first page of the article.

Similarly, number 3 is missing the first page of the article (the issue number is used where the first page of the article should be – the issue number should be in round brackets after the volume number instead). For 3, the title of the article is also incorrect: it should be in single quotation marks, not italics (italics are used for book titles).

QUESTION 2:

Answer: only number 3 is correct.

1 is wrong because there is no pinpoint to page 17: what this reference actually means is that I am referencing the exact same source (and page number) I referenced in footnote 1 (so, page 3 of the article).

2 is wrong because ibid can only be used in a footnote immediately after the footnote containing the source we want to cross-reference.

QUESTION 3:

Answer: 2 is correct.

1 is a perfect reference for a footnote, but not for a bibliography. The author’s name is entered incorrectly, there is a pinpoint to a specific page and there is a full stop at the end, all of which should not be done for bibliography entries.

3 is almost perfect for a bibliography, except for the very minor detail that there is a full stop at the end.

QUESTION 4:

Answer: 1 is incorrect

It is missing the law report citation after the neutral citation. Note that this is not required for 2 because Ebrahimi was decided pre-2001 (here, AC is the relevant ICLR law report and the HL in brackets tells us that the case was decided by the House of Lords).

QUESTION 5:

Answer: 3 is correct.

1 is wrong because the chapter should come before the book, and the two should be separated by the word ‘in’ rather than a colon.

2 is wrong because the editors of the volume are Barnard and Peers, not Nic Shuibhne, so (eds) should appear after their names. Furthermore, the name of the chapter should be in single quotation marks, not italics. Finally, the title of the book should be in italics, not single quotation marks.