{"id":21,"date":"2024-10-08T15:56:18","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T14:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/law-study-skills\/?p=21"},"modified":"2024-10-08T15:55:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T14:55:52","slug":"how-to-reference-oscola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/law-study-skills\/2024\/10\/08\/how-to-reference-oscola\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Use OSCOLA Referencing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is OSCOLA?<\/strong> – The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities\u200b (OSCOLA)<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSCOLA is what is known as a numerical \u201cfootnoted\u201d referencing style. This means it uses footnotes to \u201ccite\u201d (quote by way of example) in your body of writing, which is then identifiable via a superscript number which should come at the end of your sentence most commonly following the full-stop. Each number will correspond with the relevant footnote, which will include the full reference at the bottom of the page which it is on. The reference should be closed with a full-stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I create a footnote?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All you have to do is type your citation from the appropriate academic source within single quotation marks (e.g\u2026. John Smith said \u2018xyz\u2019.) Then go to \u201creferences\u201d and click on \u201cinsert footnote\u201d. A \u201csuperscript’<\/s> number should then appear after your citation (e.g\u2026. John Smith said \u2018xyz\u2019.\u00b9) The footnote will then appear at the bottom of you page with relevant number corresponding to the superscript number which follows your citation in your main body of text.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, what should I include in my reference? <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it depends on the source of the citation. If your source is a  (<\/s>e.g.<\/s> <\/s>book, journal article, case, legislation, newspaper article, website, conference paper), this will determine what information you need to include, in what order, and in what format.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out this helpful links<\/s> for more on what you need to include in your references. ps:\/\/www.qub.ac.uk\/cite2write\/oscola.html<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s go over a couple of quick examples to help illustrate\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When citing information or a quotation from a book<\/strong> you\u2019ll need the following:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Order<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Author initial(s) or forename followed by surname <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Title in italics <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 (Edition, Publisher, Place Year) in round brackets <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Page(s) followed by a full stop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JH Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History <\/em>(4th edn, Butterworths, London 2002)419- 21.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A journal article<\/strong> is slightly different, see the example below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Order<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Author initial(s) or first-name followed by surname <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Title of article in single   quotation marks <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 [Year] in square brackets <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Volume number issue (series)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Acronym for journal title e.g. the journal \u201cPublic Law\u201d = \u201cPL\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 First page <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Pinpointed page (fullstop). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Party names (<\/strong>in italics<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Neutral citation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      – [Year] in square brackets [2006]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      – Court the case was heard (England and Wales Court of Appeal = EWCA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      – Division of the court (Civ = Civil Division) – Unique serial number ( 532)\u2022 Law report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      – [Year] in square brackets [1997]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      – Volume number (2) (pre-2001)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      – Report series (\u201cQB\u201d = \u201cQueen\u2019s Bench\u201d & \u201cAll ER\u201d = \u201cAll England Law Reports\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      – First page number of the report<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      – (If pre-2001) the initials of the Court the case was heard in round brackets, (CA) = Court of Appeal)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post 2001 = R (Haw) v Secretary of State for the Home Department<\/em> [2006] EWCA Civ 532, [2006] QB 780<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre 2001 = R v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, ex p Blood <\/em>[1997] 2 All ER 687 (CA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Craig, \u2018Constitutional Foundations, the Rule of Law and Supremacy<\/em>\u2019 [2003] 8 (1) PL 92, 96.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cases<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cases are different again they are made up for 3 main parts: the parties, the neutral citation and the law report. The neutral citation system began in 2001 to digitize case records. All cases since 2001 should have a neutral citation. Cases from before 2001 will only display the law report and put the initials of the court the case was heard in round brackets (). Here\u2019s a guide which makes it easy to distinguish between the information you will need to include when citing a case depending on whether it is post or pre-2001. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few other points which you should be aware of when referencing, for example when you are adding further references to the same source. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first time you cite a source, full details should be given. Subsequent references to the same source can then be abbreviated by briefly identifying the source and providing a cross-reference in brackets to the footnote that contains the full citation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Latin term \u201cibid\u201d<\/em> means \u201cin the same place\u201d. If two or more consecutive references are from the same source, then they are cited using ibid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Robert Stevens, Torts and Rights <\/em>(OUP, Oxford 2007) 90. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 Stevens, Torts<\/em>\u2026 (n 1) 110.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 ibid.,112. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

9 ibid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above example shows a citation of a book which is first cited (in full) at footnote 1, cited again in footnote 7 with a cross-citation to footnote 1, but with a different page number. Then cited again at footnote 8 (different page), and again footnote 9 (same page). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When referencing the names of the authors there are a few nuances you should be aware of. In footnotes the author\u2019s name(s) should be in the format FORENAME\/INITIAL then SURNAME.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example: <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n