Articles

General guidance in OSCOLA for secondary sources: If an item has an ISBN, treat is as a book - check the title page as well as the last page).

If it is an electronic source identical to the print version (e.g. pdf) treat it as the print version. Treat sources without ISBNs in a similar way, but with the title in roman rather than italics and within single quotation marks as for journals.

Round vs square brackets information.

Footnote form

Author, 'Article Title' [(Publication year in round or square brackets)] Volume/Issue/Part number if necessary Journal Name (abbreviated) first page number of article, pinpoint page if required.

Case notes and Case commentaries

Treat as journal articles. If no article title, put the party names in single inverted commas and in italics and add (note) after the journal citation.

Footnote examples

¹ David L Weimer, 'Cultural Analysis: Politics, Public Law and Administration' [2009] J Comp Pol'y Analysis 409.

² Sandra Fredman, 'Equality: A New Generation?' [2001] ILJ 145, 158.

³ R Flannigan, 'Fiduciary Duties of Shareholders and Directors' [2004] JBL 277, 284.

⁴ M Oldham, 'Undue Influence and Parallel Proceedings' [2001] CLJ 250.

⁵ Michael Naughton, 'Rethinking Miscarriages of Justice' (2008) 186 Crim Law 3.

⁶ M O'Neill, 'A Critical Analysis of the EU Legal Provisions on Terrorism' [2008] Terrorism and Political Violence 26, 32.

⁷ G Blank and R Nazzini, 'Accentuate Ltd v Asigra Inc' GCLR [2010] 4 (note).

⁸ A Ashworth, [2006] Crim LR 441 (case comment). 

[If the case is identified in the text, it is not necessary to put the party names in the footnote.]

Bibliography

Secondary sources

Ashworth A, [2006] Crim LR 441 (note)

Flannigan R, 'Fiduciary Duties of Shareholders and Directors' [2004] JBL 277

Blank G and Nazzini R, 'Accentuate Ltd v Asigra Inc' GCLR [2010] 4 (note)

Notes

• Information about how to arrange the bibliography
• Treat multiple authors in the same way as multiple authors of books. If there is no author, begin the footnote with the title.
• Journal titles are normally abbreviated. Use the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations to choose the preferred abbreviation for any legal source omitting punctuation wherever possible. Otherwise use the abbreviation given in the journal itself or abbreviate titles using the guidance in the Appendix to the OSCOLA guide.
• Place a comma between the number of the first page of the article and the pinpoint.
• Cite "in press" or "preprint" articles in the same way as published articles, following the citation with forthcoming in round brackets. If volume and/or page numbers are not yet know, simply omit that information.
• Do not include full stop at the end of bibliography entries.

Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 37-38 and http://denning.law.ox.ac.uk/published/oscolafaq.shtml

This is an interpretation of OSCOLA guidance. Check with your lecturer before using this suggestion, which is based on OSCOLA's guiding principles of consistency and consideration for the reader.

Generally, there is no need to give details of the database you have used unless the origin of the source affects your reference (e.g you are unable to pinpoint as no page numbers are available or the database notes illustrations/diagrams are not available).

Databases such as Westlaw & Lexis Library usually give identical text and page numbers to the printed journal article, but adopt their own format so that the page numbers may be harder to spot. Reference the journal article in the same way as the printed version but take extra care to identify the starting page number and any pinpoint references.

Other databases may show identical text but only the first page number, so it is impossible to provide a pinpoint page (although it may be possible to provide a pinpoint paragraph). In either case, include the name of the database and the date it was accessed in the reference. 

Footnote form

If page numbering is clearly shown (even if not in page format):

Author, 'Article Title' [(Year of publication in square or round brackets as needed)] Volume/Issue/Part number if necessary Title of journal first page number of article, pinpoint page.

If page numbering is not shown and articles are obviously longer than a single page:

Author, 'Article Title' [(Year of publication in square or round brackets as above)] Volume/Issue/Part number if necessary (see advice above) Title of journal (abbreviated as above) first page number of article, pinpoint page or pinpoint paragraph e.g. para/s Name of database accessed date as day Month year.

Footnote examples

Article from Westlaw

² Paul Almond, 'Public Perceptions of Work-Related Fatality Cases: Reaching the Outer Limits of "Populist Punitiveness"?' [2008] Brit J Criminol 468, 477.

Westlaw uses an asterisk, the abbreviated title and a page number in green at every page break, so use those page numbers. There is no need to include details of the database.

Article from Lexis Library

³ C Crosby, 'Recklessness the Continuing Search for a Definition' [2008] JoCL 313, 314.

⁴ David Burrows, 'An Unhappy Witness' NLJ 160(7408) 370, 372.

Lexis gives the abbreviated journal title, volume/issue and page number in pale grey at every page break, so use those page numbers. There is no need to include details of the database. 

Bibliography

Information about how to arrange the bibliography.

Notes

• Treat multiple authors in the same way as multiple authors of books. If there is no author, follow the same example as book with no author.

Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 37-38.

This includes monthly and weekly magazines, and trade publications.

If the author is not named, begin the footnote with the title. If the reference is to an editorial, the author is cited as Editorial. If the article is sourced from the internet and there is no page numbering, provide the web site address and date of access.

Footnote form

Author, 'Article Title' Name of Newspaper (City of publication, day Month year) first page number of article, pinpoint page if required.

Footnote examples

¹ 'Caffeine Linked to Mental Illness' New York Times (New York, 13 July 1991) 21.

² Editorial, 'Redemption, Rehabilitation and Basic Human Rights' The Independent (London, 22 August 2007) 3.

³ H Young, 'Battle of Snakes and Ladders' The Guardian (London, 25 July 1996) 15.

Bibliography

List Editorials alphabetically under Editorial. If there is no author list alphabetically by first word/s of title:

 Editorial, 'Redemption, Rehabilitation and Basic Human Rights' The Independent (London, 22 August 2007) 3

Young H, 'Battle of Snakes and Ladders' The Guardian (London, 25 July 1996) 15

Notes

• Information about arranging the bibliography.
• Treat multiple authors in the same way as multiple authors of books. If there is no author, begin the footnote with the title.
• Do not use a full stop at the end of the bibliography entries.

Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 42.

This is an interpretation of OSCOLA guidance. Check with your lecturer before using this suggestion, which is based on OSCOLA's guiding principles of consistency and consideration for the reader.

From the internet and no page number(s)

If the article is from the internet and no page number is available, provide the website address within angled brackets and the most recent date of access.

From a database and no page number(s)

If the article is from a database and no page number is available, give the name of the database and date of most recent access.

Databases such as Nexis UK usually give the first page number of the article. Provide this in the footnote and bibliography.

If it is a very short article, you can assume that it is likely to appear only on one page in a newspaper, so include the first page number in the reference and omit the details of the database.

If the author is not named, begin the footnote with the title. If the reference is to an editorial, the author is cited as Editorial.

Footnote form

Author, 'Article Title' Name of Newspaper (City of publication, day Month year) page or if page not available  accessed day Month year.

or

Author, 'Article Title' Name of Newspaper (City of publication, day Month year) page or if page not available Database title accessed day Month year.

Footnote examples

Newspaper article from the internet

¹ A Travis, 'MI5 Report Challenges Views on Terrorism in Britain' The Guardian (London 21 August 2008) <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/20/uksecurity.terrorism1> accessed 27 August 2008.

Newspaper article from a database

² 'Caffeine Linked to Mental Illness' New York Times (13 July 1991) 21.

³ Editorial, 'Redemption, Rehabilitation and Basic Human Rights' The Independent (London 22 August 2007) 3.

[These are very short articles, you can assume that it is likely to appear only on one page in a newspaper, so include the first page number in the footnote and omit the database details.]

⁴ A Travis, 'MI5 Report Challenges Views on Terrorism in Britain' The Guardian (London 21 August 2008) Nexis UK database accessed 27 August 2008.

[This is a longer article which might spread over more pages than the one given by Nexis, hence the need to include database details to explain the lack of pinpoint referencing.]

Bibliography

'Caffeine Linked to Mental Illness' New York Times (13 July 1991) 21

Editorial, 'Redemption, Rehabilitation and Basic Human Rights' The Independent (London 22 August 2007) 3

Travis A, 'MI5 Report Challenges Views on Terrorism in Britain' The Guardian (London 21 August 2008) <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/20/uksecurity.terrorism1> accessed 27 August 2008

Notes

• Information about arranging the bibliography. 
• If it is an Editorial, list alphabetically under Editorial.
• If there is no author, list alphabetically by the first word/s of the title at the beginning of list under the heading Secondary Sources.
• Do not include full stops at the end of bibliography entries.

Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 42.