OSCOLA

Short quotations (three lines or less)

Quotations of three lines or less are incorporated in the text and should be enclosed within single quotation marks. Quotes within short quotations take double quotation marks, e.g.

Lord Goff suggested 'Power cannot provide an independent justification for transferring shares into the names of the representatives of the creditors. It is exercisable when "the name of any person is, without sufficient cause, entered in or omitted from the register'''.

Incorporate the quotation in the main text of your work within single quotation marks. Any quotation within the extract should then be included in double quotation marks. Punctuation within the extract remains as in the original but you should add your own punctuation if required at the end of the extract outside of the quotation marks. The footnote marker comes last, after both the closing quotation mark and the punctuation. If a quotation is incorporated into the text, then no more than a comma (at most) is needed to introduce it.

Long quotations (more than three lines)

Longer quotations are indented from both the left and right and are single-spaced without quotation marks. Quotes within long quotations take single quotation marks. Generally, use a colon to introduce a long quotation. However, when the lead-in moves seamlessly into the quoted material a comma or no punctuation may be preferable. Begin with an ellipsis (three dots) when a quotation starts mid-sentence, and to indicate anything you have left out, e.g.

Swift J commented on this when dealing with

…well established exceptions to the general rule that an act likely or intended to cause bodily harm is an unlawful act. One of them is dealt with by Sir Michael Foster in the chapter just cited [i.e. Foster's Crown Cases, 3rd ed., p.259]…The learned author at p.260 emphasises two points about such contests: (1) that bodily harm is not the motive on either side, and (2) that they are ‘manly diversions, they intend to give strength, skill and activity, and may fit people for defence, public as well as personal, in time of need.’ For these reasons, he says that he cannot call these exercises unlawful.

Long quotations should be indented as a single spaced paragraph within your text with no further indention of the first line. Do not use quotation marks except for single quotation marks around quotations within the extract. Leave a line space either side of the indented quotation.

When the quotation begins at the start of a sentence, the first letter should be capitalised, and square brackets placed around it if it was not capitalised in the original text. When the quotation starts mid-sentence, the first letter of the quotation should only be captitalised if the quotation itself is a complete sentence. Indicate any omissions of text in the quotation with an ellipsis (...) Leave a space between an ellipsis and any text or punctuation, except quotation marks. A colon can be used to introduce an indented quotation.

If you want to cite a secondary source in your quotation, omit the footnote marker from the original text in your quotation and give the original author's citation in your footnote. If it is not necessary to attribute such a quotation to the original source because it is implicit or irrelevant, omit the footnote marker and add (footnote omitted) after the footnote. If you want to add emphasis to a quotation put (emphasis added) after the footnote.

Punctuation follows the closing quotation mark, unless it is part of the quotation. The footnote marker comes last, after the punctuation.

Depending on the source of the quotation, either list as a primary source under Cases or Legislation, or list as a secondary source under Secondary Sources alphabetically, by author's last name.

Reference: Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, OSCOLA: Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edn Oxford University 2010) 8-9.