Law

There are two key components to OSCOLA (1.6 Tables and lists of abbreviations in OSCOLA guide): 

1. Footnotes

Use these to reference the information present in your work.

Footnotes are included in your word count.

Footnotes end in a full-stop (period).

2. Bibliography (section 1.7 in OSCOLA Guide)

Use this to list what you have cited throughout your work. Here's an example.

You should separate primary and secondary sources in your bibliography under the following sub-headings:

1. Table of Cases

2. Table of Legislation

3. Other Tables [if necessary]

4. Bibliography

• Example from Swansea University.

Formatting your bibliography:

• Alphabetise each section of your bibliography.

  • What if my bibliography contains works without authors? OSCOLA 1.7 Bibliographies (p.11) says, 'the titles of unattributed works should be preceded by a double em-dash. Works should be arranged in alphabetical order of author surname, with unattributed works being listed at the beginning of the bibliography in alphabetical order of first major word of the title.'

• In your bibliography, you do not pinpoint.

• You can use the shorthand ‘edn’ for edition, e.g. ‘2nd edn’, ‘rev edn’.

• Lines in your bibliography should not end with a full-stop (period).

• Names:

  • the author’s surname should precede his or her initial(s), with no comma separating them, but a comma after the final initial

  • only initials should be used, and not forenames

  • If you have multiple works by the same author, use a double em-dash (—). 

    • Example: 

Hart HLA, Law, Liberty and Morality (OUP 1963)

 — — ‘Varieties of Responsibility’ (1967) 83 LQR 346

Note: Footnotes and bibliographies are formatted differently, so consult the official OSCOLA guides.

The superscript number of a footnote always comes after a punctuation mark.

• ‘Indicate footnotes with a superscript number which should appear after the relevant punctuation in the text (if any). Put the footnote marker at the end of a sentence, unless for the sake of clarity it is necessary to put it directly after the word or phrase to which it relates. If the word or phrase to which the footnote marker relates is in brackets, put the marker before the closing bracket. A quotation need not be footnoted separately from the name of the source from which it is derived if the two appear in the same sentence. Otherwise, separate notes should be used. Close footnotes with a full stop (or question or exclamation mark). Where more than one citation is given in a single footnote reference, separate them with semi-colons.’ (OSCOLA 1.1, page 3)

Quotations (section 1.5 in OSCOLA Guide):

• Use single quotation marks (‘…’).

• If a quotation is longer than three lines of text, you must indent it as a paragraph, without quotation marks. Example:

Lord Smith said:

Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. Citing and referencing is very important. 

This was the key takeaway of Lord Smith’s statement.