Bluebook citation style: the complete guide
Bluebook is one of the books that creates dread and frustration for law students. It is a style manual used within the United States for the citation of legal documents. It is now in its 2th edition, needless to say that it is bulky and thick. Amongst the many citation styles , this is the most challenging one for law students. However, we are presenting the salient points that are helpful in a citation through our services .
In Bluebook two types of citations are required:
Footnotes
Footnotes contain bibliographic information. A superscript number in the in-text citation corresponds to the footnote, at the bottom of the page.
Bibliography
Like bibliographies in APA and MLA style, bibliographies in Bluebook contain the categorized list of all the sources. It contains all the information regarding the consulted sources. Given the difficult nature of Bluebook citation, students may consult an for help for the first time, yet it is always rewarding to do it by yourself.
General Guideline for Bluebook Referencing
Footnotes should be closed with a full stop and it should appear after the relevant punctuation in the text. If the cited information is enclosed inside a bracket then the footnote should be before the closing bracket. For the separation of two different sources in the footnote, a semicolon should be used.
When referencing a source that has already been cited or that is identical to the previous one, then provide a cross citation in brackets that will direct the reader to the first citation. For instance, in the example below the second citation has been abridged by reference to the first one that appeared in the 4th footnote, with a 'supra note' ie
First citation: James Smith, the Basics of Law . (2021)
Subsequent citation: Smith, supra note 4
If the citation is following right after the first citation then just write id ie
First citation: James Smith, the Basics of Law, (2021)
Directly following: ID
Guidelines for Bibliography
The bibliography section should be categorized like:
Table of legislation
It should include all legislation, treaties, conventions, and statutory instruments. These all should be arranged in alphabetical order as per the first word of the title.
Bibliography of all secondary sources
It should include an alphabetical list of all the secondary sources. It is almost the same as the footnotes yet it differs in author's name ie
Footnote: James Smith (first name followed by the second name)
Bibliography: Smith James (Second name followed by the first name)
Table of cases
This section contains all the cited cases arranged alphabetically as per the first significant word like available at .
Referencing Guidelines
Cases
The order goes in this way. Party name followed by second part name with a comma, followed by volume, reporter and page followed by courter year in brackets ie
Legalt v. United States, 212 Supp. 3d (A. Mass. 2021)
United States Legislation
First is the title followed by code abbreviation, followed by section number, followed by the date of code edition Ie
12 USE 401(e) (3)(e)(iii) 2021
Books with a single author
First comes the name of the author followed by the title, followed by edition and year of publication ie
Mathews James, Forest Law , (2 ed. Oxford University Press, 2021)
Books with three authors
The names of the authors are divided by the ampersand symbol, & ie
John Ryan, James Stephen & David French, Mayson, Paper on Company Law (7 ed. 2021)
Books with four authors
The name of the first author is followed by the word 'et al.' then the title, edition, and year of publication i.e.
Ryan Root et al., Principles of Ethics (3 ed. 2020)
This blog intends to present the simplest and easy way of Bluebook citation so that you may not need to to get your citation done for you. If you follow these simple steps you can be a master by yourself.
