A bluebook guide for law students suffolk university. The bluebook supports numerous sources in law writing. The bluebook, is the definitive style guide for legal citation in the united states. Bluebook citation for legal materials the bluebook style guide is used in the american legal profession for citation of all relevant sources. Bluebook legal citation guides at university of akron. Section a deals with cases, b with statutory materials and c with secondary authorities. There are lots of rules for legal citation, and bluebook is usually the choice of academic papers. We all have heard about mla, apa, and other writing styles so far, but many students share that they have no idea what bluebook is. As men of law rely upon a great number of various sources, legal citation also covers the usage of signals that present citations and explain.
For generations, law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other legal professionals have relied on the bluebooks unique system of citation. The bluebook method is the most widely used legal citation system in the united states. Internet citation bluebook citation 101 practitioner. A uniform system of citation, a style guide, prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the united states. The development of the bluebook from its inception in 1926 as a twentysixpage pamphlet for use at harvard law. Jurism is a zotero spinoff aimed at legal researchers.
Generally speaking, the citation should include the authors full name, the title of the book, the page cited, editors name if applicable, edition if applicable, and year of publication an example of a book citation would be. This exercise is to help users learn the bluebook rules of proper citation form for briefs and legal memoranda. Citation machine helps students and professionals properly credit the information that they use. If you are writing a brief or memo, look at the blue pages, rule b10 or apply the citation rules of the jurisdiction. The index is probably the most important part of the book.
The bluebook style guide is used in the american legal profession for citation of all relevant sources. In court documents, the case name is underlined or italicized. As men of law rely upon a great number of various sources, legal citation also covers the. In this bluebook cheat sheet, weve laid out the essential bluebook elements and bluebook examples for a few of the most common types of case citations. In academic writing, the case name is in normal type in footnotes and italicized in text. Bluebook formatting is a uniform system of citation for legal text. Additionally, the chicago manual of style recommends its use for all citation of legal material. The bluebook, its name reflecting the color of its cover, is an extensive style guide used for legal citation in the u.
Cite to the name of the sourcedictionary, page number if pinpoint citing, edition and year. Bluebook rule 15 gives the citation format for books, reports, and other nonperiodic materials. It was most recently revised in october of 2019 to update the links to state rules and several other external resources. For help with other source types, like books, pdfs, or websites, check out our other guides. Scan your paper for grammar mistakes and catch unintentional plagiarism. So completely do many academics, lawyers, and judges identify the process with that book they may refer to putting citations in proper form as bluebooking or ask a law student or graduate whether she knows how to bluebook. Citus legalus the citation generator for lazy law students. The best free bluebook citation generator for books. It informs students how to cite all types of law documents. Search the blue book online and you will find over 800,000 company listings. This guide provides answers specifically to questions about the citation rules in the white pages, not the blue pages. The tarlton law librarys physical facility is closed until further notice. The first question to be answered before we move to the main idea of this article is who needs a bluebook paper format.
Citation clauses are set off from the text by commas and immediately follow the proposition to which they relate. In a diverse and rapidly changing legal profession, the bluebook continues to provide a systematic method by which members of the profession communicate important information to one another about the sources and legal authorities upon. Bluebook citation is the most commonly used legal citation system for law students in the us. Dec 19, 2019 you can use this page as a quick starting point. It is important to note that many state courts and the. Sep 23, 2019 jurism is a zotero spinoff aimed at legal researchers. However, the basic format of a case citation is as follows. The bluepages section located at the start of the bluebook is a miniguide to court documents andor legal memoranda.
Do not end a citation clause with a period, unless it is the last clause in the sentence. An example of a bluebook citation for a case includes the cases name. A guide for students and practitioners legal citation, third edition. Feb 27, 2020 the bluebook, a uniform system of citation is the standard style guide for legal citation in the united states. Georgetown law library has a series of three training videos about jurism. Bluebook case guide bluebook citation generator legalease.
The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. These sources include statutes, supreme court cases, and other law cases. Citation format examples for footnotes general rules times new roman, size 10, 1 line spacing, justified. Case name abbreviations table 6 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. Always check for local court citation rules for court documents. It uses the free indigo book, similar to but not licensed by the bluebook. Industry source of regional, categorized construction information and is available in print and online. Do not use a signal with a citation when you have directly borrowed someone elses. Bluebooking for court documents guide to legal writing. In court documents briefs, motions and legal memoranda, a full case name is usually italicized or underlined. Tarltons librarians and staff remain actively engaged in providing library services. The process of editing legal text to conform to these standards is sometimes referred to as bluebooking.
Blue pages this guide covers the bluebooks white pages, which provide citation rules for academic papers. This guide lists bluebook alternatives, but you should assume that bluebook format is preferred by academic law journals and law school writing programs. Pointbypoint, it is linked to the free citation guide, the indigo book. Bluebook citation school of justice studies rasguides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator. Online citation generators bluebook 101 library guides at. Below you will see examples of bluebook citations for various common authority types. The bluebook requires citation to printed material provided it is available, unless there is an authenticated, official, or exact digital copy of the printed sources. Bluebook citation for legal materials purdue writing lab. Legal citation guide from cornells legal information institute ill that incorporates guidelines from the bluebook, the alwd guide to legal citation, and court rules. Bluebook rule 10 covers how cases should be cited in legal documents. Always consult the bluebook for additional information. Generations of law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other legal professionals have relied on the bluebooks unique system of citation in their writing. See jonathan zittrain, the future of the internet and how to stop.
The central function of a legal citation is to allow the reader to efficiently locate the cited source. Do not begin a citation clause with a capital letter unless the citation clause begins with a source that would otherwise be capitalized. Although answers to all your citation questions can be found in the bluebook itself. Unpublished opinions bluebook guide guides at georgetown. Citeus legalus the automated bluebook citation generator. Apr, 2020 legal citation guide from cornells legal information institute ill that incorporates guidelines from the bluebook, the alwd guide to legal citation, and court rules. The following information regarding the bluebook citation format is an adapted version of the style and formatting guidelines found in the bluebook, 20th ed. Online citation generators bluebook 101 library guides. A citation to a judicial opinion is typically referred to as a case or court case citation. The form is a blend between intext and footnotebased formats, as its citations are located in the text but appear more similar to footnotebased ones. As has been true of all editions released since 2010, it is also indexed to the the bluebook and the alwd guide to legal citation. The writing assignments you receive in 1l legal research and writing or legal practice are primarily practicebased documents such as memoranda and briefs, so your experience using the bluebook as a first year student has likely been limited to the practitioner style of legal writing. Bluebook citation for llm students bluebook citation for. The bluepages provide easy and basic principles for common citations.
It takes account of the latest edition of the bluebook, published in 2015, and the supreme courts style guide. Find out exactly what this legal citation system is, how to format it correctly and take a look at our examples to get up to speed, fast. Chicago manual of style 16th edition full note american psychological association 6th edition. Each example contains orange brackets and labels clicking on a bracketed and labelled portion of the example will redirect to where rules concerning that element of example are included within this guide. Legal citation free internet legal resources libguides. Bluepage rules are sometimes different but are always based upon the normal nonbluepage rules. Citing cases bluebook guide guides at georgetown law library. Bluebooking for court documents guide to legal writing and. The format of these citations depends solely on the kind of source that the writer cites in his or her writing. Citation management software enables you to collect, organize, edit, and share your research. Paralegal career for dummies, 2nd edition for dummies careereducation. For more information, see the bluebooks front inside cover and rule 2. Bluebook citation machine bluebook referencing tool online.
Jul 19, 2019 the purpose of this guide is to introduce the bluebook and basic concepts of legal citation to new law students. Many of the complicated variations on rules are not shown in these samples. Apr 12, 2019 the bluebook is the main citation manual for law in the u. Bluebook citation hamline university school of law. Citing secondary sources sample bluebook citations. Name of the case underlined or italicized and abbreviated according to rule 10. The fastest way to collect all of the citation information for a case is to highlight the specific text you would like to cite and use the databases copy with citation feature. Guide to cite using bluebook citation method with examples. Citing cases bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. Citus legalus is an automated bluebook citation generator for lazy law students. Attribution to identify the source of ideas expressed in the text, and.
Ive worked with both, and for some reason, i prefer alwd to bb. The whitepages are the indepth rules of citation and style. The bluebook style is exclusively used for legal papers, and so it can be somewhat complicated due to its focus on easy citations of various court documents. A uniform system of citation, prescribes the most commonly used legal citation system for law professionals in the united states. Pink text information that you will need to find from. The bluebook is the main citation manual for law in the u. Home legal citation guides and abbreviations research. Often, you will need to include a parenthetical to indicate the date and stage of the bill especially if there are multiple versions of it in the same congress. A citation to an unpublished case that is available in westlaw, lexis, bloomberg law, or another widely used electronic database rule 10. In the 20th edition of the bluebook, legislative materials are found in rule.