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Legal Footnote Citation Guide Boston University School of Law PDF
Legal Footnote Citation Guide Boston University School of Law PDF
LegalCitation
by
TheBostonUniversitySchoolofLaw
LegalInformationLibrarians
EditedbySteveDonweber
Copyright2012PappasLawLibrary,BostonUniversitySchoolofLaw
TableofContents
IntroductiontoLegalCitation...................................1
UsingTheBluebook....................................................4
LawReviewFootnotesv.Court
DocumentsandLegalMemoranda............................8
CaseNames...................................................................9
Books............................................................................10
CourtRules....................................................................11
Abbreviations.............................................................12
Spacing.........................................................................13
SignalsandParentheticals........................................15
Signals...........................................................................15
E.g.,........................................................................15
See..........................................................................16
Seealso..................................................................17
See,e.g.,.................................................................18
Accord....................................................................19
Cf...........................................................................20
Contra...................................................................20
i
Butsee...................................................................21
Seegenerally..........................................................21
AFinalNoteonSignals........................................21
Parentheticals..............................................................22
CitingCases...............................................................24
Generally......................................................................24
Reporters.....................................................................24
FederalReporters.................................................25
Regional(State)Reporters..................................26
CaseName...................................................................27
CaseCitationInformation..........................................27
AbbreviationsinCaseNames..............................27
ParallelCitations..................................................28
UnpublishedCases......................................................29
WestlawExample.................................................29
LexisNexisExample.............................................30
CitingStatutes...........................................................31
Generally.......................................................................31
YearoftheCode..........................................................32
ii
FederalStatutes............................................................33
StatutoryCodes.....................................................33
SessionLaws.........................................................34
StateStatutes...............................................................34
StatutoryCodes....................................................34
SessionLaws..........................................................35
CitingSecondarySources.........................................36
Dictionaries.................................................................36
LegalEncyclopedias....................................................37
JournalsandPeriodicals.............................................38
ConsecutivelyPaginated.....................................38
NonConsecutivelyPaginated.............................38
Newspapers..........................................................39
MassachusettsPractice...............................................39
MultiVolumeTreatises..............................................40
SingleVolumeTreatisesandMonographs.................41
ShortCitationForms................................................42
CitingtoCases,Statutes,andSecondary
SourcesthatyouFindonWestlawand
LexisNexis.................................................................44
iii
Conclusion................................................................45
AdditionalReading...................................................47
iv
IntroductiontoLegalCitation
Legal citation is the method by which lawyers, law
students,professors,andjudgesrefertothesources,
whether primary or secondary,1 that they rely upon
when drafting court documents or legal
memoranda, law school assignments, law review
articles,andjudicialopinions.
Masteringlegalcitationtakespractice,patience,and
strict attention to detail. It means mastering the
professionwide standards for legal citation, which
are set forth in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of
1
Primarysourcesincludecases,statutes,and
regulations.Secondarysourcesincludehornbooks,
monographs,legalencyclopedias,lawreviewarticles,and
treatises.
[1]
Citation,2 published by the Columbia, Harvard, and
University of Pennsylvania Law Reviews, and the
YaleLawJournal.
2
Thisguideanditsauthorsareinnowayaffiliated
withTheBluebookoranyofthelawreviewsorjournals
thatcompileandeditit.
3
AUNIFORMSYSTEMOFCITATION1(HarvardLaw
Reviewed.,1926).
4
Seeid.
5
SeeTHEBLUEBOOK:AUNIFORMSYSTEMOF
CITATION(ColumbiaLawReviewAss'netal.eds.,19thed.
2010)("BLUEBOOK").
6
Bydesign.
[2]
between citation formsin law review footnotesand
thoseinlegalmemorandaandcourtdocuments,(2)
abbreviations, (3) the use of signals and
parentheticals, (4) basic citation forms for cases,
statutes, and secondary sources, (5) short citation
forms, and (6) how to cite cases, statutes, and
secondarysourceswhenyoufindthemonlinerather
thaninprint.7
* * *
7
Foreverythingelse,youmust,ofcourse,consult
TheBluebookitself.
8
Bane.n."asourceofharmorruin."WEBSTER'S
SEVENTHNEWCOLLEGIATEDICTIONARY68(1963)
9
Thistidybitofphilosophyisbasedonsomething
thatPlinytheElderlikelysaid.Or,ifnot,probablyshould
have.
[3]
UsingTheBluebook
Firstoff,don'tthinktoomuchaboutTheBluebook.
It's far too painful. Nevertheless, it is important to
understand The Bluebook's purpose and its
structure. Once you get those two things down,
usingTheBluebookbecomesmucheasier.
AstoTheBluebook'spurpose,ormoregenerally,as
to the purpose of uniform legal citation, it is
twofold: (1) the identification of a source, and (2)
wheretofindit.JudgeRichardPosner,eventhough
aharshcriticofTheBluebook,agrees:
Thispurposeisquitevitalinbothlegalpracticeand
scholarship.
HowdoesknowledgeofTheBluebook'spurposehelp
ususeit?Well,ifthepurposeistohelpusidentify
sources and then locate them, it's obvious that
citationformat,atleastatitsmostbasiclevel,must
be standard and uniform. So, for example, every
10
RichardA.Posner,TheBluebookBlues,120YALE
L.J.850,852(2011).
[4]
published United States case, whether state or
federal,hasthefollowingformat:
Actualexamplesusingthisstructurearebelow:12
Duetouniformlegalcitation,weinstantlyrecognize
these examples as cases and we also immediately
know,morespecifically,wherethecaseispublished
in print, the court that decided the case, and when
the case was decided. This is very valuable
information, and with uniformity, we get it at a
glance.
11
For cases where the citation to the reporter
clearly identifies the court (for example, Flood v. Kuhn,
407 U.S. 258 (1972)), there is no need to identify the
decidingcourtintheparenthetical.
12
AllcitationsinthisQuickGuidearedisplayed
usingCourierfonttoshowproperspacing.
[5]
of a citation are different, the uniformity in format
permitseasyrecognitionofthetypeofsourceused,
wheretofindit,andinformationaboutit.
AstoTheBluebook'sstructure,well,itpaystoknow
where things are. The Bluebook is divided into four
main parts. First are the socalled blue pages,
whichprovidetypefaceandcitationformatforcourt
documents and legal memoranda (that is, for non
academic,nonlawreviewrelatedpurposes).Second
are the white pages, which provide typeface and
citationformatforlawreviewfootnotes(thatis,for
academic purposes). Generally, the difference in
citation format as between court documents and
legal memoranda and law review footnotes (as
shownintheblueandwhitepages,respectively)
is typeface only. Citation structure as between the
two is generally the same. The third part of The
Bluebook is the domestic and foreign jurisdiction
pages at Tables T1 and T2. These pages provide
essential information as to citation preference and
court and statutory abbreviations for specific
jurisdictions. Finally, fourth are the general
abbreviationpages,whichbeginatTableT6.13
TheBluebookalsohasanindex,andagoodone.Use
it. For example, if you are wondering about the
correctusageofthesignalsee",justlookupseein
theindex.Or,ifyouwanttoknowhowto(orevenif
youshould)citetoacasessubsequenthistory,again
just look up subsequent history. Youll be quickly
directedtotherightplace.
13
Formoreonabbreviations,seebelowatpage12.
[6]
Finally, much tedium can be avoided by simply
looking at the inside front or back covers of The
Bluebook, which contain quick reference guides for
most common citation forms and can provide
answers to many basic citation questions without
verymucheffortatall.
* * *
[7]
LawReviewFootnotesv.Court
DocumentsandLegalMemoranda
As mentioned above, there are differences in
typeface conventions as between court documents
and legal memoranda (nonacademic citation) and
law review footnotes (academic citation). These
differences can generally be described asBlue
Pages v. White Pagesbecause it's theBlue
PagesatthebeginningofTheBluebookthatcontain
the formats for citations used in court documents
andlegalmemoranda,andit'stheWhitePagesthat
come next that contain the formats for citations
appearinginlawreviewfootnotes.
Herearethreeexamples,showingtheformsforboth
academicandnonacademiccitation.14
14
Pleasenote:EventhoughTheBluebookpermits
theuseofitalicsinsteadofunderliningincourt
documentsandlegalmemorandawhereappropriate(see
RuleB1,at3),wedon'trecommenditalicizationinnon
academiccitationforthreereasons:(1)judgesarelikely
accustomedtoseeingunderliningincourtdocumentsas
[8]
Case Names.In law review footnotes, case names
are in regular roman type when used in a citation
and italicized when the case name is an actual
grammaticalpartofasentence.15
InPennoyerv.Neff,theSupremeCourtoutlined
apowertheoryofpersonaljurisdiction.
Here's what we mean by using a case name in a
citation.
thathasbeenthelongtimestandard(thechoiceofitalics
isnew);(2)itisourbeliefthatstudentswouldfinda
failuretodistinguishbetweenthetwoformatsconfusing
inthelearningprocess;andperhapsmostimportantly,
(3)everyrelevantexamplegivenintheBluePagesfor
nonacademiccitationisunderlined;noneareitalicized.
And,asweconsiderexamplestobeavitalpartofusing
TheBluebook,we'lluseunderliningforourBluePages,
nonacademicexamplesaswell.
15
SeeBLUEBOOK,supranote5,at634.
16
Seeid.at64.
[9]
documents or legal memoranda, case names are
underlined,17 whether in the text or a footnote.18
Belowareexamples.
Books.Inlawreviewfootnotes,booksareplacedin
largeandsmallcapitalletters.19Incourtdocuments
and legal memoranda, the title of the book is
underlined and other aspects of the citation are in
regularromantype.20Belowareexamples.
17
Although italicization is permitted, we don't
recommendit.Seesupranote15.
18
SeeBLUEBOOK,supranote5,at4.
19
Id.at63.
20
Id.at23.
[10]
Inlawreviewfootnote.
JONATHAN STROUD, THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND
(2003).
Incourtdocumentorlegalmemorandum.
Jonathan Stroud, The Amulet of
Samarkand (2003).
Inlawreviewfootnote.
FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6).
Incourtdocumentorlegalmemorandum.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).
* * *
21
Id.at17,121.
[11]
Abbreviations
The Bluebook is huge intoabbreviations. Every
court has an abbreviation, every reporter has an
abbreviation, every law review has an abbreviation,
and many ordinary words are also abbreviated in
casenamesandthelikepursuanttoTheBluebooks
voluminous abbreviation tables (the abbreviation
tables are the blue edged pages that essentially
comprisethesecondhalfofTheBluebook).
[12]
Table T9 provides abbreviations for
legislativedocuments.
Table T10 provides abbreviations for
geographicalterms.
Table T11 provides abbreviations for the
titlesofjudgesandotherofficials.
Table T12 provides abbreviations for the
monthsoftheyear.
Table T13 provides abbreviations
forjournalsandotherperiodicals.
F.Supp.2d
Mich.Ct.App.
S.Ct.
In contrast, a string of single letter abbreviations
containsnospaces.So:
S.D.N.Y
F.3d
22
Formoreonspacing,seeBluebookRule6.1(a).
[13]
Andfinally,acombinationofthetwolookslikethis:
E.D.Pa.
N.D.Cal.
* * *
[14]
SignalsandParentheticals
Signals
Themostcommonsignalsarelistedbelowandeach
is discussed separately. Each discussion also
contains an example of the typeface used for each
signalwhenusedinlawreviewfootnotesandwhen
usedincourtdocumentsandlegalmemoranda.
* * *
E.g.,
When you usee.g.,to introduce a citation, you are
sayingthattherearemultiplesourcesthatstatethe
23
For more information on signals, see Bluebook
Rule1.2.
[15]
samepropositionastheoneyouaremakinginyour
paper,butcitingtoallofthemwouldbesuperfluous
(soyouonlycitetooneandintroduceitwithe.g.,).
E.g.,typefaceexamplescanbefoundbelow.
LawReviewFootnotes
E.g.,
CourtDocumentsandLegalMemoranda
E.g.,
* * *
See
24
BLUEBOOK,supranote5,at54.
25
Seeid.
[16]
Typefaceexamplesarebelow.
LawReviewFootnotes
See
CourtDocumentsandLegalMemoranda
See
Inadditiontousingseeasanintroductorysignal,it
mayalsobeusedinacitationasaverb.Inthatcase,
seeisneitherunderlinednoritalicized.Anexample
isbelow.
* * *
Seealso
When you usesee also, you are stating that the
authority you are citing isadditionalauthority in
support of your proposition, and that you have
already"citedordiscussed"authoritythatstatesor
directlysupportstheproposition.26Youshoulduse
anexplanatoryparenthetical27withseealso.
26
Id.
[17]
Thetypefacesforseealsoarethesameasthosefor
see.
* * *
See,e.g.,
See, e.g.,is an awesome little invention. As a
combination of e.g.,andsee, it is used when many
authoritiessupport,butdonotdirectlystate,your
proposition,andwhencitationtoallofthemwould
notbehelpful.
Typefaceexamplesarebelow.
LawReviewFootnotes
See, e.g., Bell Atlantic Corp. v.
Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 553 (2007).
CourtDocumentsandLegalMemoranda
See, e.g., Bell Atlantic Corp. v.
Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 553 (2007).
27
For more on explanatory parentheticals, see
belowatpage22.
[18]
Accord
When you useaccord, you are stating that you are
citingtotwoormoresourcesthat"stateorclearly
support"yourproposition,butyour"textquotesor
refers to only one."28 In that case, the source
referred to in your text is introduced with[no
signal]orsee,and immediately thereafter, the
additionalsourcesareintroducedwithaccord.
LawReviewFootnotes
Miller v. Pepper, 638 P.2d 864, 868
(Haw. Ct. App. 1982); accord Brewer
v. Michigan Salt Ass'n, 11 N.W.
370, 373 (Mich. 1882).
CourtDocumentsandLegalMemoranda
Miller v. Pepper, 638 P.2d 864, 868
(Haw. Ct. App. 1982); accord Brewer
v. Michigan Salt Ass'n, 11 N.W.
370, 373 (Mich. 1882).
28
Id.
[19]
Cf.
Cf.istheabbreviationforcompare.Whenyouuse
cf.to introduce a citation, you are stating that the
authority you are citing supports a proposition
differentthan yours, but which is nevertheless
"sufficiently analogous to lend support."29 You
should include an explanatory parenthetical when
usingcf.
* * *
Contra
Usecontrawhen the source"directly states the
contraryof the proposition" you are making.30 The
typeface conventions forcontraare exactly like
thoseforsee.
* * *
29
Id.at55.
30
Id.(emphasisadded).
[20]
Butsee
* * *
Seegenerally
* * *
AFinalNoteonSignals
When stringing together citations that are
introduced by different signals, please remember
twoimportantthings:(1)Insertsemicolonsbetween
citations that are introduced by the same type of
signal(thatis,signalsthatsupportapropositionare
ofonetype,andsignalsthatcontradictaproposition
are of another type). Citations that are introduced
31
Id.(emphasisadded).
32
Id.
[21]
by signals of a different type are separated by
periods.(2)Whenasignalfollowsasemicolon,itis
notcapitalized.Whenthesignalfollowsaperiod,it
iscapitalized.Anexampleisbelow(withthesignals
boldedforclarity).
* * *
[23]
CitingCases
Generally
Cases that are published in print reporters are
always cited in the same way, whether you find
themintheactualbookoronline(thatis,casesare
always cited as if you found them in print). The
elementsofthecitationarebelow.Thecommasare
inthecorrectplaces.
* * *
Reporters
A reporter is simply a set of books in which cases
from a particular jurisdiction or collection of
jurisdictionsarepublishedinprint.Casesarealways
identified by volume number of the reporter in
which they appear, the reporters abbreviation, and
the page number on which the case begins. So, by
way of example, 17 F.3d 660 refers to the case that
begins on page 660 of volume 17 of the Federal
Reporter 3d Series33 (which collects cases from the
federalcircuitcourtsofappeals).
33
A "series" is a complete set of volumes of a
reporter, covering a set time period. There are three
"series" of the Federal Reporter. The first numbered 300
[24]
Federalreportersandtheirabbreviationsareshown
below, with regional reporters (which collect state
cases)onthepagefollowing.
FederalReporters
[25]
Regional(State)Reporters
Reporter Abbreviation StatesCovered
Atlantic A.,A.2d CT,DC,DE,MD,
ME,NH,NJ,PA,
RI,VT
NorthEastern N.E.,N.E.2d IL,IN,MA,NY,
OH
NorthWestern N.W.,N.W.2d IA,MI,MN,ND,
NE,SD,WI
Pacific P.,P.2d,P.3d AK,AZ,CA,CO,
HI,ID,KS,MT,
NM,NV,OK,OR,
UT,WA,WY
Southern So.,So.2d AL,FL,LA,MS
SouthEastern S.E.,S.E.2d GA,NC,SC,VA,
WV
SouthWestern S.W.,S.W.2d AR,KY,MO,TN,
TX
[26]
CaseName
In court documents and legal memoranda, case
names are underlined. The examples below are for
casenamesincitationsinlawreviewfootnotes.The
dotshowswhereaspaceshouldbeinserted.Please
notehow"FDIC"isabbreviatedpursuanttoRule6.34
Batemanv.FDIC,[citation].
Forthestatecasebelow,pleasenotehowthewords
"Markets" and "Federal" and "Incorporated" are
abbreviatedpursuanttoTableT6.
AcmeMkts.,Inc.v.Fed.Armored
Express,Inc.,[citation].
* * *
CaseCitationInformation
Immediately following the case name comes the
case citation information. Abbreviations are
important here too; particularly for the relevant
reporter and court. For federal court abbreviations
and citation formats, see the beginning of Table T1
(United States Jurisdictions). The citation below is
34
AbbreviationsinCaseNames.(1)Forcase
namesincitations,abbreviateanywordlistedinTable
T6andgeographicalunitslistedinTableT10,unlessthe
geographicalunitisaparty;(2)Whenusingcasenames
intextualsentences,onlyabbreviatewellknown
acronyms,suchasCIA,FBI,etc.andthefollowingeight
words:&,Ass'n,Bros.,Co.,Corp.,Inc.,Ltd.,andNo.
[27]
from a United States district court case from the
DistrictofMassachusetts.Pleasetakenoteofthe
spacing.
112F.Supp.2d89(D.Mass.2000)
KeytoCitation
112=VolumeNumber
F. Supp. 2d=Reporterinwhichthecaseis
publishedinprint
89=Pageonwhichthecasebegins
D. Mass.=Courtthatdecidedthecase
2000=Yearthecasewasdecided
35
ParallelCitations.Aparallelcitationcontains
citationstobothwhereacaseappearsintheWest
regionalreporterandwhereitappearsintheofficialstate
reporter.Parallelcitationsonlyapplywithregardto
documentssubmittedtoastatecourtandonlythenwhen
dictatedbylocalrule,whichwillidentifytheofficialstate
reporter(s)towhichcitationmustbemade.Theparallel
citationisstructuredbycitingtotheofficialstate
reporterfirstandthentotheregionalreporter.Pincites
aregivenforbothreportersifappropriate.Anexampleis
below.
Strongmanv.IdahoPotatoComm'n,129Idaho766,771,
932P.2d889,895(1992).
[28]
below is from the intermediate appellate court in
Pennsylvania (see Table T1 for the court's
abbreviation). The elements of the citation are the
sameasthoseofafederalcase.
648A.2d1218(Pa.Super.Ct.1994).
* * *
UnpublishedCases
With the exception of federal appellate cases that
appear in the Federal Appendix, unpublishedcases
are those cases that do not appear in a print
reporter. These cases are generally cited as they
appear in Westlaw and LexisNexis. Please see the
examplesbelow.
WestlawExample.
Gonzales-Doldanv.ABPS,No.97-CV-
0902E,1998WL328642,at*1
(W.D.N.Y.June16,1998).
KeytoCitation
No. 97-CV-0902E=DocketNumber
1998 WL 328642=WestlawIdentifier
*1=PinCite
W.D.N.Y.=Court
June 16, 1998=DateofDecision
Please note that the actual date that the case was
decided, and not just the year, is used with
[29]
unpublished cases. Please also note that in
unpublished cases, page numbers are always
accompanied by an asterisk [*]. This is called "star
paging."
LexisNexisExample.
Del.ExpressShuttle,Inc.v.
Older,No.19596,2002Del.Ch.
LEXIS124,at*16(Del.Ch.
Oct.23,2002).
KeytoCitation
No. 19596=DocketNumber
2002 Del. Ch. LEXIS 124 =LexisNexis
Identifier
*16=PinCite
Del. Ch.=Court
Oct. 23, 2002=DateofDecision
* * *
[30]
CitingStatutes
Generally
thetitle,chapter,orsubjectarea36and
the statutory compilation in which the
sectionisfoundand
thesectionnumberitselfand
theyearofthecode.
Sessionlaws,bycontrast,mustinclude
thenameofthelegislationand
the law's chapter #, public law #, or other #
and
the particular bound volume in which the
session law appears (like, e.g., Statutes at
Large).
YoumustalwayscheckBluebookTableT1tofindthe
correct citation format when citing to a particular
jurisdictionsstatutes.
36
Thisisdependentonjurisdiction.Some
jurisdictionsuseatitleorchapternumbertodenotea
subjectareaforastatute.Othersjustspelloutthesubject
areainfull.
[31]
For more information on citing to statutes, see
BluebookRule12.
* * *
YearoftheCode
Theproperyeartousewhencitingtoacodesection
presents a puzzling pickle for many law students.
Herearesomepointerstomakeiteasier.
Thecorrectyeartouseistheyearofpublicationof
the last official print version of the code you are
citing,providedthatyourcodesectionhasnotbeen
amended or enacted sincethat last official version
waspublished.37FortheU.S.C.,thelastofficialyear
is2006(the2012editionislikelyayearorsoaway).
Tofindthecorrectyear,lookatthefollowing,inthis
orderofpreference:(1)thespineofthebook,(2)the
titlepage,and(3)thecopyrightpage.
37
ThereisanexceptiontothisinBluebookrule12.5,
whichpermitscitationtocodesfoundinonlinedatabases
withoutreferencetotheyearofthecodefoundinprint.
Thisexceptionhasverylittleimpactonlawstudents,
however,becauseinlawschool,useoftheyearofthe
codeasfoundinprintisstillalmostalwayspreferredto
thatfoundonline.
[32]
thetitlepageorcopyrightpageofthesupplementor
pocketpart.
16U.S.C.3645(d)(2)(Supp.2010).
Mass.Gen.Lawsch.5,1(2010&
Supp.2011).
* * *
FederalStatutes
Whencitingtoanentirestatute.
SecuritiesActof1933,15U.S.C.
77a-77aa(2006).
Whencitingtoanindividualcodesection.
28U.S.C.1367(2006).
[33]
SessionLaws.Whencitingtoasessionlaw,always
include the following information: Name of
Legislation (omit "The" as first word of name),
public law or chapter number, Statutes at Large
citation, and year of legislation if not already
apparentfromstatute'sname.Examplesarebelow.
SherwoodAct,ch.123,37Stat.112
(1912).
CleanWaterActof1977,Pub.L.No.
95-217,91Stat.1566.
* * *
StateStatutes
Massachusetts
LawReviewFootnotes
MASS.GEN.LAWSch.x,x(<year>).
CourtDocuments
Mass.Gen.Lawsch.x,x(<year>).
[34]
NewYork
LawReviewFootnotes
N.Y.BANKINGLAWx(McKinney<year>).
CourtDocuments
N.Y.BankingLawx(McKinney<year>).
ActofJuly8,2011,ch.65,
2011Mass.Legis.Serv.76(West).
Pleasenotethatalthoughthepropercitationformat
varies from state to state, every citation to a state
sessionlawmustcontainthenameofthelegislation
(the"Actof..."constructionisusedwhenthereisno
popular name), a ch.# or other #, and then the
appropriatecitetotheproperboundvolumewhere
thesessionlawsareinitiallypublished.
* * *
[35]
CitingSecondarySources
* * *
Dictionaries
LawReviewFootnotes
BLACKSLAWDICTIONARY65(9thed.2009).
RANDOMHOUSECOLLEGEDICTIONARY643
(8thed.1984).
CourtDocuments
BlacksLawDictionary65(9thed.2009).
RandomHouseCollegeDictionary643
(8thed.1984).
[36]
LegalEncyclopedias
Everyonelovesagoodlegalencyclopedia.Citethem
accordingtotheexamplesbelow.
LawReviewFootnotes
1AM.JUR.2DAccession&Confusion
15(2005).
35AC.J.S.FederalCivilProcedure
318(2003).
CourtDocuments
1Am.Jur.2dAccession&Confusion
15(2005).
35AC.J.S.FederalCivilProcedure
318(2003).
* * *
[37]
JournalsandPeriodicals
SamuelD.Warren&LouisD.Brandeis,The
RighttoPrivacy,4HARV.L.REV.193(1890).
MaryBeard,Alexander:HowGreat?,N.Y.
REV.BOOKS,Oct.27,2011,at35.
MichaelScherer,Takingittothe
Streets,TIME,Oct.24,2011,at 20.
38
Thesearejournalsthatareconsecutively
paginatedthroughoutanentirevolume,witheachissues
beginningpagenumberstartingwherethepreviousissue
leftoff.
[38]
Newspapers are generally cited the same way as
nonconsecutivelypaginatedjournals.
NickCafardo,CardinalsForceGame7,
BOSTONGLOBE,Oct.28,2011,atC1.
HollandCotter,ACosmopolitanTroveof
ExoticBeauty,N.Y.TIMES,Oct.28,2011,
atC23.
* * *
MassachusettsPractice
MassachusettsPracticeistricky.Citeitaccordingto
Bluebookrule15.8.Anexample,showingtheproper
citation format for both law review footnotes and
courtdocumentsisbelow.
LawReviewFootnotes
35AMASS.PRACTICEConsumerLaw10:37
(2010).
CourtDocuments
35AMass.PracticeConsumerLaw
10:37(2010).
[39]
Please note: You can find the subject area
(Consumer Law") on the front or spine of the
volume.Theyearofpublicationisonthecopyright
page.
* * *
MultiVolumeTreatises
4CHARLESALANWRIGHT&ARTHURR.
MILLER,FEDERALPRACTICEANDPROCEDURE
1006(2ded.1987).
Inlawreviewfootnotes,citebooksandothersingle
volume treatises or monographs like the example
below. For nonacademic purposes, change
everything to regular roman type except the book's
title,whichisunderlined.
DANIELWALKERHOWE,WHATHATHGOD
WROUGHT:THETRANSFORMATIONOFAMERICA,
1815-48141(2007).
* * *
[41]
ShortCitationForms
Othershortformsaresimplyshorterversionsofthe
full citation. The general rule is that use of a short
form is appropriate in academic citation if the
short form clearly identifies the resource cited to
and the resource is already cited (in either full or
short form) in the same footnote or one of the
preceding five footnotes.40 For nonacademic
purposes,useoftheshortformisappropriatewhen
it clearly identifies the resource cited to, the full
citation form appears in the same general
discussion, and the reader will not have trouble
locatingthefullcite.41
39
BLUEBOOK,supranote5,at72.
40
See,e.g.,id.at72.
41
See,e.g.,id.at13.
[42]
formsforothertypesofresources,seeBluebookRule
4.2.
* * *
[43]
CitingtoCases,Statutes,and
SecondarySourcesthatYou
FindonWestlawandLexisNexis
The general rule when citing to materials that you
find on Westlaw or LexisNexis is this: if the
resourceispublishedinprint,alwayscitetoitasif
you found it in print. This does not present a
problemforcases,becausetheauthoritativecitation
to the print version is always supplied when you
viewthecaseonline.
42
Nonperiodicalsecondarysourcesinclude
treatises,practiceguides,hornbooks,legalencyclopedias,
anddictionaries.Asforperiodicalslikejournals,
magazines,andnewspapers,youshouldbeabletofind
theproperyearofpublicationonline.
43
Note:Fornonperiodicalsecondarysources,the
yearofpublicationisgenerallyonthecopyrightpage.For
[44]
Conclusion
adiscussiononfindingtheproperyearofthecode,see
page31above.
[45]
Alwaysaskquestionsifyouneedhelp.Good
Luck!
* * *
[46]
AdditionalReading
NoteveryonelovestheBluebooklikewedo.Below
findsomefriendlyandnotsofriendlycritiques.
RichardA.Posner,TheBluebookBlues,120YALE
L.J.850(2011).
WarrenD.Rees,SingingtheBluebookBlues,1
AALLSPECTRUM20(June1997).
JamesW.Paulsen,AnUninformedSystemof
Citation,105HARV.L.REV.1780(1992).
JamesD.GordonIII,OhNo!ANewBluebook!,
90MICH.L.REV.1698(1992).
JimChen,SomethingOld,SomethingNew,
SomethingBorrowed,SomethingBlue,58U.CHI.
L.REV.1527(1991).
RichardA.Posner,GoodbyetotheBluebook,53
U.CHI.L.REV.1343(1986).
ArnoldB.Kanter,PuttingYourBestFootnote
Forward,BARRISTER(Spring1982)at42.
KevinC.Gralley&JohnC.Aisenbrey,BookNote,
65GEO.L.J.871(1977).
AlanStrasser,TechnicalDueProcess,12HARV.
C.L.C.R.REV.507(1977).
PeterLushing,BookReview,67COLUM.L.REV.
599(1967).
AndtheeditorsoftheBluebookhaveresponded.
BookNote,ManualLabor,ChicagoStyle,101
HARV.L.REV.1323(1988).
[47]