Legal Writing - Advanced Citations
Terms
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- General spacing rules
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*
No space between consecutive capital letters (C.J.S.)
*
A space on either side of any abbreviation that is not a single capital letter (Am.* Jur.*)
*
A space between an abbreviated word and an unabbreviated word (Dallas*Morn.*News)
*
Ordinal contractions (2d, 3d, 4th) are treated as a single capital letter (A.L.R.2d)
Note: Remember to put a space in A.L.R.*Fed. Why? Because “Fed.†is not an ordinal contraction. - Exception for legal periodicals
- Set the institutional or geographic abbreviation off from other parts of the abbreviation, even if the abbreviation is all single caps and the other parts of the abbreviation are single caps (S.U.*L.*Rev.)
- Periodicals
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(p. 202)
Author,*Title,*Volume number*Periodical abbreviation*initial page number,*pinpoint page number*(Date).
initial
volume page pinpoint
/ / /
Ray Patterson,*Legal Ethics and the Lawyer’s Duty,*29*Emory*L.J.*909,*915*(1980).
/ / / /
author title periodical abbreviation date
Roederick White,*Sr.,*Lawyer Fee Sharing Agreements,*25*S.U.*L.*Rev.* 227,*229*(1998).
If the author of the periodical is not a student, give the full name listed in the article. (Roederick White, Sr.)
If the author is a student or was a student when the article was written, give the full name as listed in the article, followed by Student Author.
E’Vinski Davis,*Student Author,*Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena:*Turning Back the Clock On Minority Set-Asides,*23*S.U.*L.*Rev.*79,*81*(1995).
Why is “Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena†not italicized? It is a case name, which is usually italicized in the text. Therefore, it is not italicized in the citation. See the next section concerning titles. - Titles
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(p. 202-204)
Give the title as it is written with no abbreviations and omissions.
The title should be in italics, but do not italicize matter that would be italicized in the text, such as case names.
Ex.) Leslie Friedman Goldstein,Between the Tiers: The New[est]Equal Protection and Bush v. Gore, 4 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 372 (2002).
Note: Bush v. Gore is not italicized because it is a case name.
Insert a colon and one space between the title and subtitle. Newspapers typically insert a semicolon between the title and subtitle; retain the semicolon in that instance. If there is no punctuation between a title and subtitle, add a colon. However, do not insert the colon if the title ends with a question mark or exclamation point and do not insert a colon if the main title ends with a question mark or exclamation point. At the end of the complete title, typically insert a comma and one space. (see p. 203-204)
Ex.) Assaf Hamdani, Who’s Liable for Cyberwrongs? 87 Cornell L. Rev. 901 (2002)
Eric Lichtlau, Phone Tape Reveals Flight 11 Attendant Yelled, “Oh My God!†Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.) 003 (Sept. 20, 2001).
Eric Jones, Student Author, Who Wrote the Law? Rethinking the Law in Today’s World, 24 S.U. L. Rev. 56, 58 (2005). - Periodical abbreviations
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Use the table in Appendix 5. If the periodical is not listed in Appendix 5, use the abbreviations in Appendix 3.
Ex.) If you are looking for the abbreviation for Southern University’s Law Review, you will find it in Appendix 5 as S.U.*L.*Rev. However, if you are looking for the abbreviation for the Around the Bar Journal, you will not find it in Appendix 5. Therefore, you have to refer to Appendix 3 to determine whether there is an abbreviation for the words “around†and “bar.†Around is not found in the abbreviations; therefore, it is simply cited as “Around.†Bar, however, is abbreviated in Appendix 3 as “B.†Therefore, the citation for Around the Bar is Around*B.
Omit the words “a,†“at,†“in,†“of,†and “the†from the abbreviation.
Ex.) Around the Bar would not be cited as Around the B. It is cited as Around*B. because you would omit “the†from the abbreviation.
Gail Stephenson,*The Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Civil Relief Act of 1940,*177*Around*B.*14*(May*2003). - Dates
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(p. 205-23.1(f))
* Place the date in parenthesis.
Consecutively paginated:
When the issues of a particular periodical are consecutively paginated, include only the year of publication. A periodical is consecutively paginated if the first issue in a particular year begins on page 1; the second issue picks up with the numbering where the first issue left off, such as page 307; and so on. Most law reviews and law journals are consecutively paginated. See Appendix 5 for guidance concerning what journals are consecutively or nonconsecutively paginated.
Nonconsecutive pagination:
When the issues of a periodical are not consecutively paginated, include the exact date shown on the first page or cover. Use Appendix 3 to abbreviate months. A periodical is nonconsecutively paginated when each issue begins on page 1; for example, the January issue begins on page 1, the February issue begins on page 1, and so on.
Example:
Newspaper-
Linda Buckley, A Hole in the Safety Net, Newsweek 40, 40 (May*13,*2002).
(nonconsecutively paginated)
Journal-
Hope Viner Samborn, Navigating Murky Waters, 85 ABA J. 28 (July*1998)
(nonconsecutively paginated)
Law Review- Southern University’s Law Reviews are consecutively paginated. Therefore, use only the year in parenthesis. Ex.) (2002) - Review for dates
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Newspaper: May*13,*2002
Around the Bar (Journal): (May*2002)
A.L.R.: (2002)
Law Review: (2002)
Legal encyclopedias: Am. Jur. – (2002)
Books: Give only the year (2002)
Louisiana Bar Journal (La*B.J.)- (2002) - A.L.R. Annotations
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(p. 210)
Author,*Title,*Volume number*A.L.R. series*initial page,*pinpoint page*(Date).
Author Title vol.
/ / /
Marjorie A. Caner,*Validity, Construction, and Application of Stalking Statutes,*29 *A.L.R.5th* 487,*489*(1995).
/ / / /
A.L.R. initial pin- date
series page point
COMPARE A.L.R. annotations to law review - same format except you would insert the A.L.R. series where the law review journal would normally be. - Books
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(p. 188, see 22.1)
Author,* Title*Pinpoint reference(s)*(Editor[if any],*Edition[after the first edition, if any],*Publisher*Date).
Nadia E. Nedzel,*Legal Reasoning, Research, and Writing for International Graduate Students*99*(Aspen*2004).
Note: Remember that you don’t have to put the edition if it is a first edition. If it is after the first edition (second edition and so forth), then you can put 2d, 3d, 4th, etc. Also, not that there is no comma after the title of a book or dictionary.
Authors of books:
The authors should be separated from the rest of the citation by a comma and one space.
Single author: Give the author’s full name, exactly as it appears on the front cover or title page, including Jr., Sr., III. However, do not include degree information such as J.D., Ph.D., or M.D. or titles of respect, such as “Hon.†Or “Dr.â€
Correct: Kelly T. Sayers, Jr.,
Incorrect: Kelly T. Sayers, Jr., J.D.
Multiple authors:
If the work has two authors, separate their names with an ampersand (&). Ex.) Shawn Vance*&*Prentice White
If the work has three or more authors, include each author’s full name in the order in which it appears on the front page or title page, separated by commas except for the last name: Shawn Vance,*Prentice White*&* Regina Ramsey James
If you have three or more authors, you can also give the first author’s full name followed by et al. Do not place a comma before et al. Ex.) Shawn Vance*et al.
Publishers of books: Use the same abbreviation rules as periodicals.
Dates for books: Give the most current date on the copyright or title page and use only the year. - Bible references
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(p. 197, 22.1(n))
Book name*Chapter:Line*Version
John*3:16*(New King James).
I*Corinthians*10:6*(New*Am.*Stand.)
Psalms*147:8-9*(New*Intl.) - Dictionaries
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(p. 214, see 25.1) Compare the dictionary citation format to the citation format for books.
Author,*Title*Pinpoint reference(s)*(Editor[if any],*Edition [after the first edition, if any],*Publisher*date).
Note: No comma after the title of a dictionary or book.
Bryan A. Garner,*Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage*79*(2d*ed.,*Oxford*U.*1995).
Note: Because the edition was after the first edition, it was included in the citation. Also note that there is no editor cited because there was no editor in the dictionary.
Black’s Law Dictionary *150*(Bryan*A.*Garner*ed.,*7th*ed.,*West*1999).
Note: Because there was no author and only an editor, this citation does not contain the name of an author at the beginning.
David Mellinkoff,*Dictionary of American Legal Usage*56*(West*1992). - Legal Encyclopedias
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(p. 216-217, see 26.1-chart for list of encyclopedia abbreviations)
NO COMMAS SHOULD BE IN AN ENCYCLOPEDIA’S CITATION!!!
Volume number*encyclopedia abbreviation*title or topic*§ * Section number*(Date).
1*Am.* Jur.*Trials*Interviewing the Client*§*1*(2004). - Newspapers
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Use the rules for periodicals with these changes:
*
If it doesn’t have a volume number, omit it.
*
If the place of publication is not well known or evident from the title, include the place of publication immediately after the periodical abbreviation. Enclose the publication info in parentheses, using state abbreviations in Appendix 3.
Robert J. Samuelson,*Gender Discussion Stymied,*Advocate*(Baton Rouge,*La.)*7B* (Jan.*26,*2005).