Below is a brief explanation of the type of material you will find under each tab of this LibGuide.

Explanations:  search the catalog for books, or find websites that may help de-code the mysteries of legal citation. Includes some resources that can electronically assist you in figuring out a legal citation.

Workbooks & Commentary:  Practice citation with interactive tutorials from CALI, Lexis, and Westlaw, or print workbooks; read scholarly (or not!) articles on legal citation.

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Suggested Subject Searches:

Citation of legal authorities -- United States

Citation of legal authorities -- United States -- Interpretation and construction

Annotations and citations (Law) -- United States -- Interpretation and construction

Welcome to the Warren E. Burger Library LibGuide for Legal Citation.  This guide provides suggestions and resources for assistance in the area of citation for legal writing.  This is intended as a starting point for your research, please contact the reference librarians for further help.

Black's defines "citation of authorities" as the "reading, or production of, or reference to, legal authorities and precedents (such as constitutions, statutes, reported cases, and treatises), in arguments to courts, in legal textbooks, law review articles, briefs, motions, and the like to substantiate or fortify the propositions advanced." Black's Law Dictionary 243 (6th ed. 1990).

Most law students will be using the Bluebook for their citation purposes, but you may also use ALWD or even the University of Chicago's Maroonbook.  Whichever system you're using, we have resources to help you figure it out.  And try to keep a few things in mind if you're getting frustrated: (1) cite to the version of the source that you are looking at; (2) provide enough information so your reader can find the resource you used; and (3) be consistent!

Please note: the Bluebook's 19th edition was released in July, 2010. Many of the resources here may refer to older editions. 

The Bluebook: a Uniform System of Citation

The Bluebook is probably the most-used and oldest system of legal citation; its first edition was published in 1926.  The Bluebook is compiled and edited by the editors of the Columbia Law Review, the Harvard Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal. The Bluebook, currently on the 19th edition, is also available online for a subscription fee. If you're interested in the evolution of the Bluebook, check out The bluebook : a sixty-five year retrospective - the complete first through 15th editions of the Bluebook! 

ALWD Citation Manual : a Professional System of Citation

In 2000, the Association of Legal Writing Directors created what they hoped would be a simpler citation manual, intended to be "a restatement of the rules of citation based on how experts actually do citation." Even if you are using the Bluebook, if you are stumped by a particular source, you may want to check ALWD and see what it says about that kind of source. ALWD provides many online resources to help you with its citation manual.

The University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation

In 1986, the students at the University of Chicago created their own citation manual, as a direct challenge to the Bluebook, which they deemed inflexible and inefficient. The Maroonbook, as it is known, is much shorter than the Bluebook and allows for more flexibility. The most recent edition is available online.

If you need more information on this topic, please contact the reference desk:

by phone: 651-290-6424

via e-mail: reference@wmitchell.edu

or via IM chat during reference hours on the library's website

If you need more information on this topic, please contact the reference desk:

by phone: 651-290-6424

via e-mail: reference@wmitchell.edu

or via IM chat during reference hours on the library's website

While there is no perfect electronic Bluebooking solution - there is no substitute to learning how to implement the rules correctly yourself - there are some citation management systems out there that can give you a good "first stab" at an automatic citation. These include:

I emphasize again that none of these services is perfect.You still must know how to properly Bluebook citations.

CALI

Lexis

Pay attention to the dates of these - the 19th edition of the Bluebook was published in 2010. Still, some of these older workbooks will give you useful citation practice - just be aware of the more recent changes to the Bluebook, particularly in the areas of citations to the Internet and Electronic Resources (Rule 18) and in International Materials (Rule 21).

Other people, typically librarians, have given presentations on legal citation and made their power point slides available on the web; you can find many of them by Googling "legal citation presentation." As always, pay attention to the date of the presentation and the authority of the provider.

If you'd like to view the presentation in full-screen, click on the "Start Prezi" icon and then click on the "Full Screen" icon in the bottom right. If you wish to download a PDF of the presentation, see the box below.

Search Google Blogs and Justia.Com's Legal Blawgs for "legal citation" "the bluebook," etc.

If you need more information on this topic, please contact the reference desk:

by phone: 651-290-6424

via e-mail: reference@wmitchell.edu

or via IM chat during reference hours on the library's website