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Citations   picture of books on a shelf Updated September 25, 2007

Use the resources identified in these links to improve your ability to draft accurate citations to legal authority.

new! Barger's Citation Life-Savers

bulletCitation Life-Saver for moot court briefs using the Bluebook
 
bulletCitation Life-Saver for Arkansas trial court briefs using the ALWD Citation Manual

ALWD 

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Home page for the ALWD Citation Manual (not yet updated for the 3d edition, 2006)
 

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Appalachian School of Law’s pdf, Basic Legal Citation Starting Points (using ALWD)

Bluebook

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Bluebook’s own web site
 

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Peter W. Martin’s Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (2006 edition) (at Cornell’s Legal Information Institute) (using Bluebook)

Cases Not Yet Published

bullet Rules and examples from the ALWD Citation Manual and the Bluebook for citing cases that have not yet been published in official and/or unofficial reporters.

General Citation References

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 Boston College Law Library’s Reading Legal Citations (downloadable pdf)
 

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Brigham Young University’s Howard Hunter Law Library provides users this guide on How to Read a Legal Citation.
 

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 The Legal Writing Institute instructs researchers about Using ALWD/BB Rules to Avoid Faulty Attribution.
 

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 Online assistance for both ALWD and Bluebook can be found in the LegalCitation StyleGuide.
 

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 Michigan State University’s online tutorial to basic legal citation (does not mention or endorse any particular citation manual)
 

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 Everyone is Interpreting Case Citations at the University of Richmond.
 

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 The Thomas M. Cooley Law Libraries’ Research Guide Series: Legal Citation
 

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 UCLA Law School teaches its students How to Read a Legal Citation.

Maroonbook

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 The University of Chicago’s own take on citation

Short Forms

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 Using and Constructing Short Form Citations-- Tips for citing authorities in shorter format,
once you have cited them in full

Specialized and International Legal Citation References

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 Here is the ABA’s resource page on universal citation (aka "vendor-neutral" or "medium-neutral" citation
—designed to work equally well in print and online sources).
 

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 The State Bar of Michigan’s Guide to Citing Legal and Non-Legal Electronic Database Information
 

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 Magill University’s Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation
 

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 They named it, not me: the University of Calgary’s Legal Citation Cheat Sheet (quick summary of the Magill Guide)
 

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 Is there a citation-manual rivalry in the Land Down Under?

 --Melbourne University’s Australian Guide to Legal Citation


--A guide to Australian legal citation from Murdoch University School of Law (pdf download)

--The Sydney Law Review Style Guide gives detailed citation guidance
 

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Or are you citing in the United Kingdom? Europe? You ought to take a look at
OSCOLA (the Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) (contains link to downloadable pdf).
 

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Sandeep Dave gives pointers on Legal Citation in India.
 

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Washington University’s Global Studies Law Review has a guide to international legal citation.

 State Citation Rules and Practices

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 Delaware: Guide to the Delaware Rules of Legal Citation (Delaware Superior Court)
 

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 Massachusetts: How to Read a Mass. Legal Citation (from Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries)
 

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 North Dakota: North Dakota Supreme Court Citation Manual
 

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 Wisconsin: Legal Citation of Wisconsin Court Cases (from Marquette University)

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