Bluebooking Seminar: Top Takeaways
The most recent Legal Research Seminar, held on February 14th, covered everyone’s favorite topic, Bluebooking. In case you missed it, here are some of the top takeaways:
- The Bluepages contain the basic rules you need for citation in non-academic legal documents. The Whitepages contain the more detailed and complex rules needed for citation in academic writing, such as law reviews.
- Cite to the official version of the statutory compilation. For the United States Code that would be U.S.C., and not U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. However, Ohio has two compilations, both annotated and commercially produced. You may cite to either, but you must include the publisher in the parenthetical. For example, citing Baldwin’s Ohio Revised Code Annotated will look like this: Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 4301.22 (West 2016).
- When citing a span of statutory sections, you must use two section symbols (§) like this: 17 U.S.C. §§ 301-305 (2012).
- Supra can be used after an authority has been previously fully cited. However, it should not be used for cases, statutes, constitutions, and a few other sources. Rule 4.2 of the Whitepages lists the sources that it may be used for. Using supra in the footnotes of lengthy academic papers is helpful for your readers.
- Rule 18 of the Whitepages covers Internet and Other Nonprint Resources, and was significantly updated for the most recent edition of the Bluebook to accommodate the increasing use and variety of e-resources. According to Rule 18.2.1, you may cite some internet sources as if you are citing to the original print source. This means you would not need to include the URL. The digital source must be an authenticated, official, or exact copy of the original print source.
- You don’t want to purchase a Bluebook? The Law Library has copies available for you to borrow. You could also try the free citation guide from Cornell LII.
Do you have more Bluebooking questions? Check out the E-bytes Bluebooking Q&A on Tuesday, February 21st between 12pm and 2pm. Drop in any time during the two-hour window and a librarian armed with the latest Bluebook will help answer your questions.
