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OSCOLA (Law) Referencing Guide

OSCOLA Law referencing guidance

Order of Authors

In the footnote, the author’s name should be provided exactly as it appears in the publication, omitting postnominals such as QC:

First name / Surname

Jonathan Herring

Footnote Format:

Author, Title (edition, Publisher Year) page number.

Footnote Example:

Jonathan Herring, Family Law (10th ed, Pearson Education 2021)

(Note: sometimes only first name initials are provided on the publication so your footnote will reflect this e.g. J Herring)

Bibliography Format:

In the Bibliography the surname is provided first, followed by the initial of the first name, and you do not include a full stop at the end of your reference or page number(s)

Surname/ Initial, Title (edition, Publisher Year)

Bibliography Example:

Herring J, Family Law (10th ed, Pearson Education 2021)

For two or three authors, all named authors must be included. You must insert an 'and' before the last author's name. To use a footnote, put a superscript number into your text and then the footnote at the bottom of the page. 

Footnote Format:

Author, Title (edition, Publisher Year) page number.

Footnote examples:

Hugh Jones and Christopher Benson, Publishing Law (4th edn, Routledge 2011) 32.

Michael Allen, Simon Cooper and Derek Elliott, Elliott and Wood’s Cases and Materials on Criminal Law (12th  edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2016) 643.

Bibliography Format:

In the Bibliography the surname is provided first, followed by the initial of the first name, and you do not include a full stop at the end of your reference or page number(s)

Surname/ Initial, Title (edition, Publisher Year)

Bibliography Examples:

  • Jones H and Benson C, Publishing Law (4th edn, Routledge 2011)

  • Allen A, Cooper S and Elliott D, Elliott and Wood’s Cases and Materials on Criminal Law (12th  edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2016)

If there are 4 or more authors cite the first author followed by ‘and others’. To use a footnote, put a superscript number into your text and then the footnote at the bottom of the page. 

Footnote Format:

Author, Title (edition, Publisher Year) page number.

Footnote example:

Ian Smith and others, Smith & Wood’s Employment Law (13th edn, Oxford University Press 2017).

Bibliography Format:

In the Bibliography the surname is provided first, followed by the initial of the first name, and you do not include a full stop at the end of your reference or page number(s)

Surname/ Initial, Title (edition, Publisher Year)

Bibliography Example:

Smith I and others, Smith & Wood’s Employment Law (13th edn, Oxford University Press 2017).