Referencing and citations - OSCOLA: Books
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Books contents
In a nutshell.
In footnotes, give the author’s name exactly as it appears in the publication, but omit postnominals such as QC. In the bibliography, only use the author’s initial(s).
In footnotes, the author’s first name or initial(s) precede their surname. In bibliographies, the surname comes first, then the initial(s), followed by a comma.
Cite all publications with an ISBN as if they were books, whether read online or in hard copy.
Cite the author’s name first, followed by a comma, and then the title of the book in italics - Where a book has a title and subtitle not separated with punctuation, insert a colon.
Publication information follows the title within brackets. Publication elements should always include the publisher and the year of publication, with a space but no punctuation between them. The place of publication need not be given. If you are citing an edition other than the first edition, indicate that using the form ‘2nd edn’
Book citations should always follow the format:
author, | title | (additional information, | edition, | publisher | year).
- Timothy Endicott, Administrative Law (OUP 2009)
- Gareth Jones, Goff and Jones: The Law of Restitution (1st supp, 7th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2009).
Chapters in books
When citing a chapter or essay in an edited book, cite the author and the title of the contribution, give the chapter author details and title of the chapter, unitalicised in single quote marks, preceding the full citation for the book in which it is - there is no need to give the pages of the chapter unless pinpointing.
Such citations should follow the format:
author, | ‘title’ | in editor (ed), | book | (extra info), | publisher | year).
- John Cartwright, ‘The Fiction of the "Reasonable Man’ in AG Castermans and others (eds), Ex Libris Hans Nieuwenhuis (Kluwer 2009).
- Justine Pila, ‘The Value of Authorship in the Digital Environment’ in William H Dutton and Paul W Jeffreys (eds), World Wide Research: Reshaping the Sciences and Humanities in the Century of Information (MIT Press 2010).
Misc (multiple authors, editors...)
If there are more than three authors, give the name of the first author followed by ‘and others’.
If no individual author is identified, but an organisation or institution claims editorial responsibility for the work, then cite it as the author.
If there is no author, cite the editor or translator as you would an author, adding in brackets after their name ‘(ed)’ or ‘(tr)’, or ‘(eds)’ or ‘(trs)’ if there is more than one.
If no person, organisation or institution claims responsibility for the work, begin the citation with the title.
Cite an encyclopaedia much as you would a book, but excluding the author or editor and publisher and including the edition and year of issue or reissue.
For loose-leaf services, cite the title of the work in italics, excluding the name of the current author or editor, but including names which have become part of the title. Do not give publication details.
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- Last Updated: Feb 16, 2023 3:59 PM
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OSCOLA referencing guide
- Elements of OSCOLA referencing
- General principles
- Order of author’s name
- Source abbreviations
- Page numbers and other pinpoints
- Secondary references
- Footnotes referencing style
Bibliography
- Encyclopaedias
- Government publications
- Conference papers (published)
- Journal articles
- Newspaper articles
- UK Statutes (Acts)
- European cases
- European legislation
- Repeating citations – short forms and ibid
- Need help with referencing?
Author, Title of the Book (Edition, Publisher Year).
John Knowles, Effective Legal Research (4 th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2016).
Footnote with page number
John Knowles, Effective Legal Research (4 th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2016) 33.
Knowles J, Effective Legal Research (4 th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2016)
Note: Only include edition details for 2 nd edition and later. Do not include 1 st edn.
Book chapters
Author, ‘Title of Chapter’ in Editor (ed), Title of the Book (Edition, Publisher Year).
Panu Minkkinen, ‘Critical Legal Method as Attitude’ in Dawn Watkins and Mandy Burton (eds), Research Methods in Law (2 nd edn, Routledge 2018).
Minkkinen P, ‘Critical Legal Method as Attitude’ in Dawn Watkins and Mandy Burton (eds), Research Methods in Law (2 nd edn, Routledge 2018)
Most e-books will have the same pages as the print version, and you can cite them in the same way as printed books. There is no need to acknowledge the electronic format, database supplier, web address (URL) or digital object identifier (DOI).
If resources are published online only, with no print equivalent, then you should follow the guidance for referencing websites.
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- Next: Encyclopaedias >>
- Last Updated: Feb 27, 2023 10:50 AM
- URL: https://libguides.northampton.ac.uk/oscolaguide
Free law study resources
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Create an OSCOLA Book Reference
You can easily create a reference for a book in the OSOCLA referencing style by entering details of the book below
Select a different Source Type See examples
* Required Fields
Enter the Surname and Initials for each Author of the book
You must enter at least one Author including their first initial
Add a 2nd Author
Add a 3rd Author Remove Additional Authors
Add a 4th Author Remove Additional Authors
Add a 5th Author Remove Additional Authors
Remove Additional Authors
Enter the full title of the book
You must enter the title of the book you wish to reference
Enter the year the book was published in YYYY format. If you only know the year of Copyright then enter a "c" before the year eg: c2015
No date was entered. OSCOLA requires [no date] be entered if the Year of publication is not known. If you wish to use [no date] then scroll down and click on Create Reference again to create a reference without a publication date. Alternatively enter the year of publication in YYYY format.
Enter the details of who published the book if known. If the publisher is unknown then leave the field blank and [no publisher] will be added to the final reference automatically.
Enter the edition number of the book. You can leave this blank if it is 1st / first or if you do not know the edition
If you wish to reference a page then enter the page number(s) here
Click the button below to generate your OSCOLA Book Reference and In-line Citation. Don't worry, you can come back and edit the reference if you need to correct or add any information
Example OSCOLA References for Printed Material
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1954). Lord of the Rings . 2nd Ed. England: Houghton Mifflin.
(Tolkien, 1954)
Example OSCOLA References for Online Material
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1954). Lord of the Rings . [Online]. 2nd Ed. England: Houghton Mifflin. [12 February 2015]. Available from: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33.The_Lord_of_the_Rings
Reference a different type of source
Search Support Articles
*You can also browse our support articles here >
OSCOLA referencing guide (Online): Chapter in an Edited Book
- Paraphrasing
- Repeating Citations
- Secondary Referencing
- Bibliography
- Referencing Tools
- Two or Three Authors
- Four plus Authors
- Chapter in an Edited Book
- Editor or Translator
- Author & Editor or Translator
- Encyclopaedias
- Books of Authority
- Cases with Neutral Citation
- Cases without neutral citation
- Unreported Cases
- Cases before 1865
- Judges' Names
- Scot, NI & International
- Parts of Statutes
- Statutory Instruments
- Journal Articles
- Forthcoming Articles
- Working Papers
- Newspaper Articles
- Hansard & Select Committee reports
- Command Papers
- Law Commission Reports
- Official reports
- Official Publications
- Legislation
- ECJ & GC cases
- Decisions of the European Commission
- European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) cases
- Websites & Blogs
- Personal Communications
- Press Release
- Podcasts & Youtube videos
- Insight & LPC
Chapter in an edited book
Below you will find guidance and examples of how to set out a footnote reference to a chapter in an edited book and in the bibliography.
To use a footnote, put a superscript number into your text and then the footnote at the bottom of the page.
Author, 'Chapter Title', in Editor (ed), Book Title (edition, Publisher | year)
12 Justine Pila, ‘The Value of Authorship in the Digital Environment’ in William H Dutton and Paul W Jeffreys (eds), World Wide Research: Reshaping the Sciences and Humanities in the Century of Information (MIT Press 2010)
Bibiliography
The only difference is the author is now listed surname first and you do not include page numbers.
Husak D, ‘Paternalism and Consent’ in FG Miller and A Wertheimer (eds), The Ethics of Consent: Theory and Practice (OUP 2010)
- << Previous: Four plus Authors
- Next: Editor or Translator >>
- Last Updated: Feb 13, 2023 4:10 PM
- URL: https://libguides.swansea.ac.uk/oscola
- Plagiarism and grammar
- Citation guides
Cite a Book in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)
Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper
Consider your source's credibility. ask these questions:, contributor/author.
- Has the author written several articles on the topic, and do they have the credentials to be an expert in their field?
- Can you contact them? Do they have social media profiles?
- Have other credible individuals referenced this source or author?
- Book: What have reviews said about it?
- What do you know about the publisher/sponsor? Are they well-respected?
- Do they take responsibility for the content? Are they selective about what they publish?
- Take a look at their other content. Do these other articles generally appear credible?
- Does the author or the organization have a bias? Does bias make sense in relation to your argument?
- Is the purpose of the content to inform, entertain, or to spread an agenda? Is there commercial intent?
- Are there ads?
- When was the source published or updated? Is there a date shown?
- Does the publication date make sense in relation to the information presented to your argument?
- Does the source even have a date?
- Was it reproduced? If so, from where?
- If it was reproduced, was it done so with permission? Copyright/disclaimer included?
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- Writing Tips
How to Cite an Ebook in OSCOLA Referencing
3-minute read
- 11th November 2019
The Oxford Standard for Citations of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA for short) is a standardized system for legal citations. In particular, OSCOLA is used in UK jurisprudence, so you should know this referencing style if you’re studying law in the UK. But how do you cite an ebook in OSCOLA ?
This can be tricky, since the fourth edition of OSCOLA makes no explicit reference to ebooks. Nevertheless, we have some tips to share.
How to Cite an Ebook in OSCOLA Footnotes
OSCOLA references for ebooks are similar to those used for print books. In fact, if the ebook edition contains the same page numbers as the printed publication, you should cite the source as if it were a print book .
Therefore, for most ebooks, you’ll use the following format:
n. Author Name, Title (Additional Information, Edition, Publisher Year) Pinpoint Reference.
The additional information here can include editors, translators, or any other clarificatory detail. An example of this would be:
1. Arnold Barrister, Life in Law (3 rd edn, PMD Publications 2015) 317.
If no page numbers are available in the ebook edition of a book that is available in print, use the standard book reference format with the electronic edition included before the publisher and chapter/section/paragraph numbers for pinpoint references. For instance:
2. Jane Judges, Jurisprudence (Kindle edn, PMD Publications 2014) ch 1, para 30.
However, if you are citing an ebook that is only available electronically, your citation should end with the web address and an access date:
n. Author, Title (Additional Information, Edition, Publisher Year) <URL> (date of access).
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A citation of this kind would therefore appear in the footnote as:
3. Terry Futurebrain, Law Online (PMD Publications 2012) <www.ebooks.au/futurebrain> (accessed 1 July 2015).
How to List Ebooks in an OSCOLA Bibliography
Like print books, in OSCOLA referencing, ebooks are included in the “Secondary Sources” section of the bibliography. Sources should be listed alphabetically by author surname.
Furthermore, while footnote citations require pinpoint references and a period at the end, you don’t need either of these in the bibliography. As such, we would list the examples cited above as follows:
Barrister, A, Life in Law (3 rd edn, PME Publications 2015)
Futurebrain, T, Law Online (PME Publications 2012) <www.ebooks.au/futurebrain> (accessed 1 July 2015)
Judges, J, Jurisprudence (Kindle edn, PME Publications 2014)
Hopefully, this post has clarified how to cite ebooks in OSCOLA.
US Legal Referencing
If you are studying or working with US law, you may need a different citation system. The two biggest legal citation styles in US jurisprudence are:
- Bluebook referencing – The most established citation system in US law. You can find out more about this system on our blog .
- ALWD referencing – A system similar to Bluebook, but with a few simplifications that may make it easier to use.
Regardless of the citation system you’re using, though, our expert proofreaders can help you make sure your writing is error free.
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Welcome to The OSCOLA Referencing Guide
Oscola referencing.
The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities
As a Law student here at Coventry University you are expected to reference sources using OSCOLA. This Guide is intended to given you examples to supplement the OSCOLA Quick Guide and the OSCOLA Full Guide.
To use the guide, please click on the relevant green tabs above.
OSCOLA Tutorial
Cardiff university oscola tutorial.
Here you will find a short tutorial on how to reference the law using OSCOLA . On slide 18 you will find a comprehensive range of examples of different types of footnotes and bibliography entries.
Download the OSCOLA Guides
The Law Librarian recommends...
- A fully referenced essay example. Here is a link to Dr Steve Foster's example of a fully referenced essay.
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- Last Updated: Nov 9, 2022 11:19 AM
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Quick Links
IMAGES
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COMMENTS
Books · Cite the author's name first, followed by a comma, and then the title of the book in italics - Where a book has a title and subtitle not
Author, Title of the Book (Edition, Publisher Year). Footnote. John Knowles, Effective Legal Research (4th edn, Sweet &
Create an OSCOLA Book Reference · 1. Author(s). Enter the Surname and Initials for each Author of the book · 2. Book Title *. Enter the full title of the book · 3.
To use a footnote, put a superscript number into your text and then the footnote at the bottom of the page. Format:.
Cite a Book in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) ; Contributor/Author. Has the author written several articles on the topic
n. Author, Title(Additional Information, Edition, Publisher Year) <URL> (date of access).
Publication information: follows the title within brackets. Include the publisher and the year of publication, with a space but no punctuation
Referencing using. OSCOLA. Section 3: Books. Updated January 2021 ... edition). • Who the publisher was. What is the reference telling the reader?
OSCOLA Quick Reference Guide ... citation, followed by the Law Reports citation (eg AC, ... Books. Give the author's name in the same form as in the.
OSCOLA: Quick Reference Guide · PDF Icon Full OSCOLA Referencing Guide 4 Edition · PDF Icon OSCOLA Guide to Citing International Law Sources