Blue book legal definition of blue book legal dictionary. The tarlton law library s physical facility, including special collections, is closed until further notice. Used for generations by all fields of the legal profession, the bluebook, currently in its 19th edition, is the accepted style guide in the u. The whitepages are the indepth rules of citation and style. Becoming familiar with its rules is essential for your legal career.
Business law cite legal materials search this guide search. The format has been changed from an inclusive list of periodicals to a more general guide to abbreviating periodicals. Major changes in the 20th edition bluebook 101 library. The white pages expand on the rules included in the bluepages. It hears cases on potential violations of civil or political rights protected by european convention on human rights echr. The database mainly covers law reports and law periodicals, but some legislative publications and major textbooks are also included. Unlike the remainder of the bluebook, which is designed in a style and at a level of complexity commensurate with the needs of the law journal publication process, the bluepages provide easytocomprehend guidance for the everyday citation needs of first. See your bluebook for specific exceptions involving special designations, place of publication etc.
There are too many rules for this introductory guide to cover. A volume that explains the organization of a state government and provides the names of state officials. Guide created by westfield state college ely library. The bluebook requires citation to printed material provided it is available, unless there is an authenticated, official, or exact digital copy of the printed sources. Title american blue book boswell western washington. It includes citation samples of commonly used resources, style and abbreviation guides, and info on using citation managers to organize your research and automatically create cites. The only difference is that the name of the database and the identifying numbers are added at the end of the citation, much like a parallel citation note. It is vital that sources you rely on in your legal writing, such as cases, statutes, and regulations, be cited with sufficient precision so they may be easily found by a reader of the document.
The bluebook is the dominant citation authority governing how american legal documents are cited. Always check for local court citation rules for court documents. Blue pages this guide covers the bluebooks white pages, which provide citation rules for academic papers. It is now in its 20th edition, more than an inch thick, and consists of over 500 pages of guidance on legal. If a journal does not otherwise indicate the volume number but does continuous pagination across issues, use the year as the volume number. The bluebook also has citation rules for legal memoranda and other practiceoriented materials the blue pages, which students in lrwa2 use for their memo assignments. The proper bluebook citation for articles appearing in consecutively paginated journals is volume number, abbreviation of the periodical name, first page of the article, and specific pages cited, if any. This page provides bluebook a uniform system of citation, 19th ed.
A uniform system of citation, 20th ed cambridge, mass. In academic writing, the periodical title is in small caps. Bluebook legal citation guides at university of akron. Cite legal materials business law fiu libraries at. However, the following are rules and examples for other types of legal documents that many firstyear law students may need to cite in addition to cases and statutes. Few books cause law students as much dread, pain, anger, and frustration as the bluebook the bluebook, formally titled the bluebook.
Rules or situations may have changed since this page was last updated. The citation format for newspapers and newsletters is largely the same as for nonconsecutively paginated periodicals. The bluepages section of the bluebook addresses nonacademic citation. Bluepage rules are sometimes different but are always based upon the normal nonbluepage rules. A uniform system of citation, is the style manual for citing to legal documents within the united states. Basic layout bluebook 101 library guides at university. Tarltons librarians and staff remain actively engaged in providing library services. There are 5 primary differences between alwd and bluebook citation formats. A publication that establishes the correct form of case citations or of references to a legal authority showing where information can be found. Short form for periodicals introduction to the bluebook. Bluebooking periodicals bluebooking and legal citation. Georgetown law library provides a great overview of the bluebook and the basic concepts of legal citation for cases, statutes, and other resources. The bluepages provide easy and basic principles for common citations. This court is comprised of judges from each of the 47 coe member states, and are elected to the court by the coes parliamentary assembly.
The bluebook states that if the name of the database is. This book does not cover the latest editions of alwd and bluebook, but it may still be useful. The indigo book isnt the same as the bluebook, but it does implement the same uniform system of citation that the bluebook does. Unlike the remainder of the bluebook, which is designed in a style and at a level of complexity commensurate with the needs of the law journal publication process, the bluepages provide easytocomprehend guidance for the everyday citation needs of firstyear law. Basic format for magazines and other nonconsecutively paginated periodicals. The bluebook contains rules that prescribe how to cite a variety of legal documents. The quality of displayed images is better with cdrom than microfilm. The indigo book is a free implementation of the bluebook method, and is the preferred source for paralegal students at rasmussen college. Kf 245 b58 2015 course reserves see the introduction to basic legal citation for a description of bluebook citation style with examples.
The bluebook is also the mostused style guide for the united states legal profession at large. Periodical citations include no fewer than three typefaces in a single citation. Supra short form use the authors last name or article title if no author along with supra, indicating the original footnote the work was fully cited in and the pages on which the cited. Introduction bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. As men of law rely upon a great number of various sources, legal citation also covers the usage of signals that present. Presents a guide for lawyers for constructing citations, covering the format of citations from a variety of legal sources, including court cases, statutes, books, periodicals, electronic media, and international documents. To find an article in a consecutively paginated periodical, all you need to know is the volume and page, so the bluebook does not require you to include the issue. Do not rely solely on this page to bluebook please keep in mind.
Internet citation bluebook citation 101 practitioner. The white pages in the bluebook address academic citation. The scope ofthe indigo books coverage is roughly equivalent tothe bluebooks bluepagesthat is,the indigo bookcovers legal citation for u. A selection of major foreign language law publications is also included. It provides a system of rules for legal citations so that readers can locate the sources cited.
Generations of law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other legal professionals have relied on the bluebooks unique system of citation in their writing. The proper bluebook citation for articles appearing in consecutively paginated journals is volume number, abbreviation of the periodical name, first page of the article, and specific pages cited, if any volume. The subpages under the periodicals tab correspond to each of these elements and provides the specific bluebook rules for each. The european court of human rights ecthr is the judicial body of the council of europe. In your first year you will be writing legal memoranda and briefs, therefore you will follow the examples in the bluepages.
A uniform system of citation is apuss preferred citation format for legal writing. Your professor or court system may have special rules. A bluebook guide for law students suffolk university. The citation formats for these sources have been updated to reflect their unique breakdown of information. Legal citation, like most other citation systems, privileges the name of the author, which appears first in any citation of which it is a part. Legislative, administrative, and executive materials are also cited just as their print counterparts are, according to bluebook rule 18. Guide to foreign and international legal citations, nyu law library. The periodical citation rules, the rules for journals, magazines, and newspaper articles, are in r16 starting on page 159 of your bluebook. Contributor names boswell, harry james, 1874 from old catalog. The bluepages section located at the start of the bluebook is a miniguide to court documents andor legal memoranda. From the american association of law libraries, this website clearly explains all of the parts to a legal citation.
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