In the UK, the main legal referencing system is OSCOLA. With this system, you need to list all sources you’ve cited at the end of your document. Hence, in this post, we look at how to format an OSCOLA bibliography.
Short answer: Yes, but check your style guide for specifics.
Technically, the fourth edition of OSCOLA says that ‘shorter works, such as articles and essays, generally only require footnotes.’ However, most universities want you to demonstrate your ability to cite sources, so it’s usually best to include a full bibliography.
The basic structure of an OSCOLA bibliography includes three things:
As you might expect, the tables of cases and legislation are where you list case reports and legislative documents cited in your work. The bibliography, meanwhile, is where you should list all other sources.
Cases and legislation are listed in separate tables. If you have many sources, you may want to distinguish between jurisdictions, too (e.g. having separate tables for ‘UK Cases’ and ‘EU Cases’). Rules for listing sources include:
Some versions of this system include all legal sources under a ‘Table of Authorities’. If you take this approach, divide the table into separate sections for cases, legislation and statutory instruments.
An OSCOLA bibliography lists all secondary sources, including books, articles and online resources, alphabetically by author surname. Entries in the bibliography are similar to footnotes, but the format differs slightly:
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As such, if the footnote citation for a book looked like the following:
1. Bill O’Rights, Constitutional Protection (2nd edn, Hodder & Fouslon 1998) 245.
The equivalent entry in the bibliography would be:
O’Rights, B, Constitutional Protection (2nd edn, Hodder & Fouslon 1998)
Sources with no named author, meanwhile, go at the start of the bibliography, with a double em dash (i.e. ‘——’) in place of the author’s name.
It’s good to keep a working bibliography as you write, adding an entry each time you cite something new. This will ensure you don’t miss any sources.
While OSCOLA is used in the UK, it is not the standard referencing system in Australia. Thus, if you’re writing about Australian law, check out our posts on AGLC referencing. And if you need anyone to check the referencing in a document, try our proofreading today.
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