What is OSCOLA?
OSCOLA, the Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities, is the referencing style used in law faculties across most UK universities. Unlike Harvard or APA, OSCOLA uses footnotes rather than in-text citations, and it does not require a conventional bibliography for primary legal sources (cases, statutes), though a separate bibliography is typically required for secondary sources (books, articles).
OSCOLA has its own logic: primary sources (cases and legislation) are cited first, followed by secondary sources. If you need professional referencing support for law essays, GradeQuill's referencing and formatting service covers OSCOLA in full.
Citing cases
Cases are cited in footnotes using the case name in italics, followed by the year and law report reference. The case name is not italicised in the bibliography.
Example (footnote): Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL).
Example (bibliography): Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL).
For cases only available on a legal database such as BAILII: Case Name [Year] Court reference, [paragraph number] <URL> accessed Day Month Year.
Citing statutes
UK statutes (Acts of Parliament) are cited by their short title and year. They are not italicised.
Example (footnote): Equality Act 2010, s 4.
The "s" refers to section; "sch" refers to schedule; "pt" refers to part. No full stop after the Act title, only after the section reference.
EU legislation and international treaties follow different conventions, consult the full OSCOLA guide (available free from the University of Oxford Faculty of Law website) for these.
Citing journal articles
Format: Author, 'Article Title' [Year] Volume Journal Abbreviation First Page.
Example: Jack Beatson, 'The Role of Statute in the Development of Common Law Doctrine' (2001) 117 LQR 247.
Note: journal names are abbreviated in OSCOLA (LQR = Law Quarterly Review; OJLS = Oxford Journal of Legal Studies; MLR = Modern Law Review). A full list of journal abbreviations is available in the OSCOLA guide. Article titles appear in single quotation marks; journal names are not italicised.
Citing books
Format: Author, Title (Edition, Publisher Year) Page.
Example: Andrew Burrows, A Restatement of the English Law of Contract (OUP 2016) 47.
For edited books: Author (ed), Title (Publisher Year).
For a chapter in an edited book: Author, 'Chapter Title' in Editor (ed), Book Title (Publisher Year) first page of chapter.
Citing websites
Format: Author/Organisation, 'Title' (Website Name, Date) <URL> accessed Day Month Year.
Example: Ministry of Justice, 'Legal Aid Statistics' (GOV.UK, 23 January 2024) <https://www.gov.uk/example> accessed 10 March 2024.
URLs appear in angle brackets in OSCOLA, not plain hyperlinks. Always include the access date for websites.
Common OSCOLA mistakes
The most common OSCOLA errors include: using in-text citations instead of footnotes; italicising statute titles (they should not be italicised); failing to abbreviate journal names; including full stops after case names; and incorrectly formatting the bibliography (primary and secondary sources should be separated, with cases and statutes listed separately from books and articles).
For a guide to other referencing styles, see our articles on Harvard referencing and APA 7th referencing. For guidance on law essay writing more broadly, read our article on how to write a law essay.
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