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OSCOLA Referencing: A Guide for Law Students

Last updated: July 2026

A guide to OSCOLA referencing for law students. Learn how to cite cases, statutes, books, and journal articles using the OSCOLA footnote system.

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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Frequently asked questions

How do I cite a case in OSCOLA?

In OSCOLA, cases are cited by the names of the parties in italics, followed by the year in square brackets or round brackets depending on whether the year is part of the law report reference, the volume number if applicable, the law report abbreviation, and the first page of the report. For example: Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562. For neutral citations used in courts from 2001 onwards, include the neutral citation before the law report citation: R v G [2003] UKHL 50, [2004] 1 AC 1034. Pinpoint citations to specific paragraphs use the paragraph number: [2003] UKHL 50 [32].

How do I cite a statute in OSCOLA?

Statutes are cited in OSCOLA by their full short title followed by the year, in roman type without quotation marks: Equality Act 2010. No further details such as publisher or place of publication are required. Specific sections are cited by abbreviating section to 's' without a full stop: Equality Act 2010, s 4. Subsections are cited in parentheses: Equality Act 2010, s 4(1)(b). Schedules are abbreviated as 'Sch': Equality Act 2010, Sch 1. Unlike other referencing systems, OSCOLA does not use a reference list , all citations appear in footnotes, with a table of cases and table of legislation provided separately.

Do I need a bibliography in OSCOLA?

OSCOLA does not use a reference list in the same way as Harvard or APA. Instead, all sources are cited in footnotes using the full citation on first reference and a shortened citation on subsequent references. However, OSCOLA recommends providing a table of cases, a table of legislation, and a bibliography of secondary sources (books, journal articles, and other materials) at the end of the work. The bibliography lists secondary sources alphabetically by author surname. Law schools vary in their requirements, so always check whether your institution requires a full bibliography or relies solely on footnotes.

How do I reference a journal article in OSCOLA?

Journal articles in OSCOLA are formatted as: Author, 'Title of Article' (Year) Volume Journal Abbreviation First Page. For example: Andrew Burrows, 'We Do This At Common Law But That In Equity' (2002) 22 OJLS 1. Note that OSCOLA uses single quotation marks around article titles, the journal name is abbreviated, and no full stops appear after abbreviations. There is no comma between the volume number and the journal abbreviation. If you are pinpointing a specific page, add a comma and the page number after the first page: (2002) 22 OJLS 1, 5.

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