OSCOLA, the Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, is the footnote citation style used by most UK law schools. The current version is the 4th edition.
Citations go in numbered footnotes, not in brackets in the text. This guide covers the core principles, primary and secondary sources, short forms and the bibliography, with examples you can follow.
OSCOLA in One Minute
Place a footnote marker after the relevant word or punctuation, and give the full citation in the footnote, ending with a full stop. Use minimal punctuation: no full stops in abbreviations such as AC or Ltd, case names in italics and legislation in plain text.
Give pinpoints to the exact page or paragraph you rely on, and use short forms with a cross-reference, such as (n 3), after the first full citation.
Core Principles
- Footnotes: every citation goes in a footnote; the marker sits after the punctuation or the word it refers to.
- Minimal punctuation: no full stops in abbreviations, initials or law report names: "AC", "UKSC", "Ltd".
- Italics: case names are italicized in the text and footnotes; Acts and statutory instruments are not.
- Pinpoints: cite the specific page or paragraph, without "p." or "para".
- Quotations: use single quotation marks; set quotations longer than three lines as an indented block without quotation marks.
Cases
Case name [year] or (year) volume report first page (court) pinpoint
1 Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL) 580.
2 Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605 (HL).
3 Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd [2002] UKHL 22, [2003] 1 AC 32 [45].
- Square brackets hold the year when it is needed to find the volume; round brackets hold it when the report series is numbered by volume.
- Neutral citations, used for judgments from 2001 onwards, come first, followed by the best law report citation.
- The court goes in brackets only when the neutral citation or report does not already identify it. "UKHL" shows the court, so Fairchild needs no bracket.
- Pinpoints to paragraphs of a neutral citation go in square brackets, as in [45].
Legislation
Acts of Parliament
4 Human Rights Act 1998, s 6(1).
5 Equality Act 2010, sch 1, para 2.
Use "s" for section, "ss" for sections, "sch" for schedule and "para" for paragraph, with no full stops. Acts are not italicized.
Statutory Instruments
6 Civil Procedure Rules 1998, SI 1998/3132, r 1.1.
Give the title, the year and the SI number. Once introduced, a well-known instrument can be shortened, for example CPR r 1.1, provided you explain the abbreviation.
EU and Human Rights Sources
7 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data [2016] OJ L119/1, art 6.
8 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [2012] OJ C326/47, art 101.
9 Handyside v United Kingdom App no 5493/72 (ECtHR, 7 December 1976).
For European Court of Human Rights judgments, cite the case name, application number, court and date, or a report series such as EHRR where your tutor prefers it.
Books, Chapters, Articles and Websites
Books
Author, Title (edition, Publisher year) pinpoint
10 Andrew Burrows, A Restatement of the English Law of Contract (OUP 2016) 45.
Chapters in Edited Books
Author, 'Chapter title' in Editor (ed), Book Title (Publisher year) first page, pinpoint
11 Ama Owusu, 'Consent in Medical Law' in Peter Hale and Lucy Grant (eds), Perspectives on Health Law (Northgate Press 2021) 101, 108.
Journal Articles
Author, 'Title' (year) volume journal abbreviation first page, pinpoint
12 Daniel Mwangi, 'Reasonableness in the Law of Negligence' (2020) 40 Journal of Comparative Tort 215, 221.
Websites and Blogs
Author, 'Title' (Website, date) <URL> accessed day month year
13 Sarah Kim, 'Reforming Legal Aid' (Law Reform Blog, 2 May 2024) <https://www.example.org/legal-aid> accessed 3 February 2026.
The chapter, article and website entries use illustrative names to show the format. Italicize book titles; journal names in article citations stay in plain text, abbreviated where a standard abbreviation exists.
Ibid and Short Forms
- Ibid: use it when a footnote cites the same source as the one immediately before, adding a new pinpoint if needed: "Ibid 47." OSCOLA writes ibid without a full stop.
- Short cases: after the first full citation, use a short name, with a cross-reference if the full citation is far back: Donoghue (n 1) 582.
- Short secondary sources: give the author's surname, the footnote number of the full citation and a pinpoint: Burrows (n 10) 67.
- Defined short forms: you can define your own short name in the first citation, for example "(GDPR)" after the regulation's full title.
Tables and Bibliography
Longer works such as dissertations usually begin with a table of cases and a table of legislation, and end with a bibliography of secondary sources. Many tutors ask for these in essays too.
- List cases alphabetically by the first significant word of the name. In tables, case names are not italicized.
- List legislation alphabetically, with primary legislation before secondary legislation.
- In the bibliography, put the author's surname first, followed by initials and no comma, and leave out pinpoints.
Footnote: Andrew Burrows, A Restatement of the English Law of Contract (OUP 2016) 45.
Bibliography: Burrows A, A Restatement of the English Law of Contract (OUP 2016)
Common OSCOLA Mistakes
- Adding full stops to abbreviations, such as "A.C." or "Ltd.".
- Italicizing Acts of Parliament.
- Using author-date citations in brackets instead of footnotes.
- Leaving out pinpoints when relying on a specific passage.
- Adding a court in brackets when the neutral citation already shows it, or leaving it out when it is needed.
- Forgetting the (n X) cross-reference in short forms.
- Omitting the full stop at the end of each footnote.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities. It is maintained by the Oxford Law Faculty.
The 4th edition. Some law schools publish their own quick guides based on it, so check yours for local preferences.
No. Citations go in footnotes, with a superscript number in the text.
Yes in the text and footnotes, but not in a table of cases.
No. Legislation is cited in plain text, for example Human Rights Act 1998, s 6.
Yes, every footnote ends with a full stop, even when it is only a citation.
When the court is not clear from the neutral citation or the law report, such as an Appeal Cases report of a House of Lords decision.
It depends on your law school. Dissertations almost always need tables and a bibliography; for essays, follow your module guidance.