How to cite a law review / journal article
Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B16 / R16 · Books, periodicals & other secondary
Example
Fred R. Shapiro & Michelle Pearse, The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time, 110 Mich. L. Rev. 1483, 1489 (2012).
More examples
Each of these is checked against the rules on every change to the tool.
- Donald A. Dripps, Delegation and Due Process, 1988 Duke L.J. 657.
- Thomas R. McCoy & Barry Friedman, Conditional Spending: Federalism’s Trojan Horse, 1988 Sup. Ct. Rev. 85, 88.
- Ellen London, Comment, A Critique of the Strict Liability Standard for Determining Child Support in Cases of Male Victims of Sexual Assault and Statutory Rape, 152 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1957, 1959–63 (2004).
- Note, A Bad Man Is Hard to Find, 127 Harv. L. Rev. 2521 (2014).
- Bruce Ackerman, Robert Bork’s Grand Inquisition, 99 Yale L.J. 1419, 1422–25 (1990) (book review).
What the citation needs
Required
- Author — The author’s full name as it appears on the publication (R15.1; R16.2).
- Article title — The title as it appears on the source. R8(a): capitalize every word except articles, conjunctions and prepositions of four or fewer letters, unless they begin the title or follow a colon.
- Volume — The volume number, which comes before the reporter, code or periodical name.
- Journal abbreviation — The periodical’s name, abbreviated per T13 and T10.
- First page — The page the source begins on. The page you are citing goes in the pincite.
- Year — The year that goes in the date parenthetical at the end of the citation.
When they apply
- Designation — A label that precedes or replaces the title — “Note” or “Comment” for student work (R16.7.1).
- Part designation — The part cited, for an article published in parts: “pt. 2” (R16.7.5).
- Further parts (one per line) — The other parts of a multipart article, one per line (R16.7.5).
- Official abbreviation (foreign-language journal) — R20.6(b): a non-English periodical is given in full the first time, its abbreviation in brackets.
- Country of origin (foreign periodical) — R20.6(a): abbreviated per T10, in parentheses after the year.
- Pincite — The exact page (or section, or paragraph) your point is on — not the first page. R1.2(f): pincites are required except after “see generally”.
- Section — The section cited (R3.3).
- Book-review parenthetical — R16.7.2: a book review names the work reviewed.
- Explanatory parenthetical — An explanatory parenthetical: what the source says or holds, in a phrase (R1.5).
- Database citation — A commercial-database citation, where the source is cited to one — “2010 WL 12345”.
- URL — The web address, where you cite the source online (R18.2).
- Perma / archive URL — An archived copy’s address, such as a perma.cc link, given in brackets after the URL (R18.2.1(d)).
- DOI — The article’s Digital Object Identifier.
- Hereinafter — A shorter name for later citations, given in brackets at the end: “[hereinafter Geneva Protocol]” (R4.2(b)).
In a brief and in a law review
The Bluebook sets citations two ways: the Bluepages for court documents and legal memoranda, the Whitepages for law review footnotes. Here is the first example above as each one prints it, in its typeface.
Court documents (Bluepages)
Fred R. Shapiro & Michelle Pearse, The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time, 110 Mich. L. Rev. 1483, 1489 (2012).
Law review footnotes (Whitepages)
Fred R. Shapiro & Michelle Pearse, The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time, 110 Mich. L. Rev. 1483, 1489 (2012).
The words are the same in both; only the typeface changes.
Common mistakes
Each of these is a citation the checker refuses, with what it says is wrong and the corrected form.
Wrong
Donald A. Dripps, Delegation and Due Process, 1988 Duke L.J. 657 (1988).
Right
Donald A. Dripps, Delegation and Due Process, 1988 Duke L.J. 657.
Wrong
Ellen London, Comment, A Critique of the Strict Liability Standard for Determining Child Support in Cases of Male Victims of Sexual Assault and Statutory Rape, 152 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1957, 1959–63 (2004).
Why
Periodical name should be “U. Pa. L. Rev.” (T13; T6; spacing per R6.1(a)).
Right
Ellen London, Comment, A Critique of the Strict Liability Standard for Determining Child Support in Cases of Male Victims of Sexual Assault and Statutory Rape, 152 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1957, 1959–63 (2004).
Wrong
Note, A Bad Man Is Hard to Find, 127 Harvard Law Review 2521 (2014).
Why
Periodical name should be “Harv. L. Rev.” (T13; T6; spacing per R6.1(a)).
Right
Note, A Bad Man Is Hard to Find, 127 Harv. L. Rev. 2521 (2014).
Wrong
Bruce Ackerman, Robert Bork’s Grand Inquisition, 99 Yale Law Journal 1419, 1422–25 (1990) (book review).
Why
Periodical name should be “Yale L.J.” (T13; T6; spacing per R6.1(a)).
Right
Bruce Ackerman, Robert Bork’s Grand Inquisition, 99 Yale L.J. 1419, 1422–25 (1990) (book review).
Governing rules
B16 / R16
- 16 — periodicals.
- 16.3 — article author & title.
- T13 — periodical title abbreviations.
Build this citation with the generator, check one you have already written, or paste a whole list of footnotes to check them in order.
Related source types
Books, periodicals & other secondary: