How to cite a foreword, preface or introduction
Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B15 / R15.6 · Books, periodicals & other secondary
Example
Henry M. Hart & Herbert Wechsler, Preface to the First Edition of Paul M. Bator et al., Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System, at xxvii, xxx (3d ed. 1988).
What the citation needs
Required
- Part — The part cited.
- Author of the part — The author’s full name as it appears on the publication (R15.1; R16.2).
- Work it introduces — The work the foreword or introduction appears in.
- First page — The page the source begins on. The page you are citing goes in the pincite.
When they apply
- Editor — The editor’s name, given in the parenthetical with the edition and year (R15.2).
- Translator — The translator’s name (R15.2).
- Publisher — The publisher (R15.4).
- Place of publication — Where the work was published or the event took place.
- Edition — The edition, where it is not the first (R15.4).
- Supplement — The supplement, where the material is in one.
- 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”.
- Original year — The year of the original work, where it differs.
- Year — The year that goes in the date parenthetical at the end of the citation.
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)
Henry M. Hart & Herbert Wechsler, Preface to the First Edition of Paul M. Bator et al., Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System xxvii, xxx (3d ed. 1988).
Law review footnotes (Whitepages)
Henry M. Hart & Herbert Wechsler, Preface to the First Edition of Paul M. Bator et al., Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System, at xxvii, xxx (3d ed. 1988).
The wording differs, not only the typeface: a Bluepages rule changes this citation's text.
Common mistakes
Each of these is a citation the checker refuses, with what it says is wrong and the corrected form.
Wrong
Henry M. Hart & Herbert Wechsler, Preface to the First Edition of Paul M. Bator et al., Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System xxvii, xxx (3d ed. 1988).
Right
Henry M. Hart & Herbert Wechsler, Preface to the First Edition of Paul M. Bator et al., Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System, at xxvii, xxx (3d ed. 1988).
Governing rules
B15 / R15.6
- 3.2(a) — pinpoint pages.
- 15.4 — edition, publisher & date.
- 15.6 — prefaces, forewords, introductions & epilogues.
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Related source types
Books, periodicals & other secondary: