Frequently Asked Questions about OSCOLA
Here are some frequently asked questions about OSCOLA. They include questions about sources that are not included in this edition of OSCOLA.
If you have unanswered questions, please email Sandra Meredith.
The 4th edition doesn't say anything about speeches or memos. Any suggestions?
Which journals use square brackets in the citation?
Why does OSCOLA have some examples with full-stops and some without?
The 4th edition doesn't say anything about speeches or memos. Any suggestions?
There's an example in the 'general principles' for 'other secondary sources' in oscola 4th edn, in the middle of page 39 — a speech by Lord Bingham. Here's another example:
Stavros Dimas, EU Environment Commissioner, 'Improving Environmental Quality through Carbon Trading' (Speech at the Carbon Expo Conference, Köln, 2 May 2007) <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/265> accessed 29 May 2011.
Use author | 'title' | (place and date) | url | date of access
See this document for a more complete answer to this question; it includes information about Endnote.
Which journals use square brackets in the citation?
Journals that use the year rather than a consecutive number to identify the volume have the year shown in square brackets, as shown in the following citation: J Ip, 'The Rise and Spread of the Special Advocate' [2008] Public Law 717.
A partial list of square bracket journals:
- Acta Juridica
- British Tax Review
- Criminal Law Review
- International Family Law
- Journal of Business Law
- Journal of Planning and Environment Law
- Journal of Personal Injury Litigation
- Legal Action
- Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
- Public Law
- Private Client Business.
Note: Some journals change from consecutive volume numbers to year identification (eg Cambridge Law Journal used the year from 1954 to 1967).
Why does OSCOLA have some examples with full-stops and some without? References on the back cover and the Quick Reference Guide have no full stops, but on page 5, [2009] UKHL 5, [2009] AC 564 does have a full stop.
Answer: OSCOLA, section 1.1 says: 'Close footnotes with a full stop (or question or exclamation mark)'. Examples in OSCOLA that begin with a footnote number end with a full stop. The other examples simply show how to cite a particular reference.
