5th edition of OSCOLA receives The Wallace Breem Memorial Award 2026

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Preview of the book cover for the Fifth Edition of OSCOLA. The graphic reads 'OSCOLA, The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities, Fifth Edition, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford

The Faculty of Law is delighted to announce that Professor James Goudkamp and colleagues have been awarded the Wallace Breem Memorial Award 2026 in recognition of their work on the fifth edition of OSCOLA (the Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities).

Presented every two years and sponsored by The Inner Temple and the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL), the Wallace Breem Memorial Award recognises outstanding contributions to law librarianship and legal information services. The award commemorates Wallace Breem, former Librarian of The Inner Temple Library and a founding member of BIALL.

OSCOLA was devised by the late Professor Peter Birks in 2000, in consultation with students and academics at Oxford’s Faculty of Law. Designed to facilitate accurate citation of cases, legislation and other legal materials, it has become the leading citation standard used by law schools, academics, publishers and legal researchers across the UK, Ireland and beyond. Subsequent editions were published in 2002, 2004 and 2012.

The newly published fifth edition, released in March 2026 by Hart Publishing and simultaneously made freely available through the Faculty’s OSCOLA website, represents the most substantial revision of the guide to date. Edited by Professor James Goudkamp, with Professor Donal Nolan serving as consultant editor, the new edition provides expanded coverage of domestic legal sources and reintroduces a significantly revised section on international law materials. It also brings together guidance on UK, EU and international legal sources within a single volume and addresses the growing complexities of citing digital legal information.

In announcing the award, the judges highlighted OSCOLA’s status as the “gold standard” for legal citation in the UK and Ireland and praised the commitment of the editorial team to making the resource freely available to the legal academic community. They noted the extensive consultation undertaken during the revision process, including engagement with academic law librarians and the BIALL Academic Special Interest Group.

The award citation states:

“Their commitment to OSCOLA is a significant contribution to the legal education and academic law library sectors, which we feel is worthy of recognition by way of the Wallace Breem Memorial Award.”

The judges also expressed the hope that the award would support the development of additional open educational resources to further promote and support the use of the OSCOLA citation standard.

The Faculty warmly congratulates Professor Goudkamp and all those involved in the development of OSCOLA 5th edition on this well-deserved recognition.