These short videos demonstrate how to use Microsoft Word to insert and manage your OSCOLA footnotes and cross-references.
Use Cite Them Right for guidance on the OSCOLA basics.
Cite Them Right provides tutorials, examples, videos, articles, blogs, and other guidance on referencing and avoiding plagiarism. It also covers related topics such as credible sources, note taking, study skills and student issues. It will tell you how to cite many of the most common source types and then you can consult the main OSCOLA manual (see below) for more advanced examples.
Note: Cite Them Right does not give examples of Scottish cases
The mini guide gives hints on common OSCOLA conventions. Use it in conjunction with the examples in the OSCOLA Quick Reference Guide. You will also need to consult the full OSCOLA manual for more complex examples.
OSCOLA provides guidance on citing EU sources including the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJ), EU legislation, directives, European Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights etc. See the OSCOLA full manual section 2.6.
Tip: In Eurolex select the PDF version of cases e.g. European Court of Justice Reports to obtain the page number as required by OSCOLA.
CELEX Numbers
CELEX numbers are unique reference numbers assigned to EU documents. They were introduced relatively recently and currently there is no guidance for their use in JustCite.
Cite foreign primary resources as in their home jurisdiction but with minimal punctuation eg omit full stops in abbreviations (See OSCOLA 1.4 for general guidance and 2.8 for examples of cases and legislation).
If you are aware of Web sites providing good guidance from other jurisdictions let us know so that we may add them to this guide.
OSCOLA provides a separate section to cover international law sources including: international treaties, European treaties, International Court of Justice, International Labour Organisation (ILO), World Trade Organization, United Nations etc.
If you do not find an example of what you need in OSCOLA try the guides to citig foreign primarly sources. These often include a section on International and European sources but you must adapt to meet the general OSCOLA principles as necessary.
When using Westlaw you may notice citations to WLUK. Please note that this is not a Law Reporter or published series of cases. It is Westlaw's own citation system
For example:
X v Oldham MBC [2013] 7 WLUK 159.
[2013] is the year the case was heard.
The next number is the month of the hearing, so 7 is July, NOT a volume number.
WLUK stands for Westlaw United Kingdom.
The 159 is a sequential number assigned to the citation by Westlaw. It is NOT a page number.
When should WLUK be used?
Do NOT use WLUK if there is a citation to a published series e.g. Scots Law Times, Session Cases etc. or if there is a neutral citation for an unreported case or court transcript. Use WLUK if the only version of a case is in the Westlaw case analysis. Always check Westlaw, Lexis and BAILII.
