How to Cite Law Review Articles

Law review articles are most often used as sources in legal research. The most common citation methods in the US legal field are the Bluebook and the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) legal citation styles. [1] If you are writing a research paper in another discipline, you may also want to use a law review article as a reference. For non-legal research papers, your citation format will vary depending on whether you use the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago citation style.

Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

ALWD and Bluebook

  1. Type the author's first, middle, and last name, followed by a comma and a space. Include the author's full middle name, unless it appears as an initial in the publication. [2]
    • Example: James Wilson Harshaw III,
    • If there are 2 authors, separate their names with an ampersand (&). For more than 2 authors, cite the article with the first author's name followed by the abbreviation "et. al."
    • Bluebook uses a middle initial instead of a full middle name.
  2. Type the full title using title case, capitalizing all words except prepositions and conjunctions. If there is a subtitle, type a colon and a space after the title and then add the subtitle. Capitalize the first word of the subtitle, then use title case. Add a comma and a space at the end. [3]
    • Example: James Wilson Harshaw III, Not Enough Time?: The Constitutionality of Short Statutes of Limitations for Civil Child Sexual Abuse Litigation ,
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  3. Type the volume number for the journal, followed by a space. Add the abbreviated name for the journal, also followed by a space. Then type the first page of the article. [4]
    • Example: James Wilson Harshaw III, Not Enough Time?: The Constitutionality of Short Statutes of Limitations for Civil Child Sexual Abuse Litigation , 50 Ohio St. L.J. 753
    • If the citation is to a specific passage in the article, type a comma and a space after the first page, then the page or page range where the passage appears. For example: James Wilson Harshaw III, Not Enough Time?: The Constitutionality of Short Statutes of Limitations for Civil Child Sexual Abuse Litigation , 50 Ohio St. L.J. 753, 757
    • If you're using Bluebook citation, format the name for the journal in large and small caps.
    • If you need to find the appropriate Bluebook/ALWD abbreviation, go to https://lib.law.uw.edu/cilp/abbrev.html .
  4. Type a space after the last page number cited, then type the year the article was published in parentheses. Place a period immediately after the closing parentheses. [5]
    • Example: James Wilson Harshaw III, Not Enough Time?: The Constitutionality of Short Statutes of Limitations for Civil Child Sexual Abuse Litigation , 50 Ohio St. L.J. 753 (1989).

    ALWD Footnote Format

    First Name Middle Name Last Name, Title of Article in Title Case , Vol# L. Rev. Abbr. Page# (Year).

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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

MLA

  1. Type the author's last name followed by a comma. Then type their first name and middle name or initial, however it appears in the article. Any suffixes, such as "Jr." or "III," follow the middle name or initial after a comma and a space. Type a period at the end of the name. [6]
    • Example: DeStefano, John M., III.
  2. Type the title of the article using title case, capitalizing all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, and other words with more than 4 letters. Place a period at the end of the title, inside the closing quotation marks. [7]
    • Example: DeStefano, John M., III. "On Literature as Legal Authority."
    • If there is a subtitle, place a colon after the title. Type the full subtitle in title case, also capitalizing the first word of the subtitle.
  3. Type the name of the journal out in italics, using no abbreviations. Place a comma after the name of the journal, then type "vol." followed by the volume number. Place a comma after the number, then type "no." followed by the issue number. Place a comma after the issue number. [8]
    • Example: DeStefano, John M., III. "On Literature as Legal Authority." Arizona Law Review , vol. 49, no. 2,
  4. Type the month and year the issue was published. For law reviews, typically only the year will be available. If you have a month, use a 3-letter abbreviation for the names of months that have more than 4 letters. Place a comma after the date, then type the abbreviation "pp." followed by the page numbers where the article appears. [9]
    • Example: DeStefano, John M., III. "On Literature as Legal Authority." Arizona Law Review , vol. 49, no. 2, 2007, pp. 521-552.

    MLA Works Cited Format

    Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article in Title Case." Name of Journal , vol. xx, no. xx, pp. xx-xx.

  5. Whenever you paraphrase or quote material from the source, include a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence, inside the closing punctuation. In the parenthetical, include the last name of the author and the page number or range where the material can be found. [10]
    • For example, you might write: "Despite having no formal legal authority, judges often cite literature in their opinions (deStefano 523)."
    • If you mention the author's name, only the page number is necessary in the parenthetical citation. For example: "DeStefano noted that judges cite literature frequently, even though works of fiction have no binding legal authority (523)."
    • If you merely mention the title of the article in the body of your paper, without quoting or paraphrasing the material within the source, you don't normally need a parenthetical citation. However, you should still include an entry in your Works Cited.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

APA

  1. Type the author's last name, then type a comma and a space. Add the author's first initial, and middle initial if it is available. Type a space, then provide the year the article was published in parentheses. Place a period outside the closing parentheses.
    • Example: Cahn, N. R. (1999).
  2. Type the title in sentence case, capitalizing only the first word and any proper nouns. If the article has a subtitle, type a colon and a space after the title, then type the subtitle of the article, also in sentence case. Place a period at the end.
    • Example: Cahn, N. R. (1999). Civil images of battered women: The impact of domestic violence on child custody decisions.
  3. Type the journal name out in full, without any abbreviations. Place a comma and a space after the journal name, then type the volume number. Both the journal name and the volume number are italicized. Place a comma after the volume number, then type the first page of the article in the journal. Close your citation with a period.
    • Example: Cahn, N. R. (1999). Civil images of battered women: The impact of domestic violence on child custody decisions. Vanderbilt Law Review, 44 , 1041.

    APA Reference List Format

    Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year). Title of article in sentence case: Subtitle of article in sentence case. Name of Journal Vol# , Page#.

  4. After you paraphrase or quote the law review article, include a parenthetical at the end of the sentence with the author's last name and the year of publication, followed by a comma. Place the sentence's closing punctuation after the closing parentheses. [11]
    • Example: Myths about victims of domestic violence may prevent judges from taking it seriously when making child custody decisions (Cahn, 1999).
    • If you mention the author's name in the text, place the publication year in parentheses after the author's name. For example: Naomi Cahn (1999) noted the effects of domestic violence on women's mothering abilities.
    • For direct quotations, place a comma after the year of publication, then use the abbreviation "p." or "pp." Type the page or page range where the quote appears.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 4:

Chicago

  1. Type the author's last name followed by a comma and a space. Then type the author's first name. Include the author's middle name or middle initial as it appears in the article. Place a period at the end. [12]
    • Example: Adler, Amy.
  2. Type the name of the article in title case, capitalizing the first word and all nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adverbs. If the article has a subtitle, type a colon and a space after the title. Add the subtitle in title case, also capitalizing the first word of the subtitle. Place a period at the end, inside the closing double quotation marks. [13]
    • Example: Adler, Amy. "Fair Use and the Future of Art."
  3. Type the title of the journal in italics, without any abbreviations. Type a space after the journal title, then the volume number. Type a comma and a space after the volume number, then the abbreviation "no." followed by the issue number. [14]
    • Example: Adler, Amy. "Fair Use and the Future of Art." New York University Law Review 91, no. 3
  4. Type the year the issue was published in parentheses, followed by a colon and a space. Then type the page range where the article appears in the issue. Close your citation with a period. [15]
    • Example: Adler, Amy. "Fair Use and the Future of Art." New York University Law Review 91, no. 3 (2016): 559-628.

    Chicago Bibliography Format

    Last Name, First Name. "Article Title in Title Case." Name of Journal Vol#, no. x (Year): xx-xx.

  5. Whenever you paraphrase or quote material from the law review article, place a superscript footnote number at the end of the sentence. Your footnote includes the same information as your bibliography entry. List the author's name in first name-last name format, and use commas instead of periods to separate elements. Place a period at the end of the footnote. [16]
    • Example: Amy Adler, "Fair Use and the Future of Art," New York University Law Review 91, no. 3 (2016): 559-628.
    • Use the full page range for the article in your footnote only if you are citing the article as a whole. If you paraphrased or quoted a specific passage within the article, type the page or page range where that passage appears in your footnote.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
      2. ↑ https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/2-800
      3. ↑ https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/2-800
      4. ↑ https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/2-800
      5. ↑ https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/2-800
      6. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html
      7. ↑ http://libguides.dixie.edu/c.php?g=57887&p=371722
      8. ↑ http://libguides.dixie.edu/c.php?g=57887&p=371722
      9. ↑ http://libguides.dixie.edu/c.php?g=57887&p=371722
      1. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
      2. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html
      3. ↑ https://politics.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/chicago%20style%20guide.pdf
      4. ↑ https://politics.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/chicago%20style%20guide.pdf
      5. ↑ https://politics.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/chicago%20style%20guide.pdf
      6. ↑ https://politics.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/chicago%20style%20guide.pdf
      7. ↑ https://politics.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/chicago%20style%20guide.pdf

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