INTRODUCTION

TO THE
BLUEBOOK

Sue Altmeyer, Law Review, July 29, 2017

Different Formats for Briefs v.
Law Review Footnotes
Inside Front Cover: Quick
Reference
Index
White Pages
Rule 10, Tables T.1, T.6, T.7, T.8

CASES
• In law review Under Erie Railroad
text, italicize case v. Tompkins, 304
names, but in U.S. 64 (1938), the
footnotes don’t. court must apply
Oregon law.

• In a citation,
abbreviate more Erie R.R. v.
of the case name. Tompkins, 304 U.S.
R.10.2. Apply 64 (1938).
10.2.1 AND 10.2.2 (law review footnote)
(T.6 and 10)
Tables • Table 1- U.S. Jurisdictions – for
the Reporter
• Table 6 – Case Name abrev. in
Citations
• Table 7 – Court abbreviations
• Table 10 - Geographic Terms in
case citations (case names
10.2.2 and 10.4 court and
jurisdiction)
Short Form • Use if case cited in same
Citation for footnote or in one of
Cases preceding 5 footnotes
R. 10.9
1Brown v. Helvering, 291 U.S.
193, 203 (1934).
2 Id. at 203.
3 United Statesv. Wilson, 503
U.S. 329 (1992).
4 Brown, 291 U.S. at 203.
 R.12

STATUTES
Federal Cite to the official U.S.
Statutes Code, if therein

42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2012).

Otherwise, cite to U.S.C.S.

or U.S.C.A.
 State • Table T1 to identify the
Statutes appropriate state code
and its abbreviation

• Same format rules for

citing to federal statutes
– Parking Authority Law,
53 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§
5501-5517 (2015).
 R. 15
BOOKS
 MATTHEW J. WILSON, HIROSHI FUKURAI &
TAKASHI MARUTA, JAPAN AND CIVIL JURY
TRIALS: THE CONVERGENCE OF FORCES
45 (2015).

• ET. AL.
• AUTHOR AND TITLE IN LARGE AND SMALL CAPS.
• Only include publisher if not original publisher
• Some books have special citation formats, ex. 17
AM. JUR. 2D Contracts § 74 (2017)
 Supra & • Use for books, law review
Hereinafter articles
R. 4.2 • Do NOT use for cases,
statutes, Constitutions,
regulations

• Use Id. if, appropriate (R.

4.1)
• Otherwise can use supra
Supra 1MATTHEW J. WILSON, HIROSHI
FUKURAI & TAKASHI MARUTA,
JAPAN AND CIVIL JURY TRIALS:
THE CONVERGENCE OF FORCES
45 (2015).
2 Id. at 203.
…

30 WILSON, ET AL., supra note 1.

 R. 16, T.13

LAW REVIEW
ARTICLES
Bernadette Bollas Genetin,The
Supreme Court's New Approach to
Personal Jurisdiction, 68 SMU L.
REV. 107, 110 (2015).

• Title as it appears on the title page

• T10 and T13 to abbreviate names of periodicals
• Bluebook Quick Reference Guide for
abbreviations
 Consecutively Paginated Work
Volume 1

Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4

Pages Pages Pages Pages

1- 250 251- 500 501- 750 751 - 935
Nonconsecutively Paginated Work

Winter Spring Summer Fall

Pages Pages Pages Pages

1 -87 1-103 1-98 1-123
Nonconsecutively Paginated Work

Barbara Ward, Progress for a

Small Planet, HARV. BUS. REV.,
Sept. – Oct. 1979, at 89, 90.
INTERNET
SOURCES
Bluebook •Print difficult/impossible
requires to find, OR
citing to •Electronic is authentic,
Print official or exact copy
unless… (pdf) of print source
See R. 18.2

•newspapers: online
versions can be used to
replace print. R.16.6(f) 23
Do not need URL if:
• Authentic, official or exact copy (pdf).
(State authentic, official)

• Cite as if to original print source – R.

18.2.1

24
8 C.F.R. §207.3 (2016)

25
Citations to • Author, Title (indicates
Internet location of page in
Sources R. relation to rest of the
18.2.2 website), MAIN PAGE TITLE
(Date, time), url.

• If no date, put (last

visited date) after the url:
26
Sentencing Reform, AM. CIV. LIBERTIES UNION,
https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-
reform/sentencing/sentencing-reform (last visited
Feb. 14, 2017). 27
COLLATERAL CONSEQUENCES RESOURCE CTR.,
http://ccresourcecenter.org (last visited Feb. 14, 28
2017).
 Online Periodicals

Reuters, Trump Questions Lawmakers’ Efforts to Curb

Asset Seizures by Police, N.Y. TIMES, (Feb. 7, 2017, 2:57
PM), https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/
29
2017/02/07/us/politics/07reuters-usa-trump-
police.html?_r=0
Italicize – Signals
– Case names
• short cite
• text
– History (e.g., aff’d)
– Id. & supra
– Punctuation within, but not
after, italicized material
– Title of Periodical Article
 LARGE • Statutes
AND • Constitutions
SMALL
• Periodical name
CAPITALS
Font • Book/Treatises
authors and titles
Word tips • https://word.tips.net/T00053
9_Inserting_a_Section_Mar
k.html

• http://blogs.law.unc.edu/libr
ary/2012/09/13/how-to-
create-the-section-symbol-
in-word/

• Control+Shift+K – large and

small caps
• More Bluebook Info -
http://law.uakron.libguides.com/c.php?g=495
110&p=3387943

• Ask the reference librarians your specific

questions!

• Longer Bluebook session and Tabbing party

on August 9, at 5:30 p.m.