Introduction to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation

Style Guides: A style book or style guide is a resource that directs exactly how to format documents and cite outside sources used for research and writing (for example, MLA, APA). The goal is to create a universal finished product that a practitioner can read through easily. Practitioners read each other’s work so that they can gain a better understanding of their own professional activity. This way, research and writing doesn’t have to start from the very beginning but is just a continuation of the professional conversation about a topic.

Beyond collaboration and the sharing of information, style guides and citation ensure that credit is given when information is obtained from outside sources. Taking information without providing proper citations constitutes plagiarism and a document that lacks evidence or writing that is not researched-based.

The Bluebook: The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is a style guide that is the most widely used system of legal citation in the legal community of the United States. It is typically referred to as the Bluebook. The Bluebook style of citation includes a uniform system used by law practitioners to site case law, statutory law and other legislative materials, state constitutions, the United States Constitution, administrative law, and legal books or reports, journals, magazines, digital/Internet Sources and international materials. While the Bluebook covers both state and federal law, some courts require their own system of citation that takes precedence over the Bluebook system of citation. While the Bluebook includes how to United States Supreme Court cases, the United States Supreme Court writes its opinions using its own system of citation.

The Bluebook can be divided into four sections.

1. Practitioners’ Notes (Blue Pages; Numbered B1, B2, etc.) – If information seems to conflict with the Rules pages, the Rules pages control.

2. Rules of Citation and Style (R.1 – R.9) – These rules cover formatting do’s and don’ts (e.g., capitalization and typeface) as well as general structure.

3. Specific Citation Rules (R.10 – R.21) – These rules contain citation formats for particular sources such as cases, statutes, and law reviews.

4. Tables and Abbreviations (T.1 – T.16) – These pages feature lists of abbreviations for terms that appear in your citation.

The Bluebook must be purchased through the publisher. You can purchase an online subscription that costs about $40.00 per year or the print version which is also about $40.00 for the 20th Edition. In the EGCC Paralegal Program, you will find Bluebook citation information in your course materials for Legal Research and Writing I & II.

Here are a series of podcasts to teach you about the basics of Bluebook citation:

Video Tutorials: INTRODUCTION TO CITATION AND BLUEBOOK:

1. This is a newly updated citation podcast, using the 20th edition of The Bluebook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jDTTFMejCY#action=share

2. This video is for basic case citation, case name format, and reporter information. Rules 10, 10.2, 10.3.1(b).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9FcW9ILQ-I#action=share 

3. This video explains how to add court, jurisdiction, and date information to a basic case cite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T89EMGr3eNk#action=share

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Legal Citation & Research: The Bluebook & Nexis Uni

Susan Maruca, JD, MA

Paralegal Program Director, Eastern Gateway Community College

Overview

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is a style guide that is the most widely used system of legal citation in the legal community of the United States. It is typically referred to as the Bluebook. The Bluebook style of citation includes a uniform system used by law practitioners to site case law, statutory law and other legislative materials, state constitutions, the United States Constitution, administrative law, and legal books or reports, journals, magazines, digital/Internet Sources and international materials. While the Bluebook covers both state and federal law, some courts require their own system of citation that takes precedence over the Bluebook system of citation. While the Bluebook includes how to United States Supreme Court cases, the United States Supreme Court writes its opinions using its own system of citation.

Publication Information

Publication Information: The Bluebook was first published somewhere between 1920 and 1926 and the online version was first offered in 2008. The Bluebook is in its 20th edition. Like all other systems of citation such as MLA, APA, CSE, etc., the Bluebook is revised periodically to keep up with the everchanging ways that the law is delivered to the legal community from primarily print publications to the digitizing of publications for online consumption. The publishers of the Bluebook are: The Harvard Law Review Association, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and the Yale Law Review Journal Company, Inc.

How to Access Bluebook Citation

Legal Community

Generally, the Bluebook is a publication secured by Copyright and is purchased by practitioners in the legal community. An annual subscription including online and print is available for under $40.00 through the Bluebook website: www.legalbluebook.com. Subscribers to Lexis or Westlaw, the primary online databases used by practitioners in the legal community for research, can access information about how to cite legal materials using the Bluebook style of citation.

Students: Nexis Uni

Colleges, universities and law schools have libraries that subscribe to numerous online databases including Westlaw and Lexis. Lexis now provides a student version of its database, Nexis Uni, to subscribing colleges, universities, and law schools. Eastern Gateway Community College is currently a subscriber to Nexis Uni. EGCC students therefore can access this database free of cost through the student’s online library account. For more information about how to access an EGCC library account, refer to your Loud Cloud course menu or the EGCC website: www.egcc.edu/library/

How to Access Nexis Uni through EGCC Library

1. Go to the EGCC website: www.egcc.edu

2. Select “Click here to go to Gateway”

3. Under “Important Links” select “Library”

4. Select “Search EGCC Library Resources.”

5. You can locate Nexis Uni by selecting “OhioLink” or you can select the quick-link “Nexis Uni” under “Other E-Resources.” You may receive an “Off Campus-Access” prompt that asks for your last name and password.

6. Passwords are entered in the following format: first initial capitalized, last name with first letter capitalized, last four digits of your student ID#: JSmith1234

7. Your last name and passwords are case sensitive. Do not use your social security number.

8. If you have difficulty logging in, email [email protected]

9. On the home screen of Nexi Uni, you can select “Help” in the upper right-hand corner of the home screen.

10. Select the folder “Getting Started with Nexis Uni” to review basic features of the database. The “Help” folder also provides information for how to search the database and offers a support page with video tutorials. The direct link for that support page is: https://www-lexisnexis-com.egcc.ohionet.org/en-us/support/nexis-uni/default.page?lbu=US&locale=en_US&audience=all

11. You can also find video tutorials for practically anything that you’d like to do within this database on YouTube.

12. Working with this professional database requires time and practice. Over time and with practice, research skills will develop to the necessary level for successful legal research in college and in the legal workforce.

How to Find Bluebook Citations in Nexis Uni

Case Law

1. Once you find the case you are looking for and select it, you will see the Nexis Uni Citation at the top of the page. Immediately under the case name you can select, “Export Citation.” You will then see a box “Citation Export” and underneath a prompt asking, “What’s your selected citation format?” You can scroll through your options and select “Bluebook” and the Nexis Uni citation will reconfigure to a Bluebook citation.

2. The option “Copy to Clipboard” below the citation allows you to copy and paste the citation into your own file.
Bluebook

citation note: Bluebook Rule 18.2.1 clarifies that it is not necessary to include the URL/Internet address at the end of a citation for official versions of cases or statutes. Therefore, if locating case or statutory law on Nexis Uni, you should exclude web addresses from your citation.

Statutory Law

1. When searching for a statute or administrative law on the home page of Nexis Uni under “Guided Search,” you will be asked “What are you interested in?” You will select “A Publication.”

2. If you know the name of the Code or other statutory text you are looking for, it is easier to skip the prompt asking you to “Search for something specific?” and just type into the “Find publication” the name of your source. As you type, Nexis Uni will offer options as to the texts in the database for you to select.

3. Select “Search.” Select the statute or other legislation you are looking for.

4. Immediately under the statutory title offered by Nexis Uni, you can select, “Export Citation.” You will then see a box “Citation Export” and underneath a prompt asking, “What’s your selected citation format?” You can scroll through your options and select “Bluebook” and the Nexis Uni citation will reconfigure to a Bluebook citation.

5. The option “Copy to Clipboard” below the citation allows you to copy and paste the citation into your own file.
Bluebook

citation note: Bluebook Rule 18.2.1 clarifies that it is not necessary to include the URL/Internet address at the end of a citation for official versions of cases or statutes. Therefore, if locating case or statutory law on Nexis Uni, you should exclude web addresses from your citation.

Unit 4 Assignment: Revision of Factual Analysis for Proper Citation

Grading

This assignment is worth 30 points. Use the attached Rubric as a checklist to ensure successful completion of the assignment.

Deliverables

A revision of the assignment from Unit 3, to add proper Bluebook citations.

Step 1 Read and Review:

“Legal Citation & Research: The Bluebook & Nexis Uni”

“Introduction to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation”

“Proper Case Citation: United States Supreme Court Cases”

View Bluebook Video Tutorials:

“Bluebook Tutorial: Case Citations,” Georgetown Law Library, Georgetown Law, 2019, http://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/bluebook_tutorial/2

“Bluebook Tutorial: Statutory Citations,” Georgetown Law Library, Georgetown Law, 2019, http://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/bluebook_tutorial/1

“Bluebook Tutorial: Law Review Citations,” Georgetown Law Library, Georgetown Law, 2019, http://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/bluebook_tutorial/3

Step 2 Download and Revise:

Download a copy of your assignment from Unit 3.

Revise the document, specifically your responses to questions 3-7, adding proper Bluebook citations.

Upload the revised document.

Tips to Successfully Complete the Assignment:

Do not try to memorize Bluebook citation or any type of citation style. Work with a Bluebook resource next to you and take one citation at a time, taking the time to look up the proper citation format. It will be slow-going at first, but with time and practice, you will get very efficient.

The lessons in this Unit are helpful resources to explain Bluebook citation. Another resource is: “Bluebook Citation 101—Academic Format,” UC Libraries, University of Cincinnati (2019) https://guides.libraries.uc.edu/c.php?g=222758&p=1473412

Rubric Bluebook Citation.docx