Skip to Main Content
DMU Home DMU Home
LLS logo

Referencing and Evaluating legal materials: Law referencing

Law Referencing Guide

The Law School at De Montfort University has produced the DMU guide to footnote referencing that shows you the correct way to reference using the footnote system based on OSCOLA (The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)

To answer the referencing questions in this guide using the DMU footnote style, open the practice assessment attached under the screenshot below. As you open each tab on this guide, insert footnotes and a bibliography at relevant points in the text using the examples given in the guide.

OSCOLA basic principles

OSCOLA oddities

A few points to note about footnotes;

  • Footnotes are numbered continuously through your document, starting at 1.
  • If you mention a source more than once, simply carry on with the next number i.e. do not repeat the number you have used the first time.
  • In a footnote, the authors' first name or initial(s) precede their surname.

A few points to note about the bibliography;

  • The bibliography is arranged in alphabetical order by author's surname
  • Your bibliography does not include Cases nor Legislation.

test