OSCOLA is a footnote referencing style used in law. It is the preferred referencing style for undergraduate and postgraduate law students at the University of Oxford. OSCOLA is also used by some other universities in the UK.
OSCOLA citations are placed in footnotes at the bottom of the page. The footnote number is a superscript number that appears in the text after the relevant punctuation mark. For example, if you are quoting a sentence from a book, the footnote number would appear after the full stop at the end of the sentence.
The format of an OSCOLA citation varies depending on the type of source being cited. Here are some examples:
Cases: Cases are cited by the name of the parties, the neutral citation, and the Law Reports citation. For example:
Smith v Jones [2023] EWHC 1234 (QB)
Acts: Acts are cited by the short title of the Act, the year of the Act, and the chapter number. For example:
The Equality Act 2010
Books: Books are cited by the author's name, the title of the book, the publisher, the year of publication, and the page number(s). For example:
John Smith, _The Law of Contract_ (Sweet & Maxwell, 2022) at 100
Journals: Journal articles are cited by the author's name, the title of the article, the name of the journal, the volume number, the issue number, the year of publication, and the page number(s). For example:
Jane Doe, 'The Law of Torts' (2023) 123 Law Quarterly Review 456
Websites: Websites are cited by the author's name (if available), the title of the website, the URL, the date of access, and the page number(s) (if applicable). For example:
John Smith, 'The Law of Contract' (www.law.com, accessed 2023-05-02) at 100
The full OSCOLA referencing style guide can be found here: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf
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