Introduction to ReferencingOSCOLA Referencing Style

Susan McGlamery

Academic Support Librarian, Law

Susan.Mcglamery@uwl.ac.uk

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What is referencing and why should I do it?

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• Acknowledge when using someone’s work

• To make clear to the reader that this idea is not your own

• Demonstrate breadth of reading• Support your argument and

make your assignment more academic.

• To allow you, your tutor and other readers to retrieve the documents cited

• To avoid accusations of plagiarism

What is referencing? Why should you do it?

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What is plagiarism?

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Plagiarism

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“Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement.”

(University of Oxford, 2015)

Plagiarism

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• Using someone’s work without clear acknowledgement

• Paying someone to write your essay

• Collusion

• Poor paraphrasing and summarising

• Self Plagiarism

How to avoid plagiarism?

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• Take effective notes

• Don’t leave it to the last minute

• Keep a note of the sources used

• Paraphrase and summarise properly

• Reference accurately

Avoid Plagiarism

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Paraphrasing thoughts

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Your work flows better if you learn to put different authors’ ideas in your own words

You can use some key words and phrases but the key is understanding meaning and significance

Be careful not to change the odd word here or there. Direct quote if you can not paraphrase

Always use a reference

Summarising thoughts

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A brief statement of the main points of an article, web page, chapter or book, known as a summary

Only lists the main topics or headings

Most of the detailed information is left out

Always use a reference

• Distinctive ideas• Distinctive structure or

organising strategy• Information or data from a

particular source• Verbatim phrase or passage• If it’s not common

knowledge• Whenever in doubt, cite it!(Greetham, 2015)

When to cite

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Is it plagiarism if you…

Yes.This is probably the most well-known form of plagiarism. When you copy the exact words from another source, you must enclose them in quotation marks and provide a reference.

1. Copy and paste a paragraph of text from a website without enclosing it in quotation marks and not referencing the source?

Is it plagiarism if you…

No.You can include a table, diagram or image from another source as long as you provide a reference.

2. Copy a diagram or data table from a website, providing a reference for the source underneath?

Is it plagiarism if you…

Yes - this is plagiarism. Even if you do not directly copy the author's words, you must provide a reference when you talk about their ideas.(Questions and answers taken from “Avoiding Plagiarism” tutorial produced by Cardiff University)

3. Use the ideas of another author without providing a reference, even if you write them in your own words?

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• Oxford

• Standard for

• Citation of

• Legal

• Authorities

Referencing for Law: OSCOLA

• footnote style (Harvard uses in-text citations)­ consists of an in-text footnote marker and citation in

footnote (on same page)

• Reference List: check with your tutor

• No full stops and very little punctuation

OSCOLA: how does it work?

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OSCOLA example

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• If you make a legal proposition always give the authority on which that proposition is based.

• This will normally be a primary source (a reported case or legislation).­ If you have stated an opinion on the law then you

might cite a secondary source (textbooks or articles). ­ When making a primary legal proposition do not cite

a student textbook as authority.

What sources can I cite?

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Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd [2008] UKHL 13, [2008] 1 AC 884

Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd

[2008]­UKHL­13

[2008]­1­AC­884

Pre-2001 case, with no neutral citation:R v Leeds County Court, ex p Morris [1990] 1 QB 523 (QB)Pinpointing a specific page: R v Leeds County Court, ex p Morris [1990] 1 QB 523 (QB) 530-31

Citing cases

Party Names

Neutral citation (for cases after 11/01/2001

Law reports citation

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• Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd [2008] UKHL 13, [2008] 1 AC 884

UKHL = UK House of Lords (neutral citation)

AC = Law Reports, Appeal Cases

Guides to legal abbreviations:• Index to legal citations and abbreviations, Raistrick

• Cardiff online guide: http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/

Tip: legal abbreviations

• Law Reports (AC, Ch, QB)

• Weekly Law Reports (WLR)

• All England Law Reports (All ER)

• Specialist law reports (Lloyd’s Law Reports, Industrial Cases Reports, Criminal Appeal Reports)

• Unreported cases: use the neutral citation, if available

Law reports: order of authority

21UWL PPT Guidelines - Version 2 - February 2015

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OSCOLA: citing legislation

Footnote citation not required (all information reader needs to know about source is in the text)

Text does not include name of the Act or relevant section, so you must provide a footnote.

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OSCOLA: primary legislation: general form

Title of statute | year, | section | (subsection) (paragraph)

e.g. Act of Supremacy 1558

e.g. Shipping and Trading Interests (Protection) Act 1995

e.g. Consumer Protection Act 1987, s 2

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OSCOLA: secondary sources:

1. Bookauthor, | title | (additional information, | edition, | publisher |

year)

e.g. Timothy Endicott, Administrative Law (OUP 2009) 16

e.g. Gareth Jones, Goff and Jones: The Law of Restitution (1st supp, 7th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2009)

‘pinpoint’

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OSCOLA: secondary sources

Secondary sources, such book or article must also

be cited in a footnote

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OSCOLA: secondary sources

2. Journal articles (print)author, | ‘title’ | [year] | journal name or abbreviation | first page of article

OR

author, | ‘title’ | (year) | volume | journal name or abbreviation | first page of article

e.g. Alison L Young, ‘In Defence of Due Deference’ (2009) 72 MLR 554

e.g. J A G Griffith, ‘The Common Law and the Political Constitution’ (2001) 117 LQR 42, 64 ‘pinpoint’

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OSCOLA: secondary sources

3. Journal articles (electronic)author, | ‘title’ | [year] OR (year) | volume /issue | journal name or

abbreviation | <web address> | date accessed

e.g. Graham Greenleaf, ‘The global Development of Free Access to Legal Information (2010) 1(1) EJLT <http://ejlt.org/article/view/17> accessed 27 July 2010

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OSCOLA: secondary sources

4. Website

author, | ‘title’ | (additional information, | publisher | year) <web address> | date accessed

e.g. Sarah Cole, ‘Virtual Friend Fires Employee’ (Naked Law, 1 May 2009) <www.nakedlaw.com/2009/05/index.html> accessed 19 November 2009

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OSCOLA: guides & tutorials

Subject guide: Law: http://uwl-uk.beta.libguides.com/law Click on the tab for “Referencing”

• Download online guide and quick reference guide from:www.law.ox.ac.uk/oscola

• Cardiff University information Services tutorial: ‘Citing the Law’ at:

https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/citingreferences/oscola/tutorial/

• Cite Them Right• Databases A-Z, go to “C”: Cite Them Right Online

Any Questions

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Don’t panic there is lots of help available:• Information on your

LibGuides• Contact or book an

appointment with your librarian

• FAQs• Basics tab on Cite

Them Right

Further Help

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Greetham, B. (2015) Referencing and avoiding plagiarism. Available at: http://www.palgrave.com/studentstudyskills/page/referencing-and-avoiding-plagiarism/ (Accessed: 18 August 2015).

Oxford University (2015) Plagiarism. Available at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism (Accessed: 18 August 2015).

References

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