OSCOLA Citation Generator

Your OSCOLA citations

Enter the case name and its neutral citation, law report or court to see your footnotes.

How to Use the OSCOLA Citation Generator

1. 1. Choose the source and the edition. Pick a case, an Act, a statutory instrument or Hansard, then the 5th edition (2026) or the 4th (2012). Your faculty's guide says which one it expects.
2. 2. Copy the citation details from the judgment or the Act. For a case, take the name, the neutral citation, the best law report and the paragraph you rely on. For an Act, take the short title and year and the section. For Hansard, take the date, volume and column.
3. 3. Add a pinpoint. Paragraphs go in square brackets, pages stand alone, and a judge's name goes in brackets at the end when you quote.
4. 4. Copy the footnote. Italics survive the paste into Word or Google Docs. The later footnote points back with (n 1) once you give the first footnote's number.

OSCOLA 4th and 5th Edition: What Changed

OSCOLA, the Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities, is published free by the Oxford Faculty of Law at law.ox.ac.uk/oscola. The 5th edition appeared in March 2026 and many law schools are moving to it for 2026–27, while others finished the last academic year on the 4th. The rules for a UK case, Act or debate are almost the same; the differences below are the ones this generator applies.

How OSCOLA Cites a UK Case

A case citation has three parts: the name in italics, the medium neutral citation, and the best law report, with a comma between the last two. Judgments carry a neutral citation from 2001 — year, court, number — and every paragraph in them is numbered, so the pinpoint is a paragraph in square brackets: [21]. A range takes an en dash and both paragraph numbers are kept in full: [34]–[37].

Choose the report in this order: the Law Reports (AC, QB, Ch, Fam), then the Weekly Law Reports (WLR) or the All England Law Reports (All ER), then a specialist series. A case before 2001 has no neutral citation, so the court goes in brackets after the report — (HL), (CA), (QBD) — and a page pinpoint follows with no comma. OSCOLA drops the case name from a footnote when your sentence already names the case, and it leaves full stops out of abbreviations: UKHL, not U.K.H.L.

OSCOLA Citation Examples

A recent case with a neutral citation

Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, decided by the Supreme Court in 2018, with a pinpoint to paragraph 21 of Lord Reed's judgment (first cited in footnote 1):

An older case with a law report only

Donoghue v Stevenson, decided by the House of Lords in 1932, pinpointed to page 580 (first cited in footnote 12). There is no neutral citation, so the court identifier follows the report and the page follows the identifier:

Acts and statutory instruments

An Act is cited by its short title and year, a comma and the provision, with the abbreviations s, ss, sch and pt. A short form goes in brackets after the first citation so later footnotes can use it alone. An older Act can carry its regnal year and chapter — check the calendar year with the Regnal Year Converter.

A statutory instrument is cited by its title and year, then its SI number, then the provision; Scottish instruments use SSI and Northern Ireland rules use SR.

Hansard

Hansard is cited by house, Deb, the full date, volume and column. Churchill's first speech as Prime Minister, in the Commons on 13 May 1940, is the debate headed His Majesty's Government, and it runs over columns 1501 to 1525 of volume 360; OSCOLA shortens the range to 1501–25. The 4th edition adds W after the column number of a Commons written answer (505W) and WA before the column of a Lords one (WA261).

Subsequent Citations and Tables

After the full citation, a later footnote gives the short name of the case, italicised, and a cross-reference in brackets — Robinson (n 1) — then the new pinpoint. Under the 4th edition you may write ibid when the previous footnote cites the same source, but you must not alternate between ibid and (n 1) in the same work. A longer work such as a thesis also carries a table of cases and a table of legislation, in which case names are not italicised. Primary sources go in those tables, not in the bibliography.

Common Mistakes

• Putting full stops in abbreviations. OSCOLA writes UKSC, AC, ex p and ss without them.
• Round brackets round a paragraph number. A paragraph pinpoint takes square brackets: [21].
• A comma before the court identifier. It follows the report with a space only: [1932] AC 562 (HL).
• A neutral citation made up for an old case. Neutral citations that predate 2001 should never be used.
• Naming the case twice. If the sentence says Robinson v Chief Constable, the footnote starts at the neutral citation.
• Mixing editions. Pick the one your faculty sets and use it for the whole work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you cite a case in OSCOLA?

Give the case name in italics, then the medium neutral citation if there is one, a comma, and the best law report: Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2018] UKSC 4, [2018] AC 736. Add a paragraph pinpoint in square brackets, such as [21], and end the footnote with a full stop.

What is the difference between OSCOLA 4th and 5th edition?

For UK sources the 5th edition (March 2026) stops using ibid, calls the neutral citation a medium neutral citation, writes the High Court identifiers as KBD, QBD, Ch D and Fam where the 4th used QB, Ch and F, puts an Act's short form in single quotation marks, and never starts the last number of a range with 0. It also adds public international law and guidance on generative AI output. This tool applies both sets of rules; your faculty's guide says which to follow.

Do you use ibid in OSCOLA?

In the 4th edition, yes — in the footnote immediately after the full citation, as ibid or ibid 345 for a new pinpoint. In the 5th edition, no: every later citation gives the short name and the footnote number, such as Robinson (n 1) [21].

How do you cite an Act of Parliament in OSCOLA?

Write the short title and year in roman type with no comma before the year, then a comma and the provision: Human Rights Act 1998, s 3(1). Use s, ss, sch and pt, and give the short form in brackets after the first citation if you will cite the Act again. If your sentence already gives the Act's name and section, no footnote is needed.

How do you cite Hansard in OSCOLA?

Use HC Deb or HL Deb, the full date, the volume and the column: HC Deb 13 May 1940, vol 360, cols 1501–25. The 4th edition adds W after the column of a Commons written answer (505W) and WA before the column of a Lords one (WA261); the 5th edition does not repeat that rule, but Hansard prints the markers, so keep them unless your faculty says otherwise. Public Bill Committee debates are cited by the Bill's title followed by Deb.

How do you cite a case with no neutral citation?

Give the law report and put the court identifier in brackets after it, before any pinpoint: Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL) 580. For an unreported case, give the court and date instead: Stubbs v Sayer (CA, 8 November 1990). A case decided before 1865 needs no court.

Does OSCOLA use a bibliography?

Only for secondary sources, and only in a long work. Primary sources — cases, Acts, statutory instruments — go in a table of cases and a table of legislation. An essay or article needs footnotes alone.