OSCOLA footnotes: ibid, short forms and pinpoints
Short answer
Oscola ibid
Use ibid only when the footnote immediately before cites the same source — never after an intervening citation. Add a pinpoint if the page or paragraph differs: 'ibid [24]'. Once a source has been cited in full, later references use a short form: the case name italicised, or author surname, followed by '(n 4)' pointing back to the footnote where it first appeared. Footnote markers go after the punctuation, and OSCOLA uses no full stops in abbreviations.
Where the marker goes
After the punctuation, not before it. 'The court rejected this argument.¹' — not 'this argument¹.'
Place it at the end of the sentence wherever possible. Mid-sentence markers are permitted where you are citing a specific proposition, but a footnote after every clause makes the argument hard to follow and markers say so.
ibid: the rule and the three ways it goes wrong
ibid means 'in the same place' and refers to the immediately preceding footnote. That is the whole rule, and it is stricter than most students assume.
- Wrong: using ibid when the previous footnote cited a different source. It refers only to the one directly before it.
- Wrong: 'ibid' when the page differs. Add the pinpoint — 'ibid 412' for a page, 'ibid [24]' for a paragraph.
- Wrong: 'Ibid.' with a capital and a full stop. OSCOLA uses no full stops in abbreviations, and ibid is lower case unless it opens the footnote.
- Also note: OSCOLA does not use 'op cit', 'loc cit' or 'supra'. If you have seen those, you were reading a different style guide.
Short forms
After a source has been cited in full once, later citations use a short form that points back to that first footnote.
Cases: <em>Donoghue</em> (n 4) — the distinctive party name italicised, then the footnote number in which it first appeared.
Secondary sources: Bolton (n 12) 47 — author surname, footnote reference, then the pinpoint page.
Where two sources share an author surname or party name, add enough to distinguish them: Smith, <em>Contract</em> (n 8).
Pinpointing cases
Modern judgments are numbered by paragraph, so pinpoint with square brackets: <em>Donoghue v Stevenson</em> [1932] AC 562 (HL) [580].
Older reports are paged rather than numbered, so pinpoint with a plain page number after the first page: [1932] AC 562, 580.
A citation with no pinpoint at all tells the marker you may not have read past the headnote. This is the single most common criticism in UK law feedback.
Pinpointing legislation
Cite the section, then subsection and paragraph without spaces: Equality Act 2010, s 13(1)(a).
Use 's' for section, 'ss' for sections, 'sch' for schedule, 'para' for paragraph, 'art' for article. No full stops on any of them.
The year is part of the Act's name, so there is no comma before it: 'Equality Act 2010', not 'Equality Act, 2010'.
The bibliography is split, and that is not optional
An OSCOLA bibliography is divided into separate lists — usually Table of Cases, Table of Legislation, and Bibliography for secondary sources. Some faculties add Table of EU Legislation or Table of Treaties.
Within the secondary sources list, authors are inverted with no comma after the surname: 'Bolton G, <em>Reflective Practice</em> (5th edn, SAGE 2018)'. That is different from the footnote form, which gives the name in normal order.
Cases are listed alphabetically by the first significant party name, not by the claimant if the claimant is a common abbreviation such as 'R'.
A worked footnote sequence
¹ <em>Donoghue v Stevenson</em> [1932] AC 562 (HL) [580].
² ibid [599]. — same case, different paragraph
³ Gillie Bolton, <em>Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development</em> (5th edn, SAGE 2018) 44.
⁴ ibid 51. — same book, different page
⁵ <em>Donoghue</em> (n 1) [580]. — back to the case; ibid is not available because footnotes 3 and 4 intervened
⁶ Equality Act 2010, s 13(1)(a).
Trace footnote 5 carefully. That is the step students get wrong: ibid cannot reach back past an intervening citation, so the short form with (n 1) is required.
Frequently asked questions
- When can I use ibid in OSCOLA?
- Only when the footnote immediately before it cites the same source. If any other citation intervenes, you must use the short form with a footnote cross-reference instead — for example 'Donoghue (n 1)'.
- Does ibid take a full stop or a capital letter?
- Neither, unless it begins the footnote. OSCOLA removes full stops from abbreviations, so it is 'ibid' rather than 'Ibid.' — and 'ibid [24]' when the pinpoint differs.
- How do I pinpoint a case in OSCOLA?
- Modern judgments use paragraph numbers in square brackets after the citation: [1932] AC 562 (HL) [580]. Older paged reports use a plain page number after a comma: [1932] AC 562, 580.
- Does OSCOLA use op cit or supra?
- No. Those belong to other citation systems. OSCOLA uses ibid for the immediately preceding source and a short form with '(n x)' for anything earlier.
- Does the footnote number go before or after the full stop?
- After. OSCOLA places the marker following the punctuation at the end of the sentence.
Keep reading
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