Legal Citation Style Guide

IJILR requires footnote citation. In-text citation, endnotes and author-date systems are not accepted. Choose one style and apply it consistently throughout the manuscript.

Bluebook (20th ed.)	US and Indian sources — the prevailing style in Indian law schools
OSCOLA (4th ed.)	UK, Commonwealth and international sources
ILI (Indian Law Institute)	Predominantly Indian sources

General rules

• Every substantive proposition drawn from a source requires a footnote.
• Footnote numbers are placed after punctuation.
• Use Id. (Bluebook) or ibid (OSCOLA) for an immediately preceding source; supra note [n] otherwise.
• Pinpoint citations are required for direct quotations.
• Case names are italicised; statute titles are not.
• All URLs must carry a date of last access.
• Never cite a source you have not read.

Bluebook — worked examples

Case (Indian): Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, (1973) 4 SCC 225, ¶ 316 (India).
Case (international): Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicar. v. U.S.), 1986 I.C.J. 14, ¶ 205 (June 27).
Statute: The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, No. 26 of 1996, § 34 (India).
Constitution: INDIA CONST. art. 21.
Treaty: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties art. 31, May 23, 1969, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331.
Book: Malcolm N. Shaw, International Law 145 (8th ed. 2017).
Article: Anne Peters, Humanity as the A and Ω of Sovereignty, 20 Eur. J. Int'l L. 513, 520 (2009).

OSCOLA — worked examples

Case (UK): Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL) 580.
Case (international): Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (Advisory Opinion) [1996] ICJ Rep 226, para 105.
Statute: Human Rights Act 1998, s 6(1).
Treaty: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (adopted 23 May 1969, entered into force 27 January 1980) 1155 UNTS 331, art 31.
Book: James Crawford, Brownlie's Principles of Public International Law (9th edn, OUP 2019) 447.
Article: Martti Koskenniemi, 'The Politics of International Law' (1990) 1 EJIL 4, 12.

ILI — worked examples

Case: Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, AIR 1978 SC 597.
Statute: The Indian Contract Act, 1872, s. 10.
Book: M.P. Jain, Indian Constitutional Law 312 (LexisNexis, Gurgaon, 8th edn., 2018).
Article: Upendra Baxi, "The Avatars of Indian Judicial Activism" 29 JILI 240 (1987).

Common errors we return manuscripts for

Mixing two citation styles	Choose one; apply throughout
In-text citation	Convert to footnotes
Missing pinpoint on a quotation	Give the paragraph or page
Case name not italicised	Italicise all case names
URL with no access date	Add the date of last access
Citation that cannot be verified	Check every citation against the primary source — AI tools fabricate case citations