Bluebook

This article is about the legal citation style guide. For other uses, see Blue book (disambiguation).
The Bluebook
Cover of the 18th edition
SubjectLegal citations
Published1926–present
PublisherHarvard Law Review
Columbia Law Review
University of Pennsylvania Law Review
Yale Law Journal
OCLC910917659
Websitelegalbluebook.com
Style guides

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (commonly known as the Blue Book or Harvard Citator[1]) is a style guide that prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. It is taught and used at a majority of U.S. law schools and is also used in a majority of federal courts. Legal publishers also use several "house" citation styles in their works.

The Bluebook is compiled by the Harvard Law Review Association, the Columbia Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Currently, it is in its 21st edition (published July 2020). Its name was first used for the 6th edition (1939).[1] Opinions have differed regarding its origins at Yale and Harvard Law Schools, with the latter long claiming credit.[2]

The Supreme Court uses its own unique citation style in its opinions, even though most of the justices and their law clerks obtained their legal education at law schools that use The Bluebook.[3] Furthermore, many state courts have their own citation rules that take precedence over the guide for documents filed with those courts. Some of the local rules are simple modifications to The Bluebook system. Delaware's Supreme Court has promulgated rules of citation for unreported cases markedly different from its standards, and custom in that state as to the citation format of the Delaware Uniform Citation code[4] also differs from it.[5] In other states, the local rules differ from The Bluebook in that they use their own style guides. Attorneys in those states must be able to switch seamlessly between citation styles depending upon whether their work product is intended for a federal or state court. California has allowed citations in Bluebook as well as the state's own style manual,[6] but many practitioners and courts continue recommending the California Style Manual.[7]

An online-subscription version of The Bluebook was launched in 2008.[8] A mobile version was launched in 2012 within the Rulebook app, which enables access for legal professionals to federal or state court rules, codes, and style manuals on iPad, and other mobile devices.[9]

  1. ^ a b Cooper 1982, p. 21.
  2. ^ Liptak, Adam "Yale Finds Error in Legal Stylebook: Harvard Did Not Create It" The New York Times, December 7, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  3. ^ Salmon, Susie (2016). "Shedding the Uniform: Beyond 'A Uniform System of Citation' to a More Efficient Fit". Marquette Law Review. 99. Milwaukee: Marquette University: 792. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  4. ^ Rohrbacher, Blake "Delaware Uniform Citation" 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  5. ^ Rule 14(g) Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware.
  6. ^ Cal. Rule of Court 1.200
  7. ^ Salmon, Susie (2016). "Shedding the Uniform: Beyond 'A Uniform System of Citation' to a More Efficient Fit". Marquette Law Review. 99. Milwaukee: Marquette University: 791. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  8. ^ The Bluebook Legal Citation Guide Now Available Online, Yale Law School, (Feb. 22, 2008) (archived from original Oct. 9, 2013).
  9. ^ Law Librarianship in the Digital Age 142 (Ellyssa Kroski ed. 2013); Gabriella Khorasanee, There's An App For That: Top 10 Apps for Law Students, Findlaw.com, (Aug. 23, 2013) (archived from original Dec. 6, 2013).