As discussed in more detail in the Overview for Locating Sources, 2L staff members on a law journal are typically responsible for editing the citations in the articles that their journal is publishing and ensuring all citations are correctly formatted according to The Bluebook.
This section of the guide covers a few key Bluebook rules that you will need to know in order to do this job thoroughly and accurately. This is simply a starting point, however. For more information on Bluebook rules, see the section below on Need more Bluebook help? or ask a librarian. We are happy to help with Bluebook questions!
The 22nd edition of The Bluebook, released at the end of May, 2025, is the most substantial change to legal citation in at least a decade. While previous editions always attempted to keep up with practitioner and scholar practices of using online resources, the 22nd edition makes fundamental changes to citations in this area that better align with its underlying principle as stated in the introduction to "lead the reader directly to the specific items cited." The following guide from the UW Gallagher Law Library provides a very helpful overview of the changes in the 22nd edition as compared to the 21st edition.
Bluebook 101: Major Changes in the 22nd Edition, University of Washington Gallagher Law Library
(Hint: see the table of contents on the left side of the screen and click on the subtopics for content such as Structural Differences: Comparing Outlines, Changes: Rule 1 to Rule 9, Changes: Rule 10 to Rule 17, etc.)
While many states have their own citations rules (see, for example, the Washington Courts Style Sheet), keep in mind that these rules are for court documents only. Student editors must follow The Bluebook rules of citation when editing journal articles (unless your journal policies direct otherwise).
Before you start Bluebooking a citation, first check to see whether the source was cited earlier in the article. If it was, you may need to use a short citation form (commonly known as a "short cite").
Examples:
Case: Martinez-Fuerte, 473 U.S. at 557.
Article: Ackerman, supra note 5, at 1425.
Book: Schelling, supra note 1, at 310
See Rule 4 for general guidance on short citation forms.
Note that short cite rules vary depending on the source! For example, the short citation form may be used for cases if the case was already cited (1) in the same footnote or (2) in one of the preceding five footnotes. If the case was cited six footnotes ago, then a full citation is required. In contrast, once a journal article has been cited in full, you should use the short citation forms id. or supra for all subsequent citations regardless of how far apart the footnotes are.
The short citation form id. (Rule 4.1) may be used when the source being cited is the same as the source in the immediately preceding footnote. However, id. may only be used when the immediately preceding footnote contains only one authority.
Example:
FN1: Chalfin v. Specter, 233 A.2d 562, 562 (Pa.1967).
FN2: Chalfin, 233 A.2d at 563. Id. at 563.
When a source has been sited in full in the article, the short citation form supra (Rule 4.2) may be used in subsequent citations. Supra is mainly used for books and articles. Do not use for cases, statutes, regulations, or legislative materials.
A supra cite refers the reader back to the footnote where the full citation can be found:
Example: Reich, supra note 16, at 5.
Be sure to check all of your supra footnotes before publication to ensure they still refer to the correct footnote!
According to Rule 16.1, the names of periodicals (including includes journals, magazines, and newspapers) should appear in small caps and should be abbreviated according to Tables T6, T10, and T13. You can find these tables in the back of your Bluebook.
Examples:
Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education = J. of Contemp. Water Rsch. & Educ.
Michigan Law Review = Mich. L. Rev.
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review = Wm. & Mary Env’t L. & Pol’y Rev.
Note that small caps is not the same as ALL CAPS.
To quickly change normal text to small caps, highlight the text you want to change and use the following keyboard shortcuts:
Mac: COMMAND + SHIFT + K
PC: CTRL + SHIFT + K
Rule 18.2 requires citing to traditional print sources when possible.
Web-based sources that share the characteristics of a print source should be formatted like a print source, with a URL appended directly to the end of the citation. See Rule 18.2.1 (ex: news articles, journal articles, white papers, and reports published online).
Web-based sources that are not available in print and do not share the characteristics of a print source (and therefore cannot be cited according to another Bluebook rule) should be cited according to Rule 18.2.2 (ex: blogs, social media, etc.)
Online newspapers may be used in place of print newspapers and cited according to Rule 18.2.2. See Rule 16.6(f).
Examples:
Web-based source with print characteristics:
Fed Trade Comm‘n, Consumer Fraud in the United States 12 (2007), https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/consumer-fraud-united-states-ftc-survey/040805confraudrpt.pdf.
Web-based source without print characteristics:
@LegalRebels, Twitter (Mar. 24, 2014, 10:36 AM), https://twitter.com/LegalRebels/status/448151433222062080.
Rule 18.2.1(d) requires that all online content cited or generated by authors be captured and stored in a permanent setting. Archiving can be archived by using a reliable archival tool (such as Perma.cc), or by saving the web-based source in a fixed form (such as a pdf) and storing the saved version on file with the author or the journal.
Archival links are added to the end of the full citation in brackets.
Example: Rebecca J. Rose, The Law as Justice Gorsuch Sees It, Atlantic (Aug. 5, 2024), https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/interview-justice-neil-gorsuch-over-ruled/679342/ [https://perma.cc/PT32-56LR].
Journal staff members are typically given a Perma.cc account for archiving links. Here is a quick tutorial on how to create permalinks with Perma.cc: Perma Tutorial.
Consult one of these helpful books and guides:
Legal Citation in a Nutshell
Cite Checker: Your Guide to Using the Bluebook
You can also try the Lexis Interactive Citation Workstation trainings:
Finally, you can always consult a librarian! Email us at LawReference@seattleu.edu or stop by the law library to meet in person (a librarian is typically available in the library Monday through Friday from about 8:30AM to 4:30 PM).
