Free OSCOLA Referencing Generator

What is OSCOLA?

OSCOLA, the Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, is the referencing style used by most UK law schools. Sources are cited in footnotes, with minimal punctuation and no full stops in abbreviations. Each footnote ends with a full stop.

The 5th edition was published in March 2026. Oxford's list of changes doesn't alter how UK cases, Acts, books or journal articles are cited, so the formats here match both editions. The biggest change is that ibid is no longer used for repeat citations. Instead, a repeat citation gives a short form and the number of the footnote with the full citation.

Citing cases and legislation in OSCOLA

Give the case name in italics, then the neutral citation if there is one, then the best law report. For example, Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd [2008] UKHL 13, [2008] 1 AC 884. Neutral citations exist for cases from 2001, and OSCOLA 5 says not to use ones created later for older cases. Without a neutral citation, add the court in brackets after the report: [1932] AC 562 (HL).

Acts of Parliament are cited by short title and year, with no italics and no comma before the year: Human Rights Act 1998. A pinpoint to a section follows a comma, as in Human Rights Act 1998, s 15(1)(b).

Tables of cases, legislation and the bibliography

Longer work usually needs a table of cases and a table of legislation before the bibliography. Case names are not italic in the table. The bibliography lists secondary sources such as books and articles, with the author's surname first and initials without full stops.

The generator splits your list into these parts automatically. Check your module handbook too, since some law schools only want a bibliography for short essays. Our guide to avoiding plagiarism covers paraphrasing judgments and commentary.

OSCOLA referencing examples

Footnotes and list entries produced by the generator. Case and statute examples follow the forms in the OSCOLA guide.