To many, citations are a necessary evil. In the scholarly legal world, we generally use Bluebook citation format, which can be particularly painful for FCIL materials. This page also hosts a list of books and guides that can help you master the Bluebook, and some prior year journal orientation materials. Here are a few additional tips before we answer our FAQs:
What's the relationship between the Bluebook and source-pulling?
What are the Bluebook rules on foreign and international materials?
How do I cite a source that is not in the Bluebook?
How do I figure out this abbreviation?
How do I find foreign cases by citation?
How do I find English cases by citation?
How do I find foreign statutes by citation?
How do I find articles that aren't on Westlaw/Lexis?
How do I find cases from the International Court of Justice?
Source-pulling is all about getting your hands on a particular document; Bluebooking is about citing to that source so that other people can find it. The difficulty happens when: 1) a source is published in more than one place, and the source you have does not match what the Bluebook tells you about the source; or 2) the Bluebook does not include that source. You need to decide what is most important - to have a reliable version of that source or to use the version of that source the Bluebook indicates.
This happens a LOT with primary sources - think about the U.S. as an example: when you read a case, you typically read it on Westlaw, Lexis, or free online; but when you look at the Bluebook rule for U.S. cases, it directs you to a particular reporter, which may be found on either one of those platforms or neither of them. Generally, most people probably ignore the Bluebook requirement - when you find a case on Lexis or Westlaw, you just read it and cite to the reporter citation listed on the database; you do not often worry about whether the underlying PDF of the original reporter is there. But when it comes to source-pulling, we usually do care about the underlying PDF.
When you are source-pulling for a journal, we often want to search for the title of the source on Google first - this is a good way to find many sources, but very frequently what is available for free online does NOT match the Bluebook rule. So how do we handle this? I have two suggestions:
Ultimately, your choice of source is up to you and your journal editors.
Depending on the source, you may use: Rule 20 (Foreign Materials), Rule 21 (International Materials), Table 2 (Foreign Jurisdictions), Table 3 (Intergovernmental Organizations), Table 4 (Treaty Sources), and Table 5 (Arbitral Reporters). The rules should be broad and apply to multiple source types, while the tables contain more specific information. Note that Table 2 is online only, but it's free.
If a source is not reflected in these rules and tables, then you should use the closest equivalent rule for guidance. For example, to cite an article from a non-U.S. law review, you may look at Rule 20 (Non-English-Language and Foreign Periodicals) and Rule 16 (Periodical Materials).
Use a specialty source on abbreviations. The easiest to access is Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations, which is free online. We have a few print books on abbreviations in the reference collection on the 5th floor of the library by the Reference Desk, like the World Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations and Prince's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations.
You may also want to try some of the Bluebook Tables or simply Google it.
If you are starting with a known citation, see What's the relationship between the Bluebook and source-pulling? for guidance on when to Google v. Bluebook.
For additional guidance on finding sources when you have some or limited publication information: Use a research guide, which will tell you about the country, including where it's materials are published. I recommend either Foreign Law Guide, a library subscription, or GlobaLex, a free source. There are some differences between these sources in terms of coverage and currency so you may need to check both. Be sure to check the date the entry was last updated.
You may also find a case in a specialty database. See also, How do I find translations?
More recent cases are found online. For fastest access, try googling the case first to see if it's freely available. If it's not in the first few results, escalate your search to a library database with UK materials. Each database may have different coverage; I recommend you check in this order:
vLex Justis (be sure to select UK as jurisdiction)
Westlaw UK (use the same login as you normally do for Westlaw)
Lexis+ (International Materials)
Westlaw Edge (international Materials)
We do have a large collection of historical case reporters in print; contact a reference librarian for assistance. See the Bodleian Libraries guide on UK case citations for a more detailed explanation.
If you are starting with a known citation, see What's the relationship between the Bluebook and source-pulling? for guidance on when to Google v. Bluebook.
For additional guidance on finding sources when you have some or limited publication information: Sse a research guide, which will tell you about the country, including where it's materials are published. I recommend either Foreign Law Guide, a library subscription, or GlobaLex, a free source. There are some differences between these sources in terms of coverage and currency so you may need to check both. Be sure to check the date the entry was last updated.
Google is your best friend here as it can crawl the vast multitude of UN materials online. If you have a UN symbol (like A/RES/70/1 or ST/SGB/2003/13), try the Official Document System (ODS). For more help, see the UN Digital Library, the GlobaLex guide to UN materials, or ask a reference librarian.
Treaties are typically published in book series, similarly to case reporters, so the key is finding the right reporter when you have only the name or figuring out the abbreviation to the treaty publication and where it lives (only some are free online).
If the U.S. is a party, I would start with HeinOnline's U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library. This will usually give you the Bluebook preferred source.
If the treaty is a part of an international organization, like the UN or the ILO or the WTO, then check the website of the organization first.
Most treaties can be found via a Google search or through these strategies.
For any article, I would start by checking Google Scholar - if you hit a paywall, search by the name of the article on the law library website. If that has no results, search for the name of the journal as we might have access in a database that does not allow full-text searching (or in print only).
Check the university library in both of these ways. If the law library does not have it and the university does not have it, it would need to be an ILL (an interlibrary loan) - each journal has their own ILL submittal procedures so ask your editor. If this is not for a journal, find all ILL information for current law students here.
The ICJ's website is wonderful for current and historical cases.
For commercial arbitration, awards are typically private and can only be found in specialty sources. See our arbitration databases; Kluwer Arbitration tends to have the most coverage whether the case is international or domestic.
For investment arbitration or state arbitrations, those are typically public government documents and can be found on the websites of the arbitral body (for example, ICSID).
Foreign court dockets and their associated filings are typically private in almost every jurisdiction outside of the U.S., but it depends on the court and the subject matter of the dispute. The best option is to check the website for the court you are interested in to see what is available. Your Bloomberg Law account may give you some coverage (primarily of the UK), but the years of coverage vary widely and are typically limited to the docket sheet and not the filings. Check the Docket Coverage list within Bloomberg for details.
For international courts, like the ICJ or the ICC, check the institution's websites. These are more likely to have dockets and the associated filings.
Here are some orientation materials for the Fordham International Law Journal from the summer of 2021 that provide more detail on source-pulling and citation.
