Legal Research Methodology and

Applicable Procedures to Legal Research in

Nigeria

By:

UWAKWE ABUGU, Ph.D

Professor of Medical Law and Ethics Faculty of Law,
University of Abuja.

Being a Paper Presentation at the Virtual

National Workshop for Legal Research
Assistantsof the National Judicial Institutewith
the Theme:
Research as a Tool for Effective Justice
Dispensation

Date: 17th -18th August, 2021

Venue: Andrews OtutuObaseki Auditorium, National

Judicial Institute, Abuja.

1
 Protocol

1.0 Introduction

I bring you warm felicitations from the Faculty of Law of the University of
Abuja.

I appreciate the privilege and great honour of presenting this Paper on this
fundamental area of legal research, to wit; ‘Legal Research Methodology
and Applicable Procedures to Legal Research in Nigeria’virtually,here in
thisNational Workshop for Legal Research Assistants of the National Judicial
Institutewith the theme:Research as a Tool for Effective Justice
Dispensation.

To do justice to this topic, it is pertinent to start by understanding the meaning

of the word Research.

2 Legal Research

Legal research is generally the process of studying the law by searching for
and discovering legal answers to legal questions.1 Legal research has also
be defined as conducting investigation to discover the principles and rules
of law applicable to a particular problem and to discover what the legal
answer is.2

The word legal research is a scientific investigation into a legal issue or

problem and the process of gathering evidence or information for
ascertaining an assumption or verifying some hypotheses. Legal research is
not merely concerned with the technical knowledge of the law. One of the
purposes of legal research is to find out philosophical or policy arguments
in law.

Legal research is an inquiry and investigation made by judges, lawyers, and

legal researchers in the quest for a deeper and fuller understanding of the
true nature of legal problems.It seeks to expound on various aspects of the
legal system, the legislative and judicial process, and the nature and
function of law in society. Legal research is also concerned with “the
understanding and internal coherence of legal concepts and legal reasoning.

1
n2 p.3
2
n1 p.3
2
 Legal research is not a mere description of facts but a purposive
investigation to explain or interpret a legal phenomenon. It goes beyond
description and requires analysis. In this sense, it is a creative process and
involves normative activities. Legal research is diligentand continued
search for the more probably accepted answer to legal questions.

Such search involves the choice of hypothesis, the assortment

ascertainment of facts, their classification, elimination of relevance, the use
of both Inductive and deductive reasoning, and the assertion of a
conclusion. In essence, it involves analysis of facts, ordering of legal
propositions and doctrines, and application of legal reasoning to conclude.

Legal Research essentially seeks to expound the logical coherence of law

concepts and determine and define the terms and presuppositions used in
law.

Legal Research is the process of identifying and retrieving information

necessary to support judicial decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal
research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an
analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and
communication of the investigation results.3

3 Main Functions Of Legal Research

Legal research serves three main functions, to wit;

(i) Exploring a legal problem;

(ii) Critical description of facts and legislation; and
(iii) Explaining or interpreting legal issues and concepts.4

4 LEGAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Methodology is a branch of philosophy that analyses the principles and

procedures of inquiry in a particular disciplineaimed to achieve their
desired purposes in meaningful ways.5

The word methodology also means the trained and scientific investigation
of the principles and facts of any subject. The methodology helps the
readers understand the research methods to discover the truth and evaluate
the results’ validity. Methodology can simply be defined as a systematic
inquiry that provides information to guide legal research.

3
n5
4
Ibid
5
ibid
3
 It also helps the researchers follow a consistent logic in research and
prepare them to meet possible challenges. The methodology is also an
important way to gam reliable and valid knowledge and explore the
relationship between theory and practice.Understanding research methods
will help all researchers conduct and write up their research work
systematically.

5. Research Methods

Note that research methodology is different from research methods.

‘Research method’ usually implies all methods and techniques used to
collect and process the research data. Thus, the methods which most
scholars describe as types are tools or techniques such as a qualitative or
quantitative method. It also includes interviews, case study or surveys.

On the other hand, research methodology refers to the body of methods or

types that guide thinking within a specific field of study. A methodology is
a justification or rationale for the research approach, and it is concerned
with the general strategy or approach of undertaking research.6

It is vital for a researcher to know the research methodology and

understand the underlying methodologies’ assumptions. Researchers also
need to know the criteria by which they can decide that certain
methodologies will apply to certain problems.

Research methodology has been widely defined as the means of acquiring

scientific knowledge. It has also been defined as a means to gather
information and data to achieve a valid outcome.

6. Legal research methodology is simply a way of addressing and exploring

unsettled legal questions or issues. Legal research methodologies are
techniques by which one acquires legally relevant information, analyzes,
interprets and applies them to resolving issues at hand and presenting the
findings.

Thus, legal research methodology is a scientific and systematic way to

solve any legal question. Legal research methodology also refers to rules of
interpretation of legal problems and issues. It is a systematic effort of
making an argument to arrive at a true or accurate account of the subject
matter under consideration.

The researcher should explain properly why he uses a particular method to

evaluate research results either by the researcher himself or by others. The

6
ibid
4
 adoption of a particular methodology should stem from the research
objective and research purpose.

7. Types of Legal Research

It is important to know and understand the different types or methods of legal

research available to legal researchers. In this Paper, we shall consider most of the
types or methods of legal research as follows:

7.1 Descriptive Legal Research

Descriptive Legal research is defined as a research method that describes the

characteristics of the population or phenomenon that is being studied. This
methodology focuses more on the “what” of the research subject rather than the
“why” of the research subject. In other words, descriptive legal research primarily
focuses on the nature of a demographic segment, without focusing on “why”
something happens. In other words, it is a description based which does not cover
the “why” aspect of the research subject.

For example, a lawyer that wants to understand the crime trends among FCT, Abuja
will conduct a demographic survey of this region, gather population data and then
conduct descriptive research on this demographic segment. The research will then
give us the details on “what is the crime pattern of FCT, Abuja?”, but not cover any
investigative details on “why” the pattern exits. The reason is because, for the
lawyer, trying to understand these crimes patternsand the nature of their crimes is
the objective of the study.7

7.2 Quantitative research

Quantitative Legal Research is a characteristic of Descriptive Legal Research

Methodology that attempts to collect quantifiable information to be used for
statistical analysis of the population sample. It is a popular research tool that allows
us to collect and describe the nature of the demographic segment. Quantitative
Legal Research collects information from existing and potential data using sampling
methods like online surveys, online polls, questionnaires, etc., the results of which
can be depicted in numerical form. After careful understanding of these numbers, it
is possible to predict the future and make changes to manage the situation.

An example of quantitative research is the survey conducted to understand the

turnaround time of cases in the high court and how much time it takes from the time
the case is filed until the judgment is passed. A complainant’s satisfaction survey
template can be administered to ask questions like how much time did the process
take, how often were they called to court, and other such questions.

7
Types of Legal Research https://legodesk.com>legopedia>types-of-legal-research> assessed on 10 08 2021.
5
7.3 Qualitative Legal Research

Qualitative Legal Research is a subjective form of research that relies on the

analysis of controlled observations of the legal researcher. In qualitative research,
data is obtained from a relatively small group of subjects. Data is not analyzed with
statistical techniques. Usually, narrative data is collected in qualitative research.

Qualitative research can be adopted as a method to study people or systems by

interacting with and observing the subjects regularly. The various methods used for
collecting data in qualitative research are grounded theory practice, narratology,
story-telling, and ethnography.

7.3.1 Grounded theory practice: It is research grounded in the observations or data from
which it was developed. Various data sources used in grounded theory are
quantitative data, review of records, interviews, observation, and surveys.

7.3.2 Narratology: It refers to the theory and study of narrative and narrative structure. It
also shows the way in which the result affects the researcher’s perception.

7.3.4 Storytelling: This is a method by which events are recounted in the form of a story.
The method is generally used in the field of organization and management studies.

7.3.5 Ethnography- Ethnography is used for investigating cultures by collecting and

describing data intend to help the development of a theory.

7.4 Analytical Legal Research

Analytical Legal Research is a style of qualitative inquiry. It is a specific type of

research that involves critical thinking skills and the evaluation of facts and
information relative to the research being conducted. Lawyers often use an
analytical approach to their legal research to find the most relevant information.
From analytical research, a person finds out critical details to add new ideas to the
material being produced.

For example, examining the fluctuations of Crime Rates of Nigeria between the
years 2012-2021 is an example of descriptive research; while explaining why and
how the Crime rates spiked over time is an example of analytical research.

7.5 Applied Legal Research

Applied Legal Research is a methodology used to find a solution to a pressing

practical problem at hand. It is a straightforward practical approach to the case you
are handling. It involves doing full-fledged research on a specific area of law
followed by gathering information on all technical legal rules and principles applied
and forming an opinion on the prospects for the client in the scenario.
6
 For Example, if your client is an employee of an organization and is fighting against
wrongful termination of contract then the practical approach to this would be by
carefully evaluating the company policies and finding company policies that were
violated and to suing the organization based on those arguments.

7.6 Pure Legal Research

Pure legal research is also known as basic Legal Research usually focuses on
generalization and formulation of a theory. The aim of this type of research
methodology is to broaden the understanding of a particular field of investigation.
It is a more general form of approach to the case you are handling. The researcher
does not focus on the practical utility

For Example, researchers might conduct basic research on illiteracy leads to

unemployment. The results of these theoretical explorations might lead to further
studies designed to solve specific problems of unemployment.

7.7 Conceptual Legal Research

Conceptual Legal Research is defined as a methodology wherein research is

conducted by observing and analyzing already present information on a given topic.
Conceptual research doesn’t involve conducting any practical experiments. It is
related to abstract concepts or ideas.

They are generally resorted to by the philosophers and thinkers to develop new
concepts or reinterpret the existing concepts but has also proven to be a useful
methodology for legal purposes.

For example, many of our ancient laws were influenced by the British Rule. Only
later did we improve upon many laws and created new and simplified laws after our
Independence. So another way to think of this type of research would be to observe,
come up with a concept or theories aligned with previous theories to hopefully
derive new theories.

7.8 Empirical Legal Research

Empirical Legal Research describes how to investigate the roles of legislation,

regulation, legal policies, and other legal arrangements at play in society. It acts as a
guide to paralegals, lawyers, and law students on how to do empirical legal
research, covering history, methods, evidence, growth of knowledge, and links with
normativity. This multidisciplinary approach combines insights and approaches
from different social sciences, evaluation studies, Big Data analytics, and
empirically informed ethics.

7
 For example, Pharmaceutical companies use empirical research to try out a specific
drug on controlled groups or random groups to study the effect and cause.

7.9 Other Major Methods Of Legal Research

7.9.1 Doctrinal Legal Research

The central question of inquiry here is ‘what is the law?’ on a particular issue. It is
concerned with finding the law, rigorously analyzing it and coming up with logical
reasoning behind it. Therefore, it immensely contributes to the continuity,
consistency, and certainty of law. The basic information can be found in the
statutory material i.e.primary sources as well in the secondary sources.

However, the research has its own limitations, it is subjective, that is limited to the
perception of the researcher, away from the actual working of the law, devoid of
factors that lie outside the boundaries of the law, and fails to focus on the actual
practice of the courts.

7.1.2 Non-doctrinal Legal Research

It is also known as socio-legal research and it looks into how the law and legal
institutions mould and affects society. It employs methods taken from other
disciplines in order to generate empirical data to answer the questions.

7.1.3 Comparative Legal Research

This involves a comparison of legal doctrines, legislations, and foreign laws. It

highlights the cultural and social character of law and how does it act in different
settings. So it is useful in developing and amending, and modifying the law. But a
cautious approach has to be taken in blindly accepting the law of another social
setting as a base because it might not act in the same manner in a different setting.8

8. SOURCES OF LEGAL RESEARCH

There are basically two types of sources of legal search which are primary and
secondary sources.

8.1 Primary sources

Primary legal sources are key to legal research because they establish the current
law on whatever legal issue you the researcher is working on. Primary sources of
legal research are mainly the general sources of Law and include:Statutes or
legislation (such as Constitutions, Acts of the National Assemblies, Laws of the
State Houses of Assemblies , Subsidiary legislation ), Treaties, Case laws, etc.
8
ibid
8
8.2 Secondary sources

Secondary legal sources explain or interprete legal principles in detail, or

summarize the current state of the law—giving a better understanding of a
particular area of law. Secondary sources are also useful for identifying primary
sources in the relevant area of research , examples include: case review articles in
learned journals, Practice guides, Legal treatises, r
books by learned authors and jurists , magazines, newspapers , online sources, etc.9

9 Assembling Facts, Legal Issues for Study

In doctrinal research problem for research can be possible by assembling relevant
facts or materials on the topic related to law. The researcher should identify the
legal issues connected to the chosen area. Reasoning shall be done to scrutinize the
connected issues for searching the laws involved in it. Formulating research
problem is the first step in the research process. The researcher should know the
problem in order to solve such problem.10
The initial stage of the research process usually consists of literature research to
find out what has been said about a particular topic, the nature of the problem being
researched (is there a problem?), possible areas for intervention, and a host of other
issues that may have been raised from the research question and sub-questions.
After initial research to understand the answers to some of these points raised, the
researcher can develop a research proposal, which would further clarify the details
of the work to be undertaken.11 A research proposal may be written for a particular
audience, and where this is the case, it is important to follow the guidelines set by
the target audience. A typical research proposal would usually contain some or all
of the following components:
• Abstract – This is a summary of the research, which is usually between 200
and 300 words. It contains a general statement about the area of research,
introduces the problem to be addressed by the research and contains a
hypothesis. An abstract is usually the first indicator as to the strength of a
particular research work/project, and can form the basis for accepting the
proposal. Abstract is written in past tense, in italic and not paragraphed.
• Statement of the Problem – This provides a background of the main issue for
consideration in the proposed research and identifies the problem to be
addressed. Remember that research must have a purpose so this introduces
the purpose of the particular research paper.
• Objectives of the Research – After stating the problem, the researcher must
state how the proposed research will address the problem in a way that adds

9
A Guide to Conducting Great Legal Research <https://www.clio.com> accessed on 10 08 2021
10
Pradeep M. D., ‘Legal Research- Descriptive Analysis on Doctrinal Methodology’ [2019] (4)(2) International Journal of
Management, Technology, and Social Sciences. 99
11
Sope Williams-Elegbe and Edefe Ojomo, n2. 5
9
 value. Such value may be added through the introduction of policy
mechanisms or recommendations, or by adding to the body of knowledge on
a particular issue. Sometimes, a distinction may be made between the
aims/objectives and the significance of the work, the former stating the
importance of the research and the latter its actual tangible contributions.
• Scope – This provides a ‘map’ of what the research work will do and how it
will do it. Usually, the scope points out the areas that the research will
address, and presents a structural ordering of how it will address those issues.
The scope is a very important part of the research as it provides a layout that
guides the writer, and eventually the reader, in addressing the work.
Sometimes, the proposal may also contain a table of contents which provides a
graphical layout of the entire work, depicting chapters, sections, sub-sections and so
on. The table of contents should usually provide all the information about the
content of the work, so that, if properly written, it can guide a reader in making
quick and accurate assessments about the substance of the work. The above
discussion is an introduction to the general concepts that the researcher will have to
contend with when beginning a research project.12

9.2 Literature Review

Searching for relevant literature extensively seems to be in consistent throughout
the study where it starts even before choosing the research problem and continues
throughout the research extending its reach until the process of reporting of research
outcome. The research fraternity has felt the existence of ‘paradox’ connected to
research problem and literature review as ‘extensive literature review highly
depends on the research problem identified for the scientific enquiry whereas
formulating such research problem highly depends on the extensive quality
literature’. Literature review gives more precision to the research methodology by
building knowledge base for the research problem identified. Reviewing the
literature connects the body of knowledge under which study is opted with the
expected research outcome aspired through the scientific study.13
9.3 Analysis
The researcher discusses on the problem of study by referring to the concerned
Statutes, Case Laws, Court Decisions, etc. This part will discuss every dimensions
of the problem by highlighting the impact of law on the social system. The intention
of a theory is to summarize existing knowledge to provide an explanation on the
observed events by exposing the relations embodied in the conceptual framework.14

12
Sope Williams-Elegbe and Edefe Ojomo, n2. 6
13
Martin David W., Doing Psychological Experiments (2nd Edn., Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1985).
14
Pradeep M. D, n17. 100
10
9.4 Conclusion and Suggestions/Recommendations
Here, suggestions are made for the improvement of the Legal System or social
welfare. It opens new avenues for further research. The general comment on the
significance of a piece of research and the location of the research work in the
general body of knowledge will be attempted here. The study conclusion will give
completeness and positive gains to the research work.
9.5 Research Reporting
The information collected through library research has to be presented in an
organized and structured way. The research report shall contain the following
chapters. The research report shall consist of preliminaries, main text and the
reference materials. The Preliminary comprises of title page, certificates,
acknowledgement, preface and table of contents. The main text comprises of the
chapters on introduction, objectives of the study, methodology, main body of the
report, analysis and discussions, findings, suggestions and conclusions. The
reference materials consist of bibliography and appendixes.15

10. Referencing and Footnote System in Research

Referencing and footnoting research has become an integral part of all sorts of
academic writing. The major purpose is to discourage plagiarism and give credit to
the scholars, researchers etc. for their efforts in the growth of knowledge.16

10.1 Referencing can be defined as a method of acknowledging and recognizing

someone for his or her innovative work that the research utilized in his research to
back and support his idea.Referencing can also called citation. A reference usually
includes the name of an author, date of publication, name and location of the
publishing company, title of the journal or name of the book, title of the research or
chapter’s name, and DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for online research information.
Note that referencing is done at two levels in your research work; first you need to
give a brief reference in the body of text known as “In-Text-Citation”, and secondly
a detailed reference is provided at the end of the research work in the form of a
list17as either a footnote at the base of each page of your printed research work or as
a bibliography or list of references at the end research work.18 In legal research both
footnote and bibliography are included .

15
Ibid. 101
16
M. H. Alvi, A Manual for Referencing Styles in Research (Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning, 2016)
https://www.researchgate.net accessed on 10 08 2021.
17
ibid
18
The Footnote/Bibliography Referencing System <https://student.unsw.edu.au/footnote-bibliography-or-oxford-referencing-
system> accessed on 10 08 2021.
11
10.2 What is a Footnote

Footnote: A footnoteis a note (or a reference to a source of information) which

appears at the foot (bottom) of a page of the research work.19There are two types of
footnotes commonly used in writing. They are:

a. A Content Footnote –it is used to provide additional information or reference that

simplifies or supplements information in the text.

.b A Copyright Permission Footnote – it is used to give credit to the source for long
quotations, tables or graphs, and other lengthy information within a text. Both types
of footnotes will appear at the bottom of the printed page and the text that has a
footnote will have a small letter or number following it. This same number or letter
will appear at the bottom of the page beside the footnote.

10.3 Endnote: An endnote is the same as a footnote in that it gives a credit or additional
information to the reader. The only difference is that an endnote is found at the end
of the work, instead of at the bottom of the page.20

10.4 Referencing Styles

There are various standard methods used for citing the source of a research work.
These methods are called and known as referencing styles or citation styles.

Some common and widely used citation styles are:

a) Harvard Referencing Style;
b) Vancouver Referencing Style;
c) APA (American Psychological Association) Referencing Style;
d) MLA ((Modern Language Association) Referencing Style;
e) Chicago/Turabian Referencing Style;21
f) OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal
Authorities);22 and
g) NALT (Nigerian Association of Law Teachers’ Uniform Format and Citation
Template)23

There are other styles that are not that common but are still required at some
places, which are;
a) ACS (American Chemical Society);
b) AGLC (Australian Guide to Legal Citation);
c) AMA (American Medical Association);

19
ibid
20
Sarah Spitzig, What is a Footnote? – Examples & Styleshttps://study.com/academy/lesson/ accessed on 10 08 2021
21
n15 p14
22
n2 p15
23
ibid
12
 d) CSE/ CBE (Council of Science Editors/ Council of Biology Editors);
e) IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers);24 etc.

10.4.1 OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities)
OSCOLA reference style is usually more recommended for the legal research.
OSCOLA is preferred by the School of Law at Reading, as it has rules for dealing
with the kind of sources that law students and researchers will frequently use,
including cases, statutes and command papers. In-text citations are placed in
footnotes, with a formal set of abbreviations for key sources.

a. Citing cases
When citing cases, give the name of the case, the neutral citation (if appropriate),
and volume and first page of the relevant law report, and where necessary the court.
If the name of the case is given in the text, it is not necessary to repeat it in the
footnote.25 For example -
It is well represented in the case law, perhaps most notably in the expression
of the no-conflict rule advocated by Lord Upjohn in Phipps v Boardman, 31
and in the earlier Court of Appeal decision in Boulting v Association of
Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians.32 In Boulting [or ‘in the
Boulting case’], Upjohn LJ said that the rule ‘must be applied realistically to
a state of affairs which discloses a real conflict of duty and interest and not to
some theoretical or rhetorical conflict’.33 In Phipps, Lord Upjohn developed
his view of the rule further by adding that there must be a ‘real sensible
possibility of conflict’.34
The relevant footnotes would appear as follows: 31 [1967] 2 AC 46 (HL). 32 [1963] 2
QB 606 (CA). 33 Boulting (n 32) 638. Or 33 ibid 638. 34 Phipps (n 31) 124. The
numbers at the end of footnotes 33 and 34 are called ‘pinpoints’; they give the page
on which the quotation can be found. It is also acceptable to include the full case
reference in all footnotes.
b. Citing legislation
A citation in a footnote is not required when citing legislation if all the information
the reader needs about the source is provided in the text, as in the following
sentence26:
This case highlights the far-reaching judicial role ushered in by the Human
Rights Act 1998.

24
n15 p14
25
Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (4 th Edn, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford). 3
<www.law.ox.ac.uk/oscola> accessed on 11 th August 2021.
26
Ibid. 4
13
 Where the text does not include the name of the Act or the relevant section, the
information should be provided in a footnote. For example –
British courts must only consider Strasbourg jurisprudence: they are not
bound by it.1
And the footnote would be thus -
1
Human Rights Act 1998, s 2.

c. Secondary Sources - General Principles

• Authors’ names: Give the author’s name exactly as it appears in the
publication, but omit postnominals such as QC. When judges write extra-
curially, they should be named as in the publication in question. If there are more
than three authors, give the name of the first author followed by ‘and others’. If
no individual author is identified, but an organisation or institution claims
editorial responsibility for the work, then cite it as the author. If no person,
organisation or institution claims responsibility for the work, begin the citation
with the title. Treat editors’ names in the same way as authors’ names.
In footnotes, the author’s first name or initial(s) precede their surname. In
bibliographies, the surname comes first, then the initial(s), followed by a
comma.
• Titles: Italicise titles of books and similar publications, including all
publications with ISBNs. All other titles should be within single quotation marks
and in roman. Capitalize the first letter in all major words in a title. Minor words,
such as ‘for’, ‘and’, ‘or’ and ‘the’, do not take a capital unless they begin the title
or subtitle.
• Parts, chapters, pages and paragraphs: Pinpoints to parts, chapters, pages and
paragraphs come at the end of the citation. Use ‘pt’ for part, ‘ch’ for chapter, and
‘para’ for paragraph. Page numbers stand alone, without ‘p’ or ‘pp’. If citing a
chapter or part and page number, insert a comma bef
• Electronic sources: If you source a publication online which is also available in
hard copy, cite the hard copy version.27 Citations of publications that are
available only electronically should end with the web address (or ‘url’) in angled
brackets (<>), followed by the date of most recent access, expressed in the form
‘accessed 1 January 2010’. Include ‘http://’ only if the web address does not
begin with ‘www’.28
• Subsequent citations and short forms: In subsequent citations of books and
articles, cite only the author’s surname and provide a cross-citation (in the form
(n n)) to the footnote with the full citation. The pinpoint follows the cross-
27
There is no need to cite an electronic source for such a publication
28
Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, n50.33
14
 citation. If you cite more than one work by the same author, it may be useful to
provide the title as well, or a short form thereof, and the title alone should be
used in subsequent citations of unattributed works and some other secondary
sources, such as reports and policy documents.29

10.4.2 Harvard Referencing Style .

Harvard is actually a generic term refers to all the referencing styles that are
“authordate” based; thus this style does not have any manual. This style is most
commonly used in U.K and Australia.30 It uses the parenthetical system of
referencing. A brief in-text reference containing the name of author and year of
publication is given in round brackets; thus it is also called as author-date based
referencing style. It is used in various subjects of humanities.31
a. General Rules for in-text Citation
• It uses parenthetical system thus the reference in the text appears like this:
(<author name><publication year>, <page number/s> )
• In in-text citation only the last name (surname) of the author is used; author’s
name and year of publication are not separated by a comma. For example:
(Ghaznavi 2003)
• A comma is put after the publication year if a page number is mentioned after it.
(Ghaznavi 2003, p 40)
• It is also allowed to write the author’s name out of the bracket. For example:
Ghaznavi (2003, p 40)
• Punctuation marks such as comma or full stop are used after the citation and not
before them.
b. How to write the Name of an Author
In the in-text citation only the surname of an author is used; if there are more than
one author with identical surname then the first names or the initials of first names
are also mentioned. In the reference list, the name of an author is written in this
way: last name is written first and afterwards initials of the first name/s are written;
no full stop is put after the initials. For Example: Khalid Ghaznavi is written as
Ghaznavi K.32

29
Ibid. 34
30
There exist a great variation in the use of punctuation and other formatting such as indentation, line spacing etc. from
institution to institution. The guide in the following section has been adopted from Charles Darwin University’s (CDU)
Harvard Referencing Style guide 2016 version.  So, before using a particular guide there is a need to take caution what style
your institution demands; it may vary from the guide given above.
31
Mohsin Hassan Alvi, ‘A Manual for Referencing Styles in Research’ [2016] 17. <www.researchgate.net> accessed on 15th
August 2021.
32
Ibid. 18
15
c. What to do if there are Multiple Authors of a Source
Order of names: If there are more than one author of a publication mentioned their
names exactly in the same sequence as they are presented in the publication.
In-text Citation and reference list entry for two authors: In the in-text citation only
the surnames of the two authors will be used separated by ‘&’. It will look like this:
(<author no. 1 surname>&<author no. 2 surname><publication year>) Example:
(Alvi & Zaidi 2009).In-text Citation and reference list entry for three authors: In the
in-text citation only the surnames of the three authors are used, first two separated
by a comma (,) and last two by ‘&’. For example (Alvi, Gadzani & Zaine 2009). In-
text Citation and reference list entry for more than three but up to 6 authors: In the
in-text citation only the surname of the first author is written followed by ‘et al.’
For example (Alvi et al 2006)
d. Where Name of Author is not Available in the Source
One of the following two steps can be taken to encounter with a situation when the
name of an author is not available in the source:
• Use the name of a corporate author
• Use the title of the source in place of the author name
In-text citation and reference list entry of a corporate author33:
In the in-text citation the name of the corporate author is written completely
followed by its abbreviation written in square brackets for the first time. In the later
instances, however, only the abbreviation is used Example: First in-text citation: All
Pakistan Women Association [APWA] (2015) found in the latest survey……….
Later citation APWA (2015) demanded following remedies……….. In the
reference list full name of the corporate body is used.34
An Anonymous Author: Sometimes source itself designate the author as
‘Anonymous’. In such a case you have to write anonymous in place of author’s
name both in the in-text citation and reference list.35
e. Where the Date of Publication is not Provided in a Source
One of the following two steps can be taken to encounter with a situation when you
cannot locate the date of publication in a source:
• Write an estimated year of publication36
33
Name of an organization, a company or a publisher owning a document in case of the absence of any specific author/s is
called as corporate author.
34
Mohsin Hassan Alvi, n56. 20
35
Ibid
16
• Write ‘n.d.’ (abb. for no date) in place of date
Sometimes you are able to estimate the time when a publication could have been
appeared on the basis of relevant events. In this case you can write the estimated
year of publication in place of the date like this ‘c. <publication year> ’. For
example c. 1998.37
f. What and how to Cite if you have Read about a Source in Another one
In case when you are referencing to a source that is not directly read by you but is
cited by a source you have read, the in-text citation appears like this: Zahbi (as
cited in Ghaznavi 2003, p. 5) found that……… In the reference list, reference of
Ghaznavi, and not of Zahbi, would be provided.38
g. Journal article in Print:
<Name of author/s><Publication year>, '<Article title>', <Journal title>, vol.
<volume number>, no. <Issue Number>, pp. <range of page numbers> .
• Volume number and issue number are written in numeric digit such as 2, 5, 45 etc.
• Range of pages is written this way: <starting page number – ending page number>
such as 24-33, 15-26 etc.
• Article from e-journal: E-journal articles are cited the same way as the printed
journals. 39
h. Various Types of Newspaper Articles:

Newspaper article in Print:

< Name of author><publication year>, ‘<article title>’, <title of newspaper>, <DD
MM>
• Day (DD) is written as a numeric digit such as 1, 13, 23
• Month (MM) is written in spelling such as January, March etc.

i. Newspaper Article without Author Name:

‘<Article title>’, <publication year>, <title of newspaper>, <DD MM>
j. Newspaper Article Available Online:

< Name of author><publication year>, ‘<article title>’, <title of newspaper>, <DD

MM>
<URL>

36
In case when you cannot estimate the date, you need to go for the second option. Whatever of the two methods you have
adopted for your in-text citation, will go for the reference list entry.
37
Mohsin Hassan Alvi, n56.
38
Ibid. 21
39
Ibid 23
17
11. CONCLUSION

2.1 It is important to understand that the essence of legal research is to apply

consistency and maintain persuasiveness as researchers; when making reference to
legal materials must be done in a clear, consistent and familiar way.40This principle
of consistency is most cherished by our courts. The Supreme Court of Nigeria in the
case of Alade v Alemuloke&Ors held inter alia that ‘The primary responsibility of
the Supreme Court should be that of developing and maintaining CONSISTENCY
in the law to be applied in our subordinate Courts and in interpreting the country’s
fundamental law – its Constitution.’41
Research is usually a daunting task, and the style adopted may differ according to the educational
system, amongst other factors. The purpose of research is either to know about or to contribute
something new to the existing state of knowledge. There are doctrinal and non-doctrinal research
methodologies with their merits and demerits. However, the doctrinal research methodology is
more commonly used in legal research.

Thank you all for listening!

40
n2 p16
41
(1988) LPELR-398(SC) 7
18