The Open University of

Tanzania (OUT)

COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR LAWYERS

OLW 126
 KA 4 CITATION,
REFERENCING & BIBLIOGRAPHY

2
 CITATION
• A citation is a reference to a work, such as statutes, case laws,
books or journal articles, online materials and so on.
• Citations gives a reader necessary information needed to locate
materials used in a particular source.
• In any legal work it is necessary to cite showing where you
obtained particular information.
• Basically, citation has two purposes:
1. To provide your reader with the authority that supports your
assertions about the law;
2. To ascribe the words and ideas of another author.

3
 Importance of citation
• Ascribing other people’s ideas or words.
• Avoid committing an academic crime called
plagiarism.
• Citations makes your work trusted and create
confidence to the reader.
• It helps the readers in tracing the origin of
certain ideas
• In academic settings, citations make
students get better marks lecturers.
4
 Citation styles
1. MLA - Modern Language Association Commonly used in the
humanities, MLA style features parenthetical citations within the
text and a corresponding works cited page.
2. APA - American Psychological Association Widely used in the
social sciences, APA style emphasizes the author-date format for
in-text citations and includes a reference list at the end of the
document.
3. OSCOLA - Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities
Specifically designed for legal writing, OSCOLA provides
guidelines for citing legal sources, including cases, statutes,
treaties, and secondary legal materials.
• Other style
1. Harvad
2. Chicago Manual of Style
5
 Classification of Citation
• Citations can be classified into different types based on their purpose,
format, and location within a document. But each classification depends
on the area of professionalism, for example lawyers prefer footnotes and
in some occasions endnotes.
• Classification include;
1. In-text citation
2. Footnote
3. Endnote

6
 Citation Styles cont…
1. In-text citation – this is the style of citation used by other
professions other than legal profession to cite materials or
source. In this style you will find the author cite the name of the
writer, year and page number within text, either at the beginning
of the quoted idea or at the end.
For example; Alex (2023:22) argues that legal communication is
so peculiar and can be used by lawyer per se.
When a writer decides to use the name of the author at the end,
must enclose the name, year and page number eg. Legal
communication is so peculiar and can be used by lawyer per se
(Alex 2023:22).

7
 Citation Styles cont…
2. Footnote
•This involves writing reference information at the bottom of the page of the book,
paper or any other document.
•Footnotes are numbered either continuously or start afresh on each page. Footnotes
can refer to the source, provide explanation or details etc.
•Example

8
 Citation Styles cont…
3. Endnote
• Providing reference information or details
at the end of the whole work such as an essay,
article or book. End notes can also appear at the
end of each chapter.
• End notes are similar to footnotes in terms of
functions or objectives but they differ in terms of
location.

9
 Types of footnotes/endnotes
There are different types of footnotes. They include: source
footnotes/end notes; cross-reference footnotes/endnotes; and
explanatory footnotes/end notes.
1.Source Footnotes/End notes: These are details that point to or
indicate the source of information that one used in writing
his/her work. Source information can be books, journal articles,
case laws, statutes and so on.
2.Cross-reference footnotes/End notes: This is information that
directs the reader to another section or part within the work;
book, article, paper, etc. e.g (see page 6; see figure 10; see
section A, etc).
3. Explanatory Footnotes/End notes: This is information used
to explain, discuss, give additional details, give examples etc.
10
 Different circumstances that
demand citation
• Direct quotations
• Any material that has been paraphrased
from an outside source
• Any reference to arguments or facts
• Statistics, and Data
• Ideas, Concepts, and Theories

11
 Latin Abbreviations used in
footnotes/endnotes
• Ibid short term for the Latin word “ibidem” which means “in the same
place.”
• It is used to refer to the same source cited in the immediately preceding
footnote or endnote.
• When “ibid” is used, it indicates that the citation is identical to the one
immediately before it, including the page number or other specific
reference.

12
 Abbreviations cont…
• Loc. cit. short term for the Latin phrase “loco citato”, which means “in the
place cited.”
• It is used to refer to the same work previously cited but in a different
location within the text.
• Unlike ibid, loc. cit does not refer to the immediately preceding citation but
rather to a previous citation within the same document, also loc. cit. is
never followed by volume or page numbers.

13
 Abbreviations cont…
• Op. cit short term for the Latin phrase opere citato which
means “in the work cited.”
• It is used to refer to a work previously cited in the text but not
in the immediately preceding footnote or endnote.
• Op. cit., does not refer to the same page or location as the
previous citation but rather to a previous citation of the same
work, it is followed with page number.
• Et al short term of et alia to mean and others. It is used where
a used reference is written by more than one person. So a
writer here opts to write surname and initial name of one
author followed with the abbreviation et al. for example Alex,
M, Miriam, S et al.

14
 Bibliography & Reference
• Bibliography: A bibliography is a comprehensive list of all the
sources consulted or referenced in a piece of academic work. It
includes not only the sources cited within the text but also any
additional readings or resources that contributed to the work.
• References: References, on the other hand, typically refer
specifically to the list of sources cited or directly referenced within
the text of an academic work. This list appears at the end of the
document and includes detailed information about each cited
source, such as the author's name, title, publication date, and other
relevant publication details. The references section serves to
acknowledge the sources used to support arguments or claims
within the text and allows readers to locate and verify the cited
sources.

15