How to Cite Books and Articles in Bluebook

In our citation examples, we use the following color coding for book citations:

  • Red – Author’s full name
  • Blue – Title
  • Pink – Pages
  • Green – Editor(s) and translator(s) names (if applicable)
  • Black – Edition number
  • Sienna – Year of publication
  • Peach – Volume number (if available)

You may find the word ‘pincite’ unknown – there’s nothing difficult about it, it’s just a fancy way of saying ‘page cited’ in Bluebook.

Book with one or two authors

Example:

Christopher Miller, International Legal Documents 155 (2022).

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Book with more than two authors

Example:

Pedro Zimmet, Paul Magliano & William Herman, Environmental Law: Policy and Sociology 19 (5th ed. 2023)

Or

Example:

Pedro Zimmet et al., Environmental Law: Policy and Sociology 18 (5th ed. 2023)

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Book with editor or translator

Example:

The Making of Marine Law 202 (Jonathan Shaw ed., 2024)

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Book with no author

For such sources, include a publisher in parentheses:

Example:

Environmental Law in China 165 (Routledge 2024)

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Multiple editions of the book

Example:

Hoan Wreham et al., Research Handbook on Healthcare Law 33 (14th ed. 2023).

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Chapter in an edited book

Write the author’s full name followed by the title of the chapter in italics, then a comma, a word ‘in’ in italics, and the title of the book. Mention the page on which the chapter begins and any pages where specific material is taken from:

Example:

Nita Gandhi Forouhi, Protection of the Deer Habitat, in Research Handbook on

International Animal Rights 17, 28-29 (Amparo C. Villablanca ed, 2024).

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Scholarly Journal Article

In our citation examples, we use the following color coding for article citations:

  • Red – Author’s name
  • Blue – Article title in italics
  • Pink – Journal volume number
  • Green – Abbreviated journal title
  • Black – First page of the article
  • Sienna – Specific page(s) cited
  • Peach – Year of publication

Example:

Mitchell Miller, Crime, Justice & the COVID-19 Pandemic: Toward a National Research

Agenda, 45 Am. J. Crim. Just. 515, 520 (2020).

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When citing the same work more than once, use a shortened version: author’s last name, the word ‘supra’ in italics, the number of the note in which the full citation was given, and ‘at’ followed by page number:

Example:

Miller, supra note 5, at 519.