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Referencing - UK & EU Law: Working paper

How do I reference a working paper?

This guidance applies to online working papers. If a working paper is subsequently published in a journal, cite that in preference to the working paper.

author, | 'title' | (year) | series title (if available) | series reference number (if available) | <web address> | date accessed 

Footnote:
e.g. John M Finnis, ‘On Public Reason’ (2006) Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No 1/2007 <http://ssrn.com/abstract=955815> accessed 17 March 2016

Bibliography:
e.g. Finnis J M, ‘On Public Reason’ (2006) Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No 1/2007 <http://ssrn.com/abstract=955815> accessed 17 March 2016

To pinpoint, follow the citation with a comma and the page number. To pinpoint several pages, insert a dash between the page numbers:
e.g. John M Finnis, ‘On Public Reason’ (2006) Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No 1/2007 <http://ssrn.com/abstract=955815> accessed 17 March 2016, 3-4

Author

In a footnote, cite an author's name as: first name(s) or initial(s) | surname.

In a bibliography, cite an author's name as: surname | initial(s).

Do not include postnominals, such as QC.

If no individual author is identified, but an organisation (e.g. BBC) claims responsibility for the work, then cite it as the author.

If no person or organisation claims responsibility for the work, begin the citation with the title.

Title of working paper

Enclose the title in 'single quotation marks'.

Give the first letter of all major words a capital letter. Minor words (e.g. 'for', 'and', 'or', 'the') should not be capitalized, unless they begin a title or a subtitle.

If a working paper has a title and a subtitle that are not separated by punctuation, insert a colon : between them.

Year

The year is given in (round brackets).

Series title

Give the first letter of all major words a capital letter. Minor words (e.g. 'for', 'and', 'or', 'the') should not be capitalized, unless they begin a title or a subtitle. 

If a series has a title and a subtitle that are not separated by punctuation, insert a colon : between them.

If a working paper has been published in two series (e.g. Notre Dame Legal Studies and Oxford Legal Studies Research), choose one series for your reference; there is no need to include details of both. 

Date accessed

The content of working papers is subject to change, so including the date you accessed the item is important.