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Now in its 20th edition, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation continues to set the standard for how to write and correctly attribute references in legal articles, reports and memorandum. This volume is as ubiquitous as Black's Law Dictionary on the bookshelves of every knowledgable law student and legal practitioner.
For generations, law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other legal professionals have relied upon the The Bluebook as the definitive style guide for legal citation. With the 20th edition The Bluebook continues to provide a systematic method for citing sources and authorities in the rapidly changing world of legal communications.
The Bluebook contains three major parts:-
The Bluepages are a how-to guide for basic legal citation. Unlike the remainder of The Bluebook, which is designed in a style and at a level of complexity commensurate with the needs of the law journal publication process, the Bluepages provides easy-to-comprehend guidance for the everyday citation needs of first-year law students, summer associates, law clerks, practicing lawyers, and other legal professionals. The examples used throughout the Bluepages are printed using simple typeface conventions common in the legal profession.
The second part, printed on white paper, is the heart of The Bluebook system of citation: the rules of citation and style. This part is subdivided into two main sections. The first section, consisting of rules 1 through 9, etablishes general standards of citation and style for use in all forms of legal writing. The second section, consisting of rules 10 through 21, presents rules for citation of specific kinds of authority such as cases, statutes, books, periodicals, and foreign and international materials. The examples used throughout this part are printed using typeface conventions standard in law journal footnotes.
The third part, printed on white paper with a blue border at the end of the book, consists of a series of tables to be used in conjunction with the rules. The tables show, among other things, which authority to cite and how to abbreviate properly. Individual tables are referenced throughout the book.
At the very end of the book is a comprehensive index. Should you have trouble finding information about a particular citation issue, look to the index for guidance. A quick reference guide with examples of the most common citation forms in law journal style is found on the inside front cover and first page of the book, and a parallel listing using the Bluepages' simpler typeface conventions appears on the very last page and inside back cover.
