How Do You Cite A Law Review Article? | Quick Steps

Guide / By

To cite a law review article, collect the author, title, journal, volume, year, and pages, then apply the rules for your chosen style.

Law journals use precise rules for footnotes and references. The exact format depends on audience and venue. Legal scholarship leans on Bluebook or ALWD in footnotes. General academic writing often prefers APA, MLA, or Chicago in bibliographies. This guide shows what to gather, how to build a footnote or reference, and where styles differ, so you can produce clean, credible citations without guesswork.

Citing A Law Review Article In Common Styles

Every style asks for the same core facts: author name, article title, journal name, volume, year, and page information. The differences sit in order, punctuation, italics vs. small caps, and whether you list the first page only or the full range. Footnote systems center on Bluebook or ALWD. Bibliography systems center on APA, MLA, or Chicago. Pick the system your editor, professor, journal, or field requires, then stick to it throughout the piece.

Core Patterns By Style
Style Who Uses It Core Pattern
Bluebook Law journals, legal academia Author, Title, Journal Abbrev. Volume First-page, pinpoint (Year)
ALWD Legal writing programs, practice Author, Title, Journal Name Volume First-page, pinpoint (Year)
APA / MLA / Chicago General academic fields Author. Year. “Title.” Journal Volume(Issue): page range. DOI or URL if assigned

If your piece uses legal footnotes, Bluebook governs footnote form and short forms. If your piece uses an author-date reference list, follow APA, MLA, or Chicago and place citations in the bibliography with matching in-text mentions. When in doubt, consult an official, up-to-date guide. A widely used, free reference for legal formats is Cornell’s Basic Legal Citation. For author-date formats, APA’s journal article page is the standard reference: journal article references.

Bluebook Footnotes: Format, Short Form, And Pincites

In legal scholarship, footnotes carry the weight. A full citation in the first footnote gives the reader the complete path to the source. Later notes may use a short form. A pincite points the reader to the exact page or note inside the article. Journal names appear in small caps, articles in italics, and authors by full name in normal order. Spacing, commas, and parentheses follow set patterns. Get these right and your footnotes read like native legal writing.

Elements To Gather Before You Write

  • Author full name as it appears on the article
  • Exact article title, with any subtitle
  • Journal name and the correct abbreviation used by legal style
  • Volume number and publication year
  • First page of the article and the pinpoint page you cite
  • Issue number if the journal is not consecutively paginated
  • DOI or stable URL if needed for online access notes

Full Footnote Template And Example

Template: Author, Article Title, Journal Abbrev. Volume First-page, pinpoint (Year).

Example: Jordan Lee, Remedies After Data Breaches, Tech. L. Rev. 58 201, 219 (2024).

Short form after first use: Lee, Remedies, at 219.

That short form ties cleanly to the prior full note. Use short forms when you have already given a full note and no other source breaks the chain of reference. If you switch sources in between, restore clarity with a full note again.

APA, MLA, And Chicago For Non-Legal Venues

Many courses and cross-disciplinary journals expect author-date systems. These use in-text citations and a reference list. The article title appears in sentence case in APA and title case in MLA and Chicago. Journal names are written in full. APA places the year after the author. Chicago’s notes-bibliography system can also run with footnotes, yet its journal entry format differs from legal footnotes.

APA Reference List Template

Template: Author, A. A. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example: Lee, J. (2024). Remedies after data breaches. Technology Law Review, 58(2), 201–240. https://doi.org/10.1234/techlaw.58.2.201

In-text: (Lee, 2024, p. 219)

MLA Works Cited Template

Template: Author Last, First. “Article Title.” Journal Title, vol. Volume, no. Issue, Year, pp. xx–xx. DOI or URL.

Example: Lee, Jordan. “Remedies After Data Breaches.” Technology Law Review, vol. 58, no. 2, 2024, pp. 201–240. https://doi.org/10.1234/techlaw.58.2.201.

In-text: (Lee 219)

Gathering Accurate Journal Details

Accuracy starts with the PDF or official landing page. Check the article title line, the masthead, the volume and issue on the journal’s first pages, and the page span at the article’s header. Many journals are consecutively paginated across issues within a volume; others restart at page 1 for each issue. If the pages reset each issue, legal styles call for an issue number in parentheses. If the pages run consecutively, volume and first page cover identification without an issue number.

DOIs, Stable URLs, And Online-Only Journals

When a DOI exists, include it in author-date systems. It provides a durable link. If no DOI appears, use a stable URL from the journal site. Legal footnotes rarely require a URL for a standard print-parallel article. If the article is online-only, add the URL when the rules call for it and confirm the date fields match the site’s publication data. Avoid session-bound or search URLs that can break.

Capitalization, Abbreviations, And Typography

Bluebook and ALWD rely on journal name abbreviations and small caps for the journal. Article titles appear in italics. Author names appear in normal order rather than inverted. APA and MLA do not use small caps and do not abbreviate journal names in the reference list. Follow the punctuation and spacing patterns exactly. A single stray comma can change the way the citation reads.

Edge Cases You’ll See In Journals

Real articles come with quirks: multiple authors, author suffixes, student notes and comments, commentaries, symposium issues, and cross-disciplinary journals. Use the right template and adjust only the parts that change. The table below shows frequent variants and the field you swap.

Common Variants And What Changes
Scenario What Changes Example Fragment
Two Authors List both authors with an ampersand (APA) or “and” (MLA/Chicago); Bluebook lists both Lee & Patel … / Lee and Patel …
Three Or More Authors APA lists up to 20 in references; in-text uses first author + “et al.”; Bluebook lists all in the full footnote Lee et al. (in-text); footnote lists all names
Student Note Or Comment Add the piece type if the journal marks it as a “Note” or “Comment” Note, Remedies After Data Breaches
Issue-Specific Pagination Include the issue number in parentheses for APA/MLA; include it in legal footnotes only when the journal resets pages 58(2) 201 …
Online-Only Article Include DOI or stable URL; omit if the rule set says not to for print-parallel footnotes https://doi.org/… or stable URL
Advance Or “Early View” Use the year shown; add advance identifiers if the journal provides them Advance online publication

Choosing Between Footnotes And Author-Date

Use legal footnotes when writing for a law journal or a venue that expects legal form. Use author-date when the audience sits outside law or the assignment specifies APA, MLA, or Chicago. If your venue offers its own guide, follow that first. Many law journals publish a public style guide stating that Bluebook governs footnotes and Chicago covers grammar and hyphenation. That mix is common and keeps legal form consistent while relying on a general guide for prose matters.

Quick Workflow You Can Reuse

  1. Save the PDF and capture the landing page URL.
  2. Record the facts: author(s), exact title, journal name, volume, issue, year, first page, page range, DOI or stable URL.
  3. Pick the style you’re required to use and stick to it across the paper.
  4. Build the first note or reference from the template for that style.
  5. Add the pincite for each specific proposition in legal footnotes.
  6. Create short forms after the first full note in legal writing.
  7. Proof symbols and spacing (italics, small caps, commas, parentheses).
  8. Run a final check against an official guide page.

Frequent Mistakes And Easy Fixes

Wrong Journal Abbreviation

Legal footnotes often require a specific abbreviation set and small caps. Use an authoritative list and match spacing and periods. If your abbreviation looks odd, verify it against a current table used by your style.

Missing Issue Number

Author-date systems want the issue whenever the journal provides it. Legal footnotes use the issue number only when pagination resets each issue. Check the masthead to see whether the volume is consecutively paginated.

Page Range Vs. First Page

APA, MLA, and Chicago list the full range for the article in the reference entry. Legal footnotes list the first page and then add pincites as needed. Confirm which approach your venue expects.

Forgetting The DOI

A DOI should appear in author-date reference entries when assigned. It improves persistence and reduces dead links. If no DOI exists, use a stable URL instead of a long search link.

Inconsistent Short Forms

In legal notes, short forms rely on the prior full note. Keep the same short title and page pin across notes. If a new source interrupts the sequence, re-establish the full note before resuming short forms.

Style-By-Style Mini Templates

Bluebook (Footnote)

Template: Author, Article Title, Journal Abbrev. Vol. First-page, pinpoint (Year).

Short Form: Author, Short Title, at page.

ALWD (Footnote)

Template: Author, Article Title, Journal Name Vol. First-page, pinpoint (Year).

APA (Reference List)

Template: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, Vol.(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx

MLA (Works Cited)

Template: Author Last, First, and Second Author. “Article Title.” Journal Title, vol. Vol., no. Issue, Year, pp. xx–xx. DOI or URL.

Chicago (Notes-Bibliography)

Template (Bibliography): Author Last, First. “Article Title.” Journal Title Volume, no. Issue (Year): page range. DOI or URL.

When You Need An Abbreviation Table

Legal styles rely on standard journal abbreviations. Use the journal’s accepted short form, not a homegrown version. If your venue uses a specific table, follow that table. If your venue does not specify one, follow a recognized abbreviation list used in legal style. The safest approach is to mirror recent articles in the same journal and cross-check with a current style guide.

Formatting Footnotes And Reference Lists

Footnotes should follow your journal’s font and spacing rules. Many journals want small caps for the journal name and italics for the article title. Reference lists in author-date systems use hanging indents, consistent punctuation, and a single font family. Keep spacing consistent after commas and colons. Align punctuation with the style’s templates so that automated checks pass cleanly.

A One-Page Checklist You Can Print

  • Author name(s) recorded exactly
  • Full article title and subtitle
  • Journal name plus accepted abbreviation (if using legal footnotes)
  • Volume, issue (if needed), year
  • First page and page range
  • Pincite page for each proposition in legal notes
  • DOI or stable URL for author-date entries
  • Footnote or reference built from the correct template
  • Short form created and used consistently (legal notes)
  • Final scan for italics, small caps, and punctuation

Worked Side-By-Side Examples

Legal Footnote (Bluebook)

Jordan Lee, Remedies After Data Breaches, Tech. L. Rev. 58 201, 219 (2024).

Later note: Lee, Remedies, at 230.

APA Reference

Lee, J. (2024). Remedies after data breaches. Technology Law Review, 58(2), 201–240. https://doi.org/10.1234/techlaw.58.2.201

MLA Works Cited

Lee, Jordan. “Remedies After Data Breaches.” Technology Law Review, vol. 58, no. 2, 2024, pp. 201–240. https://doi.org/10.1234/techlaw.58.2.201.

Troubleshooting Tricky Sources

Symposium Issues And Special Sections

Some volumes collect a symposium with session headings and multiple short pieces. Treat each piece as its own article. Capture the author, title, and first page for that piece. If the journal marks the piece as a response or reply, include that label only if the rule set requires it.

Author Name Changes Or Suffixes

Keep the name exactly as it appears on the article. Include Jr., Sr., or Roman numerals as shown. If a database lists a different form than the PDF, defer to the PDF’s byline.

Foreign-Language Journals

Retain the original title and add an English translation in brackets only if the style demands it. Maintain diacritics. Use the journal’s own capitalization rules for the title in the original language.

Final Pass Before Submission

Scan every footnote or reference against your chosen template. Compare your abbreviations to an accepted table. Confirm that every in-text pointer has a matching note or reference entry. Check DOIs and test URLs. Small fixes now save edits later.