Style & Citations Guide
Welcome to the Comment Style and Citation Guide!
Authors should review the Style and Citation Guide before they begin drafting their Comment.
Requirements
All Comments should hyperlink to the original source material, preferably a PDF (e.g., court opinion or filing, legislation. Points should generally be well supported and should link to related content whenever possible.
Style
As an online program, Digest Comments have unique formatting requirements distinct from other legal journal writings. Below are some common items to check:
Add only one space between sentences.
Add Quotation marks around acronyms located in parentheticals, e.g. Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”).
Do not include spaces around an em dash (“—“).
Do not capitalize mid-sentence generic party names: plaintiff, defendant, appellee, and appellant
Do not hyphenate the following words: decisionmaker, factfinder
Italicize or bold for emphasis, as underlines look like a broken link.
Commas
When listing three or more things, separate each pair with a comma, including the last pair. The last comma precedes the coordinating conjunction (e.g. and or or).
Example: Lions, tigers, and bears.
Symbols
Outside of citations, do not use "§" and "¶." Instead, always spell out and capitalize "Section" and "Paragraphs" in place of symbols.
Quotations
Avoid block quotations to the extent possible. You should be linking to sources, so there’s no need to quote in length. The exception to this rule, though, is the situation when you are analyzing statutory language; in that case, having the statute conveniently displayed in the body of the article is encouraged.
Citations
Digest Comments need not follow Bluebook citation format. Indeed, you should cite sources primarily through hyperlink. Please archive your links to prevent linking to sources that later become unavailable. The Editing Team can also help out with this during the editing process. Please use (recommended) or to archive your links.
Original sources are always preferred over secondary sources or other reports.
Online News Sources
Support your statements that derive from online news sources by creating hyperlinks out of parts of the statement. Select which words should be hyperlinked in the following preference.
Name of the blog, newspaper, website
Name of the author
Operative phrase when the statement does not contain either (1) or (2)
Example: Ars Technica provides commentary. Not: Ars Technica provides commentary.
Generally, a blog’s name is preferred over the author; however, the author’s name may be included as desired. If it is a personal blog bearing the name of the sole contributor to the blog, the name of the author may be used.
Example: Eric Posner provides commentary. Example: Stewart Baker on The Volokh Conspiracy reviews the Privies.
Where it is awkward or undesirable to name the source in the sentence, create a hyperlink out of the group of words that the source best supports. Finding the right group of words can be a bit of an art, so work with your Editor on this.
Example: In May 2009, the European Commission fined Intel a record 1.06 billion Euros for abusing its dominant market position. Example: While prosecution placed significant emphasis on the text messages between the Carter and Roy during the trial, focusing particularly on the fact that their relationship was so tied to online communication, the judge rested his conclusion on a phone call they exchanged shortly before Roy’s suicide. Not: While prosecution placed significant emphasis on the text messages between the Carter and Roy during the trial, focusing particularly on the fact that their relationship was so tied to online communication, the judge rested his conclusion on a phone call they exchanged shortly before Roy’s suicide.
Law Review Articles
In-text citations to law review articles need not be in Bluebook format, but should indicate the name of the author(s) and link to a PDF of the article. As with online news sources, hyperlink the name of the source where possible, but put the link on a descriptive phrase otherwise.
Example: The Innovator’s Patent Agreement bears similarities to the defensive patent license (“DPL”) proposed by Jason Schultz and Jennifer Urban.
Statutes
If a statute is available through an open access online source, such as through the Cornell Legal Information Institute, hyperlink to the source in text, and then Bluebook the source when it is cited. When referring to an act generally, cite to the first U.S.C. section of the Act. When referring to a particular provision of an act for the first time, include a hyperlink to that provision. The hyperlinked text should be the location in the United States Code.
Make sure to spell out the official name of the act the first time it is cited.
Example: Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (“VARA”), 17 U.S.C. § 106A (2012), a U.S. law offering moral rights to visual artists, is similarly limited. Example: Section 2520 of the Wiretap Act of 1968 (“Wiretap Act”), 18 U.S.C. § 2520, provides a private right of action against persons who violate the provisions of Section 2511 of the Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2511.
Cases & Court Documents
Bluebook cases in full the first time they are cited and use an unambiguous shortened case name thereafter. Case names in the full cite should not be italicized if it is hyperlinked. For aesthetic purposes, do not include pincites throughout the article.
Example: Fourco Glass Co. v. Transmirra Products Corp., 353 U.S. 222 (1957) Example: Fourco Glass Co. v. Transmirra Products Corp., 353 U.S. 222 (1957) Not: Fourco Glass Co. v. Transmirra Products Corp., 353 U.S. 222 (1957)
Shortened case names should always be italicized and never hyperlinked.
Example: Fourco Glass Not: Fourco Glass Not: Fourco Glass
However, procedural phrases like In re should always be italicized, even if they are part of hyperlinks.
Remember that, for purposes of short forms, a citation to a court document including a case citation suffices as a citation to the case itself (Rule 10.8.3).
Since Digest posts are often more recent than print articles, they often rely on pending cases, rule 10.8.* Make sure to cite slip opinions (rule 10.8.1(b)) and cases decided en banc (rule 10.6.1) as appropriate.
Hosted By -- If a PDF of a court document is available through an open access online source (i.e., not through Westlaw or Lexis Nexis), hyperlink to the source from the document type or, if none, case name in the Bluebook citation. If the PDF is hosted by a non-court source, include “hosted by” language with the hyperlink on the document type (not a Bluebook abbreviation).
Example: MGA Entertainment, Inc. v. Mattel, Inc., No. 09-55673 (9th Cir. July 22, 2010), hosted by sunsteinlaw.com. Example: Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., No. 07 Civ. 2103 (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2010), slip opinion, hosted by Justia.com. Example: Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive Relief, GoldieBlox, Inc. v. Island Def Jam Music Group, A Div. of UMG Recordings, Inc., No. 3:13-cv-05428 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 21, 2013), complaint hosted by Scribd. Not: Viacom Int’l Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., No. 07 Civ. 2103 (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2010), slip op. hosted by Justia.com
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