Crafting Complete Legal Bibliographies

A legal bibliography provides the full citation information for sources referenced in a legal document. Here are some key guidelines:

• Place bibliography at the end – The bibliography goes at the very end of the document, after any appendices.
• Alphabetize entries – List bibliography entries in alphabetical order based on the first word of each citation.
• Use consistent formatting – Follow Bluebook, ALWD or other established citation manual formatting for each type of source.
• Include all sources referenced – The bibliography should include full citations for all references in the document including cases, statutes, books, articles etc.
• Omit irrelevant sources – Do not pad the bibliography with sources that were not actually referenced in the document.
• Check accuracy of details – Carefully check each source’s citation components like author name, title, publication year, publisher etc.
• Use single-spaced lines – Use single spacing within each bibliographic entry. Add an extra line space between entries.
• Italicize titles of sources – Italicize titles of court cases, books, articles, and journals according to citation manual guidelines.
• Bold case names in citations – For court case citations, bold the case names but not the reporter, date, or additional citation information.

Comprehensive, properly formatted legal bibliographies lend credibility and protect against plagiarism allegations.