Bluebook 101
Electronic Sources
Rule 18
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Choice of Electronic Source
• Bluebook: prefer LexisNexis, Westlaw, and
other commercial electronic databases
because of their “reliability and
authoritativeness.” (R. 18.3)
• BUT: in an online journal, it’s a courtesy to
your readers to link to a source they can
reach.
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LexisNexis Academic
• Prefer free Internet sites if available
• Drive-by Shooting Kills Six Outside
Church, UPI, Jan. 7, 2010, available at
LEXISNEXIS ACADEMIC, News.
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Underlying Reason?
Help the Reader
• FIND the material you cited
• EVALUATE your work
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Commercial Databases
• Use Lexis or Westlaw citation (or other
system’s identifier)
• Tell reader what database something is
available in
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Use Internet
• Source not available in print or in
widely available commercial
database, OR
• It’s available in print, but Internet
version is identical and parallel
citation will improve access
» R. 18.2.3
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URL
• Give exact URL for document
• If search is required, give instructions on
how to get there.
»R. 18.2.3(d)
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Example
Memorandum from Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Sec'y of
Def., to the Sec'y of the Navy (July 7, 2004)
[hereinafter Wolfowitz Memorandum], available at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2004/d200407
07review.pdf
Gallagher Law Library, May 2011,
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Document Format
• Prefer pdf over html
»18.2.2(f)
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Parallel Citations
• Same source
• Improve access
»R. 18.2.3
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Example
Am. Bar Ass’n, Perceptions of
the U.S. Justice System 9-10
(1999), available at
http://www.abanet.org/media/p
erception/perceptions.pdf
Gallagher Law Library, May 2011,
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Example
WASH. STATE SUPREME COURT, TASK FORCE
ON EQUAL JUSTICE FUNDING, THE WASHINGTON STATE
CIVIL LEGAL NEEDS STUDY (2003), available at
http://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/content/t
askforce/CivilLegalNeeds.pdf
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Direct Citations to Internet
• When document is not also available in print
• Format by analogy with print – article looks
like article, report looks like book
• Omit “available at”
»R. 18.2.2
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Forthcoming Articles and Working Papers
(SSRN)
Cass R. Sunstein, Clear Statement
Principles and National Security:
Hamdan and Beyond, 2006 SUP. CT. REV.
(forthcoming 2007), available at
http://ssrn.com/abstract_id=922406
• Note that SSRN may include drafts that are
not the final published version.
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Gallagher Law Library
University of Washington School of Law
Box 353025
Seattle WA 98195-3025
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We are happy to have our guides used by other libraries,
librarians, and legal researchers. Before copying or adapting
one of our guides, please contact Cheryl Nyberg (cnyberg [at]
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attribution, such as: "Adapted from a guide by Mary Whisner
at the Gallagher Law Library website."
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