Where do you start?
- Read the article closely enough to understand its main points.
- Make notes of information about sources from the text. While you're reading, look at the footnotes you've been assigned. Record anything useful about cited materials that doesn't appear in the footnote (such as the fact that it was a speech, or a paper presented at a conference).
Online vs. Print?
Editors should make thoughtful choices about citation to help ensure that future scholars can consult, verify, and build upon the scholarly record. Some considerations:
- Bluebook approach. The Bluebook prefers citation to print sources "when available."
- Under Rule 18.2.1, a digital version is ALWAYS okay to use and cite when it’s an authenticated, official, or an "exact copy."
- Note: Given the reduced availability of print sources and exact copies during the COVID-19 pandemic, editors should interpret Rule 18.2.1 more liberally.
- Permanence. Even though scholars frequently use and cite online resources, it's up to every editor to help make sure that their footnotes point to accurate, stable resources. Citing directly to online sources can complicate scholarly work in the future when links to those online sources break. See Adam Liptak, In Supreme Court Opinions, Web Links to Nowhere, NY Times, Sep. 23, 2013 available, for now, at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/us/politics/in-supreme-court-opinions-clicks-that-lead-nowhere.html.
- Journal style & author preferences. Editors should use both the Bluebook and their own journal manual when choosing which sources to cite and how to format their citations. Journal manuals are particularly helpful in providing guidance about how to work with authors, who sometimes have strong preferences about citation.
