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Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (8th ed): Home

Also known as the "McGill Guide"

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About this Guide

Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (8th ed)

                                 
Ref: KB280.2 Can 2014

This LibGuide is intended to be a quick reference for citing mainly Singapore, and some UK, legal publications.

It is based on, and is to be used as a supplement to the 8th ed. of the McGill Guide. It is not meant to be exhaustive - only the more common scenarios are featured here.

Note: This is the last edition of the McGill Guide that contains guidelines for Singapore legal materials.

The McGill Guide (9th ed)

This edition does not contain specific guidance on the citation of Singapore legal materials.      

For help on using this edition, see: Legal Citation with the 9th edition of the McGill Guide (Queen's University Library)

Why Cite? Some Background

Purposes of Citation

1. Helps the reader trace the source of the information you provide.

"The central function of a legal citation is to allow the reader to efficiently locate the cited source."
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 21st ed. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law Review Association, 2020).

2. Lends credibility to your work. Providing authoritative and relevant sources shows that your work is well researched. 

3. Avoids plagiarism. You must not present the ideas of others without attribution.

 

Purposes of Legal Citation

The following article may provide an understanding and appreciation of the values / norms that inform legal citation:

Paul Axel-Lute, "Legal Citation Form: Theory and Practice" (1982)  75 Law Libr. J. 148.
Access via HeinOnline or NexisUni)

Abstract: "Citations are the cornerstone upon which judicial opinions and law review articles stand. Citations provide both authorial verification of the original source material at the moment they are used and the needed information for readers to later find the cited source."

Research Librarian

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Su-Lin Lee
Contact:
C J Koh Law Library
+65 6601 7105
llbleesl@nus.edu.sg
Subjects: Law

Acknowledgement

Lim Siu Chen, Research Librarian (HASS), was the original creator and editor of this guide (2017 to 2018).