OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) Referencing Guide
(updated Mar 2023)

Last updated: Sun, Mar 26 2023 at 09:36am

Citationsy › Style Guides › OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)

How to do citations in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) style?

This is the Citationsy guide to OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) citations, reference lists, in-text citations, and bibliographies.
The complete, comprehensive guide shows you how easy citing any source can be. Referencing books, youtube videos, websites, articles, journals, podcasts, images, videos, or music in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities).

Automate citations and referencing with our tool, Citationsy. It’s free to try and over 400 000 students and researchers already use it.
Click here to give it a try.

cite OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) — Referencing Guide

How do you cite a book in the OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) referencing style? (2023 Guide)

One of the most cited mediums is of course books. Here’s how to cite a book in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)

Here’s an example book citation in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) using placeholders:

Last Name FN, Title (, EFN Editor Last Name ed., Edition, Publisher 2000)

So if we want to cite, for example, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou we’d do so like this:
OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) citation:

Angelou M, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (, , 1st edn., Random House 1969)

And an in-text citation book citation in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) looks like this: M Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (, , 1st edn., Random House 1969).

Automate citations and referencing in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) with our tool, Citationsy.
It’s free to try and over 400 000 students and researchers already use it.
Click here sign up

How to reference a journal article in the OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) citation style?

How do you cite scientific papers in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) format?

An OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) citation for a journal article includes the author name(s), publication year, article title, journal name, volume and issue number, page range of the article, and a DOI (if available). Here’s how

Here’s a OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) journal citation example using placeholders:

Author1 LastnameAF and Author3 LastnameAF, “Title” (2000) Volume Container accessed March 28, 2023

So if we want to reference this scientific article: “Testing consumer preferences for iced-coffee: Does the drinking environment have any influence?” by C. Petit and J.M. Sieffermann in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities):

Petit C and Sieffermann J, “Testing Consumer Preferences for Iced-Coffee: Does the Drinking Environment Have Any Influence?” (2007) 18 accessed March 28, 2023

And an in-text citation would look like this: C Petit and J Sieffermann, “Testing Consumer Preferences for Iced-Coffee: Does the Drinking Environment Have Any Influence?” (2007) 18 accessed March 28, 2023.

Automate citations and referencing in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) with Citationsy. Get started for free

How to cite a website in a paper in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) style?

The basics of a reference list entry for a web page or web document in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) is straight forward. Here’s how

Here’s an OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) example website reference:

Author1 LastnameAF and Author2 LastnameAF, “Title” (, , , January 1, 2000) accessed March 28, 2023

To reference the article located at this link:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/05/uselections20083
on The Guardian website:

Tran M, “Barack Obama To Be America’s First Black President” (, , , November 5, 2008) accessed March 28, 2023

And an in-text citation would look like this: M Tran, “Barack Obama To Be America’s First Black President” (, , , November 5, 2008) accessed March 28, 2023.

Citing websites and links in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) is much easier with the Citationsy Chrome Extension →
Cite OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) with Citationsy. Get started for free

How to cite a YouTube video OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) in 2023

Citing a video from YouTube may appear more difficult than citing a book because YouTube has so much information. But the process is quite simple, here’s how to do it in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)

Here’s a OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) citation YouTube video example:

ChannelName, “Title” (, , , YouTubeJanuary 1, 2000) accessed March 28, 2023

So how to cite a video OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)?

Pixar, “Pizza Clip — Inside Out” (, , , YouTubeJune 3, 2015) accessed March 28, 2023

And an in-text video citation would look like this: Pixar, “Pizza Clip — Inside Out” (, , , YouTubeJune 3, 2015) accessed March 28, 2023.

How to cite a podcast using OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) referencing style

Are you listening to a podcast and you want to use it in your essay or presentation? Here’s how to cite it in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)

It is becoming more and more common to reference podcasts in essays or other school work.
Here’s how to reference a podcast it in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities).

Lastname F, “Title” accessed March 28, 2023

Podcast referencing example in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) using “This American Life” episode 640:

This American Life, “640: Five Women” accessed March 28, 2023

And an in-text citation would look like this: This American Life, “640: Five Women” accessed March 28, 2023.

Cite podcasts in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) with Citationsy, a referencing app used by over 400 000 students.
Get started for free

How to cite a piece of music or a song using OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) referencing style?

Did you know that Bob Dylan has written well over 500 different songs? Here’s how to cite any song in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)

An example song citation in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities).

Lastname F, “Song Title” accessed March 28, 2023

Let‘s say we want to reference “Here Comes the Sun” off The Beatles “Abbey Road” album in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities):

The Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun” accessed March 28, 2023

And an in-text citation would look like this: The Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun” accessed March 28, 2023.

You can automate citing and referencing any source in OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) using Citationsy.

Cite sources using the OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) Citation Machine

Cite OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) with Citationsy, a referencing app used by over 400 000 students. Get started for free

OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) Referencing Guide (updated Mar 2023)