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Bluebook citation generator for legal writing

The Bluebook is the citation system for US legal writing. Law reviews cite in footnotes with large and small capitals; court documents follow the simpler Bluepages. WriteOrbit formats journal and book sources in Bluebook style.

Your list

Sources you add appear here, formatted in your style.

Your list stays in this browser. Copy keeps italics when you paste into Word or Google Docs. Check every citation against the source.

Bluebook example

The 1953 paper in which Watson and Crick described the structure of DNA (DOI 10.1038/171737a0), cited in Bluebook.

In the text

Footnote
A superscript number in the text, with the citation in the footnote.

Footnotes (no separate list)

J. D. Watson & F. H. C. Crick, Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid, 171 Nature 737 (1953).

Bluebook format for common sources

Journal article
Author, Title of the Article, Volume Journal First page, Pinpoint (Year).
Book
Author, Title of the Book page (edition, Year).

Main Bluebook rules

  • In law review footnotes, journal names (and book authors and titles) are set in large and small capitals.
  • Give the volume before the journal name and the first page after it, then the year in parentheses.
  • Use “&” between two authors.
  • Court documents and memos follow the Bluepages: ordinary type, with italics or underlining for titles.
  • Cases, statutes and court rules have their own formats; check them against the Bluebook itself.

Your course, publisher or university may change these rules. When they differ, follow them.

How to use it

  1. Find the source

    Paste a DOI or search by title, or enter a website, book or other source by hand.

  2. Pick a style

    APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, AMA, IEEE or any of over 10,000 styles.

  3. Copy

    Copy the reference and the in-text citation. Add more sources to build a list.

Good to know

  • A citation is only as good as its record. Check names, dates and capitalisation for unusual sources.
  • Your list stays in this browser. Sign in to keep references with your documents.

Questions

More in the help center.

Can WriteOrbit cite cases and statutes?

You can add them as custom sources, but check case and statute citations against the Bluebook. Automatic formatting works best for articles and books.

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