Research Guides: Legal Citation with the Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide (the COAL Guide): Finding Abbreviations to Law Reports and Journals

Finding Abbreviations to Law Reports, Journals, Courts, and Jurisdictions

Sometimes you need to find what a particular abbreviation stands for in order to track down the reporter or journal, and other times, you might need to find the abbreviation for a journal, reporter, court, or jurisdiction in order to cite it. There are a number of places to check.

General

Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
An excellent free database of legal abbreviations. It can be searched by full title or by abbreviation.
Law Journal and Report Abbreviations
A search tool from the University of British Columbia.
CanLII's Primary Law Databases Page
A common list of acronyms used in Canadian neutral citations. The COAL Guide often directs users to this list.

Canadian

Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 10th edition by McGill Law Journal
Call Number: ebook

Publication Date: 2023

Also available in print: KE259 .C36 2023 LAW (Reserve).

British

Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations by Donald Raistrick
Call Number: K89 .I45 2013 LAW (Reference)

Publication Date: 2013

American

Prince's Bieber Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations by Mary Miles Prince
Call Number: KF246 .P73 2009 LAW (Reference)

Publication Date: 2009