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Legal Citation with the 10th edition of the McGill Guide

This guide provides an introduction to legal citation in Canada.

Citing Journal Articles

These are the elements you need to cite a journal article:

author(s), title of article, year, volume number, issue number (if available), journal/review name, first page number

Example:

Hoi L Kong, "Deliberative Constitutional Amendments" (2015) 41:1 Queen's LJ 105.

Citation Breakdown:

A. Author's Name

  • Use initial(s) or first name (as it appears in the journal), then last name, followed by a comma.
  • E.g. Hoi L Kong,

B. Article Title

  • Place the title of the article in quotation marks.
  • E.g. "Deliberative Constitutional Amendments"

C. Year

  • The year of publication is contained in parentheses.
  • E.g. (2015)

D. Volume Number

  • Always include the volume number, followed by a colon.
  • E.g. 41:

E. Issue Number

  • Not all journals publish in issues. If an issue number is available for the article, include it following the volume number and colon.
  • E.g. 41:1 (volume 41, issue 1)

F. Journal or Review Name

  • Use the established abbreviation for the journal according to Appendix D of the McGill Guide
  • E.g. Queen's LJ
  • Section 6.1.6 of the McGill Guide provides guidance for when there isn't an established abbreviation.
  • For more information, consult Finding Abbreviations for Law Reports and Journals.

G. Page Number

  • This number refers to the first page of the article within the journal.
  • E.g. 105

H. Pinpoint

  • When you need to cite to a particular passage, pinpoint to a page (or section, if they are numbered).
  • The pinpoint is introduced by "at".
  • E.g. Hoi L Kong, "Deliberative Constitutional Amendments" (2015) 41:1 Queen's LJ 105 at 107.