We have already quickly looked at how to cite edited and translated books in my blog OSCOLA Referencing Summary for Books, as well as contributions to edited books, but now we will look at these types of reference in a bit more detail. You may frequently come across this sort of source in your writing, so it is important that you can reference it correctly in your bibliography and in footnotes.
For example, a textbook may have different authors every chapter or you may read a book about the law from another country that was originally in that country’s official language, but has since been translated into another language, which is the version you read.
Alternatively, a book may give an editor but no author, so you would have to use the editor in the reference. In addition, the book may have an author but still name an editor on the cover, in which case you should include them in your reference.
Rules for Referencing Books
Let’s start by looking at some general rules for referencing books in OSCOLA. The first one actually concerns the authors of books but will affect the editors and translators as well. This rule is about the difference between the reference in a footnote and one in a bibliography. In a footnote, the author’s name will be in the format “First name(s) | Last name”. This is swapped around in the bibliography to be “Last name | Initials of first name(s)”. Note that this is still written without any commas, as OSCOLA is light on punctuation.
Another difference between references in a footnote and a bibliography is whether or not to use a full stop. If the reference is in a footnote, you should put one at the end of the reference. However, if the reference is in the bibliography, you don’t need the full stop (again, punctuation light).
As you can see, footnotes and bibliographies are treated differently in OSCOLA, so take care when transferring your references from one of these to another. It is easy to forget to change these little things when you are taking them across!
There are a few other rules for referencing books in OSCOLA. Firstly, remember that book titles should be written as they are on the cover of the book in terms of inclusion of words such as “the” or “a”. However, if the title is given all in capitals on the front of the book, you can put it into mostly lowercase – just follow the normal OSCOLA rules for capitalisation.
These rules are much the same as for capitalising titles and headings in general – capitalise the first letter of words only. You don’t need to capitalise every word, just major ones. This means that you can leave words such as “and” and “of” in all lowercase. For example, if you look at the heading of this blog, you will see that I have capitalised all the words apart from “for” and “and”:
OSCOLA Referencing Summary for Edited and Translated Works
Another rule for OSCOLA referencing is that book titles are always written in italics. However, they do not need to be put into quote marks as OSCOLA is punctuation light. If part of the book’s title is already in italics, simply reverse this in the reference, so that the bit that was in italics is now in normal type and the rest of the title, which was in normal type, is written in italics.
Finally, additional titles, such as individual chapters, should be placed inside single quote marks. This distinguishes them from the main title and makes it easier for the reader to find the specific part of the book you are focused on. This is particularly useful if you are just referencing a contributed chapter of an edited book.
How Do You Reference Edited and Translated Books?
There are two formats for referencing an edited or translated book. The first, where there is no author given, uses the editor or translator’s name in place of the author. You then add “(ed)” or “(tr)” after their name. If there are multiple editors or translators, use the abbreviations “(eds)” and “(trs)”. The basic layout for this format is:
First name or initial(s) | Last Name | (ed) OR (tr), | Title of book in italics | (Additional information, | Publisher | Year).
For example:
Jeremy Horder (ed), Oxford Essays in Jurisprudence: Fourth Series (OUP 2000).
As you can see, this reference is in a footnote. In a bibliography, it would be:
Horder J (ed), Oxford Essays in Jurisprudence: Fourth Series (OUP 2000)
However, if there is an author given, but an editor or translator is also credited, cite the book as a normal book reference, placing the editor or translator acknowledgement at the start of the publication information. The format for this is:
First name or initial(s) | Last Name, | Title of book in italics | (Name of editor or translator | ed OR tr, | Additional information, | Publisher | Year).
For example:
HLA Hart, Punishment and Responsibility: Essays in the Philosophy of Law (John Gardner ed, 2nd edn, OUP 2008).
How Do You Reference Contributions to Edited and Translated Books?
As stated above, this is treated in a slightly different way. The format is:
First name or initial(s) | Last name, | ‘Title of contribution’ | in | Name of editor or translator | (ed) or (tr), | Title of book in italics | (Additional information, | Publisher | Year).
For example:
John Cartwright, ‘The Fiction of the “Reasonable Man”’ in AG Castermans and others (eds), Ex Libris Hans Nieuwenhuis (Kluwer 2009).
You do not need to give the page numbers of the contribution.
Wrapping Up
I hope that this helps you in your writing and you are now more confident about citing edited and translated works. Do come back in two weeks, when we will be looking at citing older books.
Want help proofreading your work? Contact Carmine Proofreading for a friendly, professional service from a qualified proofreader.
Email: CarmineProofreading@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarmineProofed
Carmine Proofreading 