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Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th Edition

Guidance on using the Australian Guide to Legal Citation referencing style

Journal articles

Journal articles

See AGLC Part III — Secondary Sources > 5 Journal Articles

 

Unlike some other referencing styles, Australian Guide to Legal Citation ('AGLC') citations for journal articles retrieved from online journals via Library databases do not include the database name, URL or retrieval date.
 

Elements

Author/s, 'Article Title' (Year) Volume(Issue) Journal Starting Page Pinpoint
Andrew Kenyon, 'Problems with Defamation Damages?' (1998) 24(1) Monash University Law Review 70 , 74.
  • Author — in order of appearance on the article, refer to AGLC rule 4.1 and 5.1
  • 'Article Title' — within single quotations, refer to AGLC rule 4.2 and 5.2
    • capitalisation in line with AGLC rule 1.7
    • use a colon before a subtitle
  • The year appears within round brackets (parentheses) - note the exception for 'journals without a volume number' below
  • Volume number followed by the issue number in round brackets (parentheses). No space between volume and issue numbers. Note the exception for 'journals without a volume number' below
  • Journal — include the full title of the journal in italics, omitting The from the beginning, see AGLC rule 5.5
  • The starting page of the article is always included in the citation. This is separate from the pinpoint reference.
  • Pinpoint references are usually to page numbers (see AGLC rules 1.1.6–1.1.7 and 5.7).
     

Examples

1 Gary Edmond, 'What Lawyers Should Know about the Forensic "Sciences"' (2015) 36(1) Adelaide Law Review 33, 34.

2 Matthew Groves, 'Empathy, Experience and the Rule Against Bias in Criminal Trials' (2012) 36(2) Criminal Law Journal 84.


Journals without a volume number

Journals without a volume number

Some journals are organised by year rather than volume number. Refer to AGLC rules 5.3 and 5.4 for more information.
 

Elements

Author/s, 'Article Title' [Year] (Issue) Journal Starting Page Pinpoint
Jessica Kerr, 'Finding the New Zealand Judiciary' [2021] (1) New Zealand Law Review 1 , 32.

Elements are mostly the same, with these exceptions:

  • year appears within square brackets not parentheses, eg [2023]
  • volume number is omitted but there may be an issue number or other identifier, eg (Spring). Include a space between the year and issue.
     

Example

3 Alberto Alvarez-Jimenez, 'The International Law Gaze: Reparations for Mass Violations of International Law' [2023] (7) New Zealand Law Journal 250, 252.


Articles published in online journals

Articles published in online-only journals

Journal articles which are only published online are cited in the same format as traditional articles where possible. See AGLC rule 5.10.

  • It may not be possible to include a volume number, issue number or starting page. Substitute an article number or other identifier, eg a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) instead.
  • PDF articles' starting page number and pinpoint should appear as Article Number/Identifier:Page Range of Article, Pinpoint.
  • If the pinpoint is a paragraph number rather than page number, enclose the number within square brackets.
     

Example

4 Terri Janke, 'From Smokebush to Spinifex: Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and the Commercialisation of Plants' [2018] (1) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 5713:1–27, 9.