Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th Edition (AGLC4)

Overview

• AGLC4 is a referencing system used in law courses across Australia.
• Utilizes superscript numbers and footnotes for citations.

Footnotes

• Usage:
  1. To reference someone else’s ideas.
  2. When referring to another source.
  3. To support an argument or legal point.
• Used for additional information not suitable for the main text.
• Appear consecutively after a punctuation mark.
• End each footnote with a full stop.
• No citation needed in footnotes if the Act is mentioned by name in the text.

Formatting Footnotes

• Authors are listed as in the original source.
• No full stops between initials.
• Authors:
  • Up to 3 authors: list all.
  • More than 3 authors: list first author followed by 'et al.'
• Titles:
  • Italicize books, journals, websites, cases, and legislation titles.
  • Use single quotation marks for sections of larger works (e.g., journal articles, book chapters).
• Capitalisation: Capitalise all title words except articles, conjunctions, prepositions.

Pinpoints

• Indicate specific sections of a resource.
• Rules: 1.1.6 and 1.1.7.
• Pages: Single numbers or ranges.
• Paragraphs: Square brackets.
• Use both page and paragraph numbers if applicable.
• Legislation: Include abbreviation for designation before the pinpoint.

Subsequent References

• Rule: Section 1.4.
• Options:
  • Ibid: For immediately preceding footnote.
    • Include pinpoint if different from original footnote.
  • Shortened Form: If not immediately preceding.
    • Use short title (cases/legislation) or first author’s surname (secondary sources).
    • Include cross reference for full citation.

Bibliography

• Location: End of the work.
• Includes all sources from footnotes and potentially all sources read.
• Check preference with lecturer.
• Rule: 1.13.
• Structure:
  • Alphabetical sections.
  • Labelled with consecutive letters.
  • Resource type in italics.
  • Centred headings.
• Author Names:
  • Inverted format for secondary sources (surname first).
  • Only first author's name inverted if multiple authors.
• No pinpoints in bibliography.
• No full stops at end of bibliography citations.

Additional Resources

• Full AGLC4 guide available on the Law Library Guide under Write & Reference tab.