Citing & Writing | Laurier Library

This page provides links to library and internet resources for help with regular writing and citation styles, and also provides help with Canadian legal citation.

Citation Guides at Laurier Library

Citing

Click the above link for a list of common citation style guides, and check out our short video tutorials on when to cite and how to cite. Need help figuring out citations for your assignment? Please visit the Writing Services website or contact your subject librarian. Laurier Library has more information about citing sources here. See below for help with legal citation.

Proper citation shows your commitment to academic integrity. Please watch this video on understanding and avoiding plagiarism in your work.

Watch this video to learn how to use Zotero to organize your references and create citations.

Writing

Writing Literature Reviews: A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences

Writing Tips Plus from the Translation Bureau of Canada can help you translate place names, abbreviations and forms of address, from French to English or from English to French. This site also contains links to The Canadian Style, TERMIUM Plus®, and Language Navigator.

Tips for Writing Policy Papers - Stanford Law School

Suggested Titles for English Language Learners

English Writing Exercises for Second Language Learners

Academic Writing - A Handbook for International Students

ESL Writing - Intermediate & Advanced

Legal Citation

Canadian law uses The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation. It is sometimes referred to as The McGill Guide or Redbook. A copy of the 10th edition of this guide is available in the Laurier Brantford Collection. A quick guide to using the 10th edition is available from the University of Calgary Library.

Canadian legal citation uses footnotes rather than in-text citations. When citing always include the full citation the first time it is mentioned, and then use abbreviations and the Latin phrases (Ibid and supra) for all citations after. Below are a few standard examples of how to cite, but when in doubt always refer to the McGill Guide as this is by no means an exhaustive list.

How to cite a case:

When citing a case you need to include the parties involved and the date and court it was heard in. In the below example, the two parties involved are "R" (Latin for Rex or Regina, or the Crown) and Boutilier. The case was decided in 2017 in the Supreme Court of Canada and it was the 64th case heard that year.

eg. R. v. Boutilier, 2017 SCC 64.

Furthermore, when citing you may need to refer to a specific paragraph within the case if you are directly quoting or using specific information found in a particular paragraph. If you are citing the above case and a phrase within paragraph three, you would do that as follows;

eg. R. v. Boutilier, 2017 SCC 64 at para 3.

How to cite an online source:

When working on an assignment, for example a case brief, you may want to use information outside of the case itself. If you end up using a website there is a standard way to cite it.

Author(s), Title of the page (date created), online: Title of the host website <web address>

eg. Devon Kapoor, R v Boutilier: The Dangerous Offender Regime and the Spectre of Indeterminate Sentences (January 2018), online: The Court.ca http:// www. thecourt. ca/r-v-boutilier-the-dangerous-offender-regime-and-the-spectre-of-indeterminate-sentences/

Using one source multiple times:

As previously mentioned, the first time you use a source in your paper you provide the complete citation in a footnote. Subsequent citations may use ibid or supra. If your footnote is referring to the same source in the immediately preceding footnote you use ibid as a short from rather than having to repeat the full citation.

eg. 1. R. v. Boutilier, 2017 SCC 64.

2. Ibid.

If your footnote is referring to something you have already cited that is not immediately preceding you use supra and make reference to the citation it refers to.

eg. 11. R. v. Morgentaler [1988] 1 SCR 30.

12. McGowan, supra note 2.