The AGLC is footnote referencing system produced by the Melbourne University Law Review Association and provides Australia with a uniform system of legal citation. It is designed for academics, legal practitioners, law students, and the judiciary.
AGLC Style Guides
Referencing in AGLC
Let's go through the steps of how to use a style guide to reference in AGLC, using the Melbourne University Law Review and the Melbourne Journal of International Law's PDF version (3.5 MB).
The footnote
The AGLC guide focuses mostly on footnotes, so we will start with how to write a footnote citation of your source. As there are just minor differences between footnotes and bibliography entries, it's easy enough to copy your footnotes into a bibliography as you go, then check the bibliography formatting when you edit your work.
1. Identify what the source is, where it's from, and who it's by.
Is it a book? A case? Legislation? A journal article? A government report? Did you access it online? How many authors does it have? The source's characteristics influence how to reference it.
2. Find a matching example in your style guide.
The aim is to find the closest example possible in your AGLC style guide. For the following examples, we're using the Melbourne University Law Review and the Melbourne Journal of International Law's PDF version.
3. Write out the footnote following the style guide examples.
Your aim at this point is to make the information you have match the order and formatting of the example in the style guide. This includes details such as punctuation, italicisation, and case (e.g. Title Case).
If you're unsure about how to cite a particular source, remember that the person marking your assignment cares most of all about consistency and having enough information to be able to locate the source themselves. Check over your references to make sure they're following the same principles and formatting.
Include pinpoints (pages, paragraphs, sections etc.) in your in-text citations whenever you use quotes, specific data or a paraphrase of a specific section in a source.
Bibliography entries
When you use AGLC, there are general rules to follow for creating your bibliography, which are explained in the PDF version of the guide.
Check your guide
Always remember to have your chosen style guide open while you are referencing, even if you use referencing software. It's useful to look out for inconsistencies and to make sure that you have all the right information in the correct order and format. Check out the style guides listed at the top of this page.
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