9.5 Guidelines on Style

What Style Should You Use for Text and References?

Learn from the good examples!

• Look at articles in leading journals —peer-reviewed are more useful in this respect than student edited journals— written by experienced faculty/authors.
• Do they have a footnote after every sentence? Certainly not! Do they have dozens of “ibid.” footnotes? Most probably not…
• Write SHORT AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES, clear and straightforward language, think of the educated lay person as your reader.
• The best model to follow on style: The Restatements of the Law by the American Law Institute --> go and check them out for style!
• DO NOT question or qualify every other sentence (too much “maybe” “might” and “could be” will make your work UNPERSUASIVE.
• Request Style Sheets from some well known / relevant journals (many have those online these days).
• Supplement the Blue Book or the ALWD Citation Manual with area-specific citation rules in this way (in particular if you are working with international / foreign law sources).
• Show samples to your supervisor / publisher and request feedback at early stages of the work.