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A “citation” is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find the location details of that source on the reference or Works Cited page.

Citation also help distinguish between your own ideas and those of your sources.

Types of Citation

Below mentioned are some types of citations:

1. Case Citation

Case citations provide a standardized format for referring to court cases, including the case

name, year of decision, court, and reporter volume and page number.

Structure of a Case Citation - Case citations provide the people reading legal documents with an idea about the case name, date of the case, report, volume and very importantly, the first page of the case.

Let’s take the example of the Kesavananda Bharati case to make the structure of a case citation explained.

  1. Case Name - Case name refers to the official name of the case. For example, Kesavananda Bharati v. The State of Kerala.
  2. Date of The Case - The date refers to the date on which the verdict of the case was decided. For example, the verdict of the Kesavananda Bharati case was decided on 24th April 1973.
  3. Report – The report refers to the report series under which the specific case is filed. When looking at how to find the citation of a case in India, first we have to look at the reports under which we file cases in India. The following are the three main reports in India:
  • SCC - Supreme Court Cases
  • AIR - All India Reporter
  • SCR - Supreme Court Reports
  1. Volume - Reports come under several different volumes, and the number of the volume is also mentioned in the citation. This is except for AIR, which does not follow the volume system. The Kesavananda Bharati case comes under volume 4 of the SCC.
  2. Page Number - This refers to the page number within the report from where the case report in the report series begins. It is marked clearly in the case citation. The Kesavananda Bharati starts from page number 225 of volume 4 of the SCC; and page number 1461 of the AIR.

Formats for different types of citations:

A. The format for AIR citations is in the following order:
  1. Case name (Sebastian Hongray v. Union of India)
  2. AIR
  3. Year (1984)
  4. Court (SC for Supreme Court)
  5. Page number (571)

Note that AIR documents both Supreme Court as well as High Court cases; High Court cases are documented as HC. AIR does not include volumes.

B. The format for SCC citation is as follows:
  1. Case name (Sebastian Hongray v. Union of India)
  2. Year (in brackets) [ (1984)]
  3. Volume (1)
  4. Page number (339)
C. The format for SCR citation is as follows:
  1. Case name (Sebastian Hongray v. Union of India)
  2. Year (in brackets) [ (1984)]
  3. Volume (1)
  4. SCR
  5. Page number (904)

2. Statute Citation

A statute citation is a specific format used to identify and locate a law or legal rule, typically a statute passed by a legislature. It’s like a unique address for a law, enabling others to easily find the text of the law. Statute citations include the statute’s name, its location in a legal database (like a code or section), and any relevant amendments.

3. Pinpoint Citation

A pinpoint citation, also known as a “pincite”, provides a specific reference within a legal source to the page, paragraph, or section where a relevant quote or piece of information is located. It helps readers navigate directly to the precise location within a case, statute, or other legal document.

  • Purpose: To guide the reader to the exact location within a source where the cited material can be found.
  • How it works: Pinpoint citations are typically placed after the main citation of a case or document, separated by a comma and a space.
  • Example: Ram v. Shyam, AIR 2005 SC 1234 at p. 1260” (page 1260 of the case)

Footnotes

Footnotes in research are notes placed at the bottom of a page that provide additional information, citations, or commentary without disrupting the flow of the main text. They are indicated in the text with superscript numbers or symbols, which correspond to the numbered footnotes at the bottom of the page.

Footnotes are highly effective due to their ease of access and their ability to direct readers to relevant citations or supplementary ideas swiftly.