Here at the UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal (PBLJ), we publish many articles regarding China, and understandably, these authors use primary Chinese sources to research and write their articles. However, the process of editing the footnotes of these articles can be an arduous process when there is no uniform treatment of Chinese Bluebooking rules. Each piece seems to have a slightly different format – leaving our Managing Editors spending too many hours trying to cleanup the citations and conforming it to Bluebook rules.
Thus, for all Chinese law scholars out there who are interested in publishing in an American law school journal (particularly PBLJ), I’ve compiled a few tips on Bluebooking Chinese sources. I’ve also provided visual samples for easy reference.
What’s the key to correct Bluebooking of Chinese sources? – Use Pinyin! I believe that there has been discussion on switching to Chinese characters instead. However, due to the fact that Westlaw and Lexis Nexis (the source of the largest journal audience) does not yet support Chinese characters, journals ought to require authors to include the Pinyin of all Chinese sources as well as an English translation. Pure translation is not preferred due to that fact that translations vary (depending on the translator), and thus, to ensure that editors reviewing footnotes can access the correct source, Pinyin needs to be included.
General Steps to Bluebooking Chinese Sources:
- Name of Author in Pinyin.
- Name of Article/Book in Pinyin (and following general Bluebook Rules, either Italicize or Small Cap the text).
- English Translation of Article/Book in brackets (and following general Bluebook Rules, either Italicize or Small Cap the text).
Here are some visual examples:
Books (and articles within books)
Books - Bluebooking Chinese Sources
Journal Articles
Journal Articles - Bluebooking Chinese Sources
Statues/Codes
Statues/Codes - Bluebooking Chinese Sources
Hope this helps! Happy Bluebooking Chinese sources!
