How to Cite Online Looseleafs
The question came up recently on the CALL listserv about how to cite online looseleafs, specifically those available on Thomson Reuters’ ProView platform.
The McGill Guide suggests citing print looseleafs as follows:
Author, Title (publication information) (Loose-leaf revision, supplement number or date), pinpoint.
However the McGill Guide does not address the question of how to cite a looseleaf that’s been accessed online. Extrapolating from section 6.2.1 of the McGill Guide (“Books”), it makes sense to add the online source at the end, e.g.
Author, Title (publication information) (Loose-leaf revision, supplement number or date), pinpoint (WL Can).
Note that Appendix E of the McGill Guide lists a number of abbreviations for online services, but not ones for Lexis Advance or ProView.
Many thanks to Esther Bélanger of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin who provided the following information:
[Thomson Reuters] are recommending this form :
Donald MacOdrum, Fox on the Canadian law of patents (Consulted on 29 August 2019), (Toronto: Thomson Reuters), ch 14 at 10 (Thomson Reuters eLooseleaf Library).
It is probably more practical to follow the McGill Guide’s lead and cite the revision number/date rather than the date it was consulted.
Esther also noted that Thomson Reuters sensibly recommends “looseleaf titles, whether in print or electronically … should be cited to chapter and section number/heading, not to page or paragraph numbers.”
Start the discussion!