This post offers a few tips on editing texts that incorporate simplified or traditional Chinese source materials using the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th edition) referencing system.

1. Cross-referencing and subsequent references

For repeat citations, cross-reference to the initial footnote using the construction (n [page number]).

The convention in English is as follows:

  • 1. Albert HY Chen, An Introduction to the Legal System of the People’s Republic of China (LexisNexis, 4th ed, 2015).
  • …
  • 3. Chen (n 1).

For Chinese sources, the rule (see 16.4.2) is to spell out the author’s name in full, including the translated (pinyin) name:

  • 5. 王先林 [Wang Xianlin], 《知识产权与反垄断法》 [Intellectual Property and Anti-monopoly Law] (法律出版社,2020) [Law Press China, 2020] 243.
  • 6. Ibid 244.
  • …
  • 8. 王先林 [Wang Xianlin] (n 5) 248.

Be sure to use the cross-reference function in your word processing program (e.g., Microsoft Word) rather than trying to cross-reference manually because, if a footnote is later added or removed, the sequential numbering should remain correct when updated.1

2. Short titles and subsequent references

Short titles are used as an economic way to present subsequent references to cases or legislation without the need to repeat especially long titles. A short title is inserted at the end of the first instance and styled in italics, within single quotation marks and parentheses.

The AGLC recommends case titles be ‘the first-named party … or the second-named party when the first-named party is the Crown’ (see 1.4.4).

  • 10. Chan Yee Kin v Minister for Immigration & Ethnic Affairs [1989] HCA 62; (1989) 169 CLR 379 (9 December 1989) ('Chan').
  • …
  • 12. Chan (n 10).

Short titles for legislation may appear as either an abbreviation or occasionally as an acronym. For Chinese statutes, the short title would derive from the translated title, as in the following example:

  • 《中华人民共和国反垄断法》[Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China] (People's Republic of China) Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Order No 68, 1 August 2008 (‘Anti-Monopoly Law’ [or ‘AML’]).

Two examples provided by the AGLC are ‘ADJR Act’ as an appropriate shortened form for ‘Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (Cth)’ (see 3.5), and either ‘Australian Consumer Law’ or ‘ACL’ for ‘Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) sch 2’ (see 3.1.7).

Also note that the shortened title and all subsequent references are styled in italics (per 16.4.2).

Interestingly, this italics attribution raises a potentially confusing issue of rule precedence when applying the AGLC to Chinese-language citation and referencing.

3. A question of precedence

Rule 16.1 of the AGLC states (emphasis added):

  • In citations of Chinese primary materials, translations of elements appearing in Chinese should adhere to rule 26.1.1 (i.e., should appear in square brackets after the element translated).…
  • Chinese characters should not be italicised, in titles or otherwise. Instead, where an element of a citation would ordinarily be italicised according to the relevant rule of this Guide, Chinese characters forming that element should appear between guillemets («»).

Since journal titles would ordinarily be italicised, this rule appears to suggest that the Chinese journal title should appear between guillemets, with the translated text in square brackets and styled without italics (see 26.1.1). For example:

  • 《法商研究》[Studies in Law and Business]

However, such a rendering of the publication element is not found anywhere in the guide. Rather, journal titles are styled according to rule 16.4.1, which states (emphasis added): ‘Where a source includes a Chinese title and an English title, both should be included in a citation. The English title should be italicised where appropriate.’ This is consistent with the general rule regarding journal styling (see 5.5).

Ultimately, the confusion appears to be with the use of the term ‘title’ (see 16.1), which in the publishing world refers to a periodical title or masthead.

The solution, then, is to simply follow examples provided by the guide, such as the following (16.4.1 and 16.4.2 respectively):

  • 山西经济管理干部学院学报 Journal of Shanxi Institute of Economic Management
  • 行政与法 Public Administration and Law

Even the most rigorously edited style guide can contain rules that may sometimes be unclear, and their interpretation can be a challenge. Where questions of precedence arise, understanding where one rule may override another is often best clarified by referring to the examples provided.

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1. Footnote numbering should be updated regularly after each edit. For Microsoft Word, this is done by placing the cursor in the footnote area and selecting all by pressing Command + a (Mac) or Control + a (Win). Once all of the document’s footnotes are selected, press fn + F9 (Mac) or F9 (Win). On a Mac, a prompt will appear which reads ‘Word can’t undo this action. Do you want to continue?’ Go ahead and press Yes to update the document’s footnote numbering.