Citations to Newspapers & Magazines

Bluebook Rule 16.6 covers citations to periodicals, which includes journals, newspapers and magazines.

Rule 16.6(f) now states that "Online newspapers may be used in place of print newspapers. Cite to the online source directly in accordance with rule 18.2.2.  Pagination can be included if available, but is not necessary."

Locating Newspaper Articles

The ProQuest Digital Microfilm database contains PDFs of recent articles from major newspapers. For less recent newspaper articles, use the ProQuest News & Newspapers database. PDF versions of these articles are restricted up to a certain date, which varies depending on the paper.

Additionally, Northwestern now provides direct access to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal for law students, staff and faculty. 

• Register for the New York Times (Northwestern Pritzker School of Law)
• Register for the Wall Street Journal (Northwestern Pritzker School of Law)

For other newspapers or magazines, follow the same strategy as when locating a journal article. Use Find a Journal to see if we have access to the title in any of our databases. Note that one title may be available in multiple databases and that the dates of coverage may vary between databases.

Because Bluebook Rule 16.6(f) states that online newspapers may be used in place of print newspapers, if the article is available electronically in any format, including on Lexis or Westlaw, we will not submit an ILL request for the article. Cite to the electronic version of the article.