how to write a law exam essay

• Essay - Advanced Analysis for the Bar Exam
• Performance Test Workshop
• MBE Substantive Review - Live via Zoom
• Science of the Multistate Workshop
• California Bar Review
• Bar Review - Premier Tutoring Package
• Bar Review - Repeat Examinee
• Bar Review - Attorney's Test
• Baby Bar Review Workshop
• Baby Bar Bundle
• Baby Bar Final Drill - Free Event
• 1L Boot Camp
• Exam Solutions - Ace your finals!
• Multistate Workshop - Science of the Multistate
• #1 Legal Exam Writing Workshop
• Performance Test - Harness the Power of the PT!
• Events Calendar
• The Art of Test Taking - TBA
• Baby Bar Final Drill - 6/15
• Private Tutoring | Bar Exam, Baby Bar, and Law School
• Premier Bar Review & Tutoring
• Fleming's Fundamentals of Law
• Nailing the Bar, Tim Tyler Series
• Seigel Series
• Criminal Law Roadmap, 8th Ed.
• Calendar of Events

How To Write a First-Class Law School Essay Exam Answer

Every student wants to write a first-class law school essay exam answer.  To excel at law school essay exam writing, you must know and understand the law, spot all the pertinent issues in the exam hypothetical, thoroughly analyze those issues by persuasively applying the law to fact, and provide sound legal conclusions based on your analysis.  These skills are fundamental to writing an outstanding law exam essay answer, and they require extensive law school exam preparation combined with law exam practice.  

Having Knowledge and Understanding of the Law

Knowing the legal rules is foundational to writing a top-notch law school essay exam answer. When working as a law school writing professor, I tested my first-year law students on strict liability involving animals that were the product of crossbreeding domestic and wild animals. When I read all the exam answers submitted, one stood out from the rest because it demonstrated with precision all the essential skills required to produce a superior essay answer. 

The answer demonstrated the student’s ability to state the relevant rules.  The student achieved this knowledge from briefing his cases because briefing assists with not only learning the legal rules but also with the legal reasoning required to apply the rules.  He also attended all his classes, which is important because the class discussions assist with the ability to apply the law.  

This same student utilized the Fleming’s Torts Substantive Law Outline , another important resource in his law school preparation arsenal.  This outline distilled the law and provided him with crisp rule definitions that made their way into his impressive answer.  

By following the law school process and utilizing proper legal resource materials, it was clear this student knew the law and understood which standards to use for what was being tested. As a reader, I did not have to guess at the legal standards when scoring the answer – the content in the exam answer spoke for itself.

It’s Essential to Spot all the Issues In Law School Essay Exams

The next aspect of this student’s first-class law school essay writing was that he spotted all the major and minor issues.  Achieving that put him a cut above the majority of other student examinees who did not.

Many students can spot several of the major issues. However, many miss the minor issues.  Using as an example this strict liability exam, there was a subtle fact that created an intervening factor that arguably could sever liability.  For students who did not spot this issue, their conclusions were flawed.  For the few students who spotted the intervening factor, they set themselves apart from the rest of the class because they recognized the issue, cited the applicable law, analyzed the law to the specific facts, and came to the proper conclusion based on their reasoned analysis. They also received the high score for their effort.

Writing a superior law school essay exam answer is not just about knowing the substantive law – it is about applying the law to facts that raise issues. Thus, a student can know all the law in the world, but if he or she cannot spot issues on a law school exam, there is no chance to demonstrate application, which is the cornerstone to becoming a lawyer. 

Thus, as part of law school exam preparation, I recommend students review practice exams and model answers for issue spotting to increase this necessary issue spotting skill. Integrating law school exam practice into the study process will always lead to higher grades.

Writing Precise and Persuasive Law School Essay Exam Analysis

Knowing the rules and spotting the issues will afford a certain number of points, but in law school essay writing, you can knock it out of the park with precise and persuasive analysis/application of the facts.  

Referring again to the student mentioned above, his outstanding answer utilized all the facts in the exam.  He stated what the facts actually said, and then interpreted the facts within the context of the law. He finished with a reasoned conclusion based on his analysis. 

As a law school professor, I have graded thousands of law school exams. I am always frustrated when I read law exam answers wherein the law student paraphrases the facts because paraphrasing can change the nature of the facts.  It is never a good idea to frustrate the person who is grading the exam answer. Law students must understand that the facts are given as they are for a reason. The facts must be used specifically and in the same language given in the exam hypothetical so they can then be properly interpreted and analyzed when applying the law. 

Another reason why the student referred to above wrote a first-class law school essay exam was because he analyzed the law and facts persuasively.  A problem for most students is writing analysis that is conclusory.  It is conclusory because they are not answering the “why” for each issue.  

To correct conclusory analysis, law students must provide analysis for each element of the rule using the facts in support e.g., “The large goats owned by Mr. Farmer wandered onto Mr. Field’s neighboring property after the lock pulled out from the connector on their pen. The gate then swung open, and the animals entered the neighboring land without that landowner’s knowledge.  Thus, the goats were trespassing livestock.” Here in this example, the student answered why the large goats were trespassing and how it happened.  If you are not writing this way, you must practice by tying the element of the rule and the facts together to answer the “why.” 

When writing a superb law school essay exam, you must analyze the law and facts for each party because the intent of law school essay exams is to train you to think like a lawyer.  As a civil litigation attorney, I not only research the facts and law for my client, but I must do the same for the opposing party because I must be able to anticipate and refute their arguments.  

In the student’s essay exam referred to above, he skillfully argued on behalf of both the plaintiff and defendant. When I read his exam answer, his arguments flowed flawlessly from one issue to the next, addressing the arguments for each party.

Legal reasoning is the method of thought and argument used when applying the rules to the facts. In the crossbred animal case, the neighbor used an electric cattle prod on the animals to try to move them off his property.  The student provided a brief, yet exceptional analysis on behalf of the plaintiff, explaining why an electric cattle prod could incite domestic animals, not only the crossbred animals, to be aggressive.  He had the skill to apply a reasonable argument that extended from the fact pattern in support of the plaintiff’s defense.

Legally Sound Conclusions 

Outstanding law school essay writing requires correct and concise conclusions.  As a grader, I would assign “0” points to a conclusion that began with, “If the court finds . . . ”  or conclusions that did not comport with the reasoning in the analysis.  You are being trained to think like a lawyer, so ultimately you must pick a position and assert it in your conclusion.  Always write conclusions where it’s relevant, as well as an overall conclusion for each call of the question.

Do Not be Afraid to Seek Help Learning to Write Law School Essay Exams

It can be exceedingly difficult for law students to assess their own strengths and weaknesses when developing their essay writing.  Students can also hit roadblocks.  If this is happening to you, I recommend that you discuss your essay exams with your professors because their feedback can be truly enlightening.  They also tend to be very dedicated and enjoy assisting law students, so be courageous and ask for help.  

If you are still having difficulty with exam test-taking after consulting with your professors, private tutors, like those available through Fleming’s Fundamental of Law, are a tremendous resource because they can address and provide direction regarding your specific strengths and weaknesses. 

Work Hard to Master Law School Essay Writing

You must master each aspect of law school essay writing to achieve a first-class exam.  It

takes dedication to learning and applying the facts to the law in a persuasive manner.  It also takes a tremendous amount of practice because you must keep working on developing the skill until you achieve your goal.  Once you do, you will be well on the road to thinking and writing like a lawyer. 

Law School vs. Bar Exam Essay Writing

The law school essay exam principles discussed above are the same for bar exam essays. Bar examiners are looking for the same ingredients in essay exam answers that law professors are looking for in law school exam answers. Thus, when you prepare to take law school essay exams, you are also preparing to take bar exam answers. 

Embrace the law school process because every practice exam you take and every mid-term and final exam you take brings you closer to your goal to pass the Bar Exam and begin your legal career as a lawyer.

Anonymous - September 14, 2022 I need help writing law school exams.

Leave a comment

Comments must be approved before appearing

* Required fields

Be in the know and join our mailing list.

Download Your Free Sample Bar Exam Essay Q&A

Added to your cart:.

Free shipping on subscriptions and orders!  Hurry up!

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to footer

Law School Toolbox®

All the tools you need for law school success

Exam Writing 101

Below, you’ll find general drafting tips for law school essay exams, advice on IRAC and IRAC-alternatives , and strategies for spending your exam-writing time wisely and turning out really great answers .

Best of luck!

General Drafting Tips for Law School Exams

• A Handy Template for Answering “Hard” Law School Exam Questions What not to do: cry and start drawing conclusions. What to do: embrace ambiguity and think it through. Oh, and read this post.
• Two Ways Your Law School Exam Answers Went Wrong Getting your first law school grades can be shocking. And what can be even more confusing is trying to figure out what you did wrong. Mostly, the answer is “the curve,” of course, but there are two fundamental ways that things can go off the rails.
• From Bare Bones to Meaty Analysis: How to Skeleton Outline Your Essay We here at the Law School Toolbox put a lot of weight in pre-planning essays and front-loading the work so the actual writing is more of a breeze. If you’re not sure what I mean by “scratch paper outlining” or “pre-planning” your essay, think of it as making a blueprint for the answer you’re about to write. Here are some steps to keep in mind.
• How to Use the Facts on Law School Exams Factual Analysis is an important lawyering skill. Here are some strategies to use the facts to your advantage on your law school exams!
• Top Three Mistakes on Final Exams and How to Fix Them Now! While it is not constructive to rehash your mistakes, it is constructive to identify weaknesses in your exam-writing skills — and to make a plan to improve those skills starting now.
• How to Move From Outline to Exam Answer Here are some tips for using your outline to prepare for exams – even if you haven’t finished your outlines yet.
• How to Deal With a Really Long Fact Pattern on Exam Day What if you open your exam to find the longest essay you've ever seen? Don't panic! Just remember the following steps and attack the test like a pro.
• 4 Ways to Improve Your Legal Writing If you're wondering how to improve your legal writing, you're not alone! Here are four things you can do to make your legal writing assignments better.

IRAC and Organizational Alternatives

• How to Organize Your Law School Exam Answers Although it depends on the preference of the professor (which you’ll suss out by examining their sample answers and asking questions), there are some generally accepted organizational strategies that you’ll want to consider.
• The Elusive Mini-IRAC: A Key to Law School Exam Success IRAC, the notorious structural underpinning of many a law school final exam is a relatively straightforward concept. But how do you handle an exam or practice essay when it isn’t that simple? The Mini-IRAC is the key.
• Help! My Professor Said Not To IRAC IRAC is so well established, and so useful, that it comes as a shock when a professor says, “I don’t want you to IRAC the exam.” What is a student to do?

How to Spend Your Time While Writing an Exam Answer

• Copy and Paste: Your Worst Enemy on a Law School Exam? When Lee is grading exams, she always has her eyes out for habits law students pick up that can negatively affect their grades. One of them is using copy and paste .
• Should You Proofread Your Law School Exams? Many law students struggle with time management during the law school exam period. One culprit of this can be spending too much time trying to make your essay perfect for the grader. News flash — under timed conditions, your professor does not expect perfection.
• Are You Wasting Time on Your Law School Exams? Almost every student I work with feels like they are running low on time when it comes to finishing an exam. So how do you work more efficiently? Here are two suggestions that I typically give to students to help them write more efficiently on law school exams.
• Use This To Save Time on Essay Exams Most students think their course outline is just there to help them organize the material they learned in class. Not so. A good course outline can also help you pre-draft portions of your essay exams, which will save you time on the exam and help you produce a comprehensive, organized answer.
• Pacing Yourself Through Finals, Part 2: Test Taking Time Management So, you know your material, but do you know how to budget your time during an exam? Read here for some suggestions on how to pace yourself when you're taking your finals.

Strategies for Great Law School Exam Answers

• What Makes a Law School Exam Answer “Good”? Seems like a no-brainier: Before you can write a successful law school exam answer, you need to know what makes an answer “good.” Check out our list here.
• How to Write a Law School Exam: Deal With the Ambiguity To write a great law school exam answer, you’ve got to do one critical thing: Deal with the ambiguity. Why is ambiguity important? Because the points are in the debate.
• The Most Important Thing You Can Do on a Law School Exam What’s the single most important thing you can do on a law school exam? This one’s easy! Answer the question!  Here's how to answer a question the right way.
• Could You Explain This Legal Concept to a 5-Year-Old? The next time you encounter a super-confusing legal topic, ask yourself one question: could I explain this concept to a reasonably intelligent 5-year-old? If the answer’s no, it’s time to simplify! Here's how.
• The Single Most Important Word in a Law School Exam Answer If you remember nothing else, remember this! There is — I kid you not — one single word that can radically transform your law school grades for the better. What is it?

Want some help preparing for exams? Check out our law school tutoring options , and set yourself up to do your very best!

Want Better Law School Grades?

Sign Up for Our Exam Tips!

• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions

Copyright 2024 Law School Toolbox®™

Username or email  *

Password  *

Forgotten password?

[email protected]

+44 (0)20 8834 4579

How to Write a First-Class Law Essay

Studying law at university entails lots of essay writing. This article takes you through the key steps to writing a top law essay.

Writing a law essay can be a challenging task. As a law student, you’ll be expected to analyse complex legal issues and apply legal principles to real-world scenarios. At the same time, you’ll need to be able to communicate your ideas clearly and persuasively. In this article, we’ll cover some top tips to guide you through the process of planning, researching, structuring and writing a first-class law essay with confidence. 

1. Start In Advance

Give yourself plenty of time to plan, research and write your law essay. Always aim to start your law essay as soon as you have the question. Leaving it until the last minute does not only create unnecessary stress, but it also leaves you insufficient time to write, reference and perfect your work.

2. Understand The Question

Do not begin until you fully comprehend the question. Take the time to read the question carefully and make sure that you understand what it’s asking you to do. Highlight key terms and annotate the question with definitions of key concepts and any questions that you have have. Think about how the question links back to what you’ve learned during your lectures or through your readings.

3. Conduct Thorough Research

Conducting thorough research around your topic is one of the most fundamental parts of the essay writing process. You should aim to use a range of relevant sources, such as cases, academic articles, books and any other legal materials. Ensure that the information you collect is taken from relevant, reliable and up to date sources. Use primary over secondary material as much as possible.

Avoid using outdated laws and obscure blog posts as sources of information. Always aim to choose authoritative sources from experts within the field, such as academics, politicians, lawyers and judges. Using high-quality and authoritative sources and demonstrating profound and critical insight into your topic are what will earn you top marks.

4. Write A Detailed Plan

Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to plan your essay. When writing your plan, you’ll need to create an outline that clearly identifies the main points that you wish to make throughout your article. Try to write down what you wish to achieve in each paragraph, what concepts you want to discuss and arguments you want to make.

Your outline should be organised in a clear, coherent and logical manner to ensure that the person grading your essay can follow your line of thought and arguments easily.  You may also wish to include headings and subheadings to structure your essay effectively This makes it easier when it comes to writing the essay as starting without a plan can get messy. The essay must answer the question and nothing but the question so ensure all of your points relate to it.

Start Writing Like A Lawyer

Read our legal writing tips now

5. Write A Compelling Introduction

A great introduction should, firstly, outline the research topic.  The introduction is one of the most crucial parts of the law essay as it sets the tone for the rest of the paper. It should capture the readers attention and provide the background context on the topic. Most importantly, it should state the thesis of your essay.

When writing your introduction, avoid simply repeating the given question. Secondly, create a road map for the reader, letting them know how the essay will approach the question. Your introduction must be concise. The main body of the essay is where you will go into detail.

6. Include A Strong Thesis Statement

Your thesis should clearly set out the argument you are going to be making throughout your essay and should normally go in the introduction. Your thesis should adopt a clear stance rather than being overly general or wishy-washy. To obtain the best grades, you’ll need to show a unique perspective based upon a critical analysis of the topic rather than adopting the most obvious point of view.

Once you’ve conducted your research and had a chance to reflect on your topic, ask yourself whether you can prove your argument within the given word count or whether you would need to adopt a more modest position for your paper. Always have a clear idea of what your thesis statement is before you begin writing the content of your essay. 

7. Present the Counter-argument

To demonstrate your deeper understanding of the topic, it’s important to show your ability to consider the counter-arguments and address them in a careful and reasoned manner. When presenting your counterarguments, aim to depict them in the best possible light, aiming to be fair and reasonable before moving on to your rebuttal. To ensure that your essay is convincing, you will need to have a strong rebuttal that explains why your argument is stronger and more persuasive. This will demonstrate your capacity for critical analysis, showing the reader that you have carefully considered differing perspectives before coming to a well-supported conclusion.

8. End With A Strong Conclusion

Your conclusion is your opportunity to summarise the key points made throughout your essay and to restate the thesis statement in a clear and concise manner.  Avoid simply repeating what has already been mentioned in the body of the essay. For top grades, you should use the conclusion as an opportunity to provide critical reflection and analysis on the topic. You may also wish to share any further insights or recommendations into alternative avenues to consider or implications for further research that could add value to the topic. 

9. Review The Content Of Your Essay

Make sure you factor in time to edit the content of your essay.  Once you’ve finished your first draft, come back to it the next day. Re-read your essay with a critical perspective. Do your arguments make sense? Do your paragraphs flow in a logical manner? You may also consider asking someone to read your paper and give you critical feedback. They may be able to add another perspective you haven’t considered or suggest another research paper that could add value to your essay. 

10. Proofread For Grammatical Mistakes

Once you’re happy with the content of your essay, the last step is to thoroughly proofread your essay for any grammatical errors. Ensure that you take time to ensure that there are no grammar, spelling or punctuation errors as these can be one of the easiest ways to lose marks. You can ask anyone to proofread your paper, as they would not necessarily need to have a legal background – just strong grammar and spelling skills! 

11. Check Submission Guidelines

Before submitting, ensure that your paper conforms with the style, referencing and presentation guidelines set out by your university. This includes the correct font, font size and line spacing as well as elements such as page numbers, table of content etc. Referencing is also incredibly important as you’ll need to make sure that you are following the correct referencing system chosen by your university. Check your university’s guidelines about what the word count is and whether you need to include your student identification number in your essay as well. Be thorough and don’t lose marks for minor reasons!

12. Use Legal Terms Accurately

Always make sure that you are using legal terms accurately throughout your essay. Check an authoritative resource if you are unsure of any definitions. While being sophisticated is great, legal jargon if not used correctly or appropriately can weaken your essay. Aim to be concise and to stick to the point. Don’t use ten words when only two will do.

12. Create a Vocabulary Bank

One recurring piece of advice from seasoned law students is to take note of phrases from books and articles, key definitions or concepts and even quotes from your professors. When it comes to writing your law essay, you will have a whole range of ideas and vocabulary that will help you to develop your understanding and thoughts on a given topic. This will make writing your law essay even easier!

13. Finally, Take Care of Yourself

Last but certainly not least, looking after your health can improve your attitude towards writing your law essay your coursework in general. Sleep, eat, drink and exercise appropriately. Take regular breaks and try not to stress. Do not forget to enjoy writing the essay!

Words by Karen Fulton

Free Guides

Our free guides cover everything from deciding on law to studying and practising law abroad. Search through our vast directory.

Upcoming Events

Explore our events for aspiring lawyers. Sponsored by top institutions, they offer fantastic insights into the legal profession.

Join Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list for weekly updates and advice on how to get into law.

Law Quizzes

Try our selection of quizzes for aspiring lawyers for a fun way to gain insight into the legal profession!

PREVIOUS ARTICLE

Legal Writing: Start Writing Like a Lawyer!

NEXT ARTICLE

LLM Jobs for Graduates

Loading More Content

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Happiness Hub Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• Happiness Hub
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing

How to Write a Law Essay

Last Updated: August 11, 2023

This article was co-authored by Clinton M. Sandvick, JD, PhD . Clinton M. Sandvick worked as a civil litigator in California for over 7 years. He received his JD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998 and his PhD in American History from the University of Oregon in 2013. This article has been viewed 241,443 times.

In a college legal studies course, and in some law school courses, you may be required to write a research paper addressing a legal topic. These essays can be tricky, because the law is constantly evolving. To secure a top grade, your essay must be well-researched and coherently argued. With proper planning and research, you can write a stellar legal essay. [Note: this article does not address how to write law school essay exams or bar exam questions, which require different techniques and strategies.]

Choosing an Essay Topic

• A narrow essay prompt might read, "Discuss the evolution and impact of the exclusionary rule of evidence in the United States." A broad prompt might read, "Discuss how a civil rights movement led to changes in federal and/or state law."
• If you are invited to choose your own topic, your professor may require you to submit a written proposal or outline to ensure that your chosen topic complies with the prompt. If you are not sure if your topic is within the parameters of the prompt, propose your topic to your professor after class or during his or her office hours.

• Hopefully, your course readings, lectures, and class discussions will have given you enough background knowledge to select a topic. If not, review your class notes and browse online for additional background information.
• It is not uncommon to change your topic after doing some research. You may end up narrowing the questions your essay will answer, or changing your topic completely.

• If you can, try to focus on an are of the law that affects you. For example, if your family is involved in agriculture, you may be interested in writing about water use regulations .

Researching Your Topic

• If you are prohibited from citing internet resources, you can still use online research to guide you to physical primary and secondary sources in your local library or bookstore.

• Look at footnotes, citations, and indexes in tertiary sources. These are great for finding books, articles, and legal cases that are relevant to your topic. Also take note of the names of authors, who may have written multiple works on your topic.

• Also find search engines for related fields, such as history or political science. Ask your librarian to recommend specialized search engines tailored to other disciplines that may have contributed to your topic.

• Never cut and paste from the web into your notes or essay. This often leads to inadvertent plagiarism because students forget what is a quotation and what is paraphrasing. When gathering sources, paraphrase or add quotation marks in your outline.
• Plagiarism is a serious offense. If you ultimately hope to be a lawyer, an accusation of plagiarism could prevent you from passing the character and fitness review.

Drafting the Essay

• An effective introduction takes the reader out of his world and into the world of your essay. [2] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source Explain why the subject is important and briefly summarizes the rest of your argument. After reading your introduction, your reader should know what you are going to discuss and in what order you will be discussing it.
• Be prepared to revise your introduction later. Summarizing your essay will be easier after you have written it, especially if you deviate from your outline.

• State each argument of your essay as a statement that, if true, would support your thesis statement.
• Provide supporting information drawn from primary and secondary sources that support your argument. Remember to cite your sources.
• Provide your own original analysis, explaining to the reader that based on the primary and secondary sources you have presented, the reader should be persuaded by your argument.

Formatting Your Essay

Proofreading the Essay

• Open up a Word document. On the Quick Access Toolbar at the top, click on the down arrow. The words “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” will appear when you hover over the arrow for two seconds.
• Click on the arrow. Then click on “More Commands.”
• In the “Choose commands from” drop-down box, choose “All commands.”
• Scroll down to find “Speak.” Highlight this and then click “add.” Then click “okay.” Now the Speak function should appear on your Quick Access Toolbar.
• Highlight the text you want read back to you, and then click on the Speak icon. The text will be read back to you.

• Do not rely on a spell checker exclusively, as it will not catch typos like "statute" versus "statue."

Revising the Essay

• You can share the essay with someone outside of class, but a classmate more likely has the requisite knowledge to understand the subject matter of the essay.

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/2/53/
• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/introductions/
• ↑ https://www.legalbluebook.com/
• ↑ https://support.office.com/en-ca/article/Using-the-Speak-text-to-speech-feature-459e7704-a76d-4fe2-ab48-189d6b83333c

About This Article

To write a law essay, start by writing a thesis statement on your chosen topic. Phrase your thesis statement as an argument, using words like “because” or “therefore” to state your point. Write an outline of the arguments you will use to support your thesis statement, then use that outline to build the body of your paper. Include any counter-arguments, but use your evidence to convince the reader why your point of view is valid, and the counter-arguments are not. Be sure to cite all of your sources in the format preferred by your professor. For tips from our reviewer on finding the best sources for your topic, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Did this article help you?

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Don’t miss out! Sign up for

wikiHow’s newsletter

Top law school final exam tips

High-level tips to help you prepare for your law school finals.

1. What to expect 2. Professor preferences 3. Read the facts 4. Answer the question 5. Organize your thoughts 6. Before you start writing 7. IRAC format 8. Argue both sides of legal issues

What to expect from your law school final exams

A full semester of taking copious notes, reading, briefing, outlining, classroom discussions, and surviving the Socratic Method culminates in one final act. Writing law school final exams.

Most professors give essay exams for law school finals. Some are single-topic, short-answer questions. Others can go on for pages — known as issue-spotter exams. Some are taken in class, while others are take-home, allowing students more than the traditional amount of time to answer the essay questions. There are open-book and closed-book exams. And there are those few professors who create multiple-choice exams or (in rare cases) give oral exams.

Whatever type of exam your professor chooses to administer, you will be tested on your ability to analyze and resolve legal problems and demonstrate your grasp of the materials. Your course grade will be largely, if not exclusively, based on your final exam performance.

Here are some high-level tips to help you prepare for your law school finals.

Understand your professor preferences

The foundation for success on your law school finals is to know who is grading the exam. Your mission is to make that person’s life easier. Ultimately, different professors prefer different types of answers. Some want extreme detail — every possible interpretation of every possible fact. Some like answers straight to the point within a page count. It’s okay to ask your professor.

It’s a given that all professors expect well-organized, legible answers, no matter how brief or expansive.

Read the facts carefully

Read the entire problem through once rather quickly to get a general understanding. Focus on the question you are being asked to respond to at the end of the problem.

Then, read through the scenario again, slowly and carefully. This time, evaluate every word and phrase to identify all potential issues. Applying the law to the facts presented is critical in any law school exam. And changing the facts even slightly could result in a completely different result.

Answer the question that is being asked

Always keep in mind the specific question you are actually being asked to answer. Although you may receive credit for ancillary information provided in your answer, you will only receive maximum credit if you specifically answer the question that is presented. Therefore, you must determine what role the professor is asking you to assume before answering. Are you the defendant’s attorney, or do you represent the plaintiff? Are you a judge trying to resolve the dispute? It makes a real difference in how you answer.

Attempts to include unrelated material in your answer could backfire if your professor believes you are incapable of ruling out irrelevant information.

Organize your thoughts

Organization is critical to writing a strong essay answer on any law school finals. After all, if the professor cannot follow your analysis, how can they grade it fairly and appropriately?

Before you start writing, chart the issues in the manner in which you will resolve them. Again, make sure the issues are related to the actual question you are being asked to answer. Arrange the issues in the sequence in which you would expect a court to address them (i.e., normally jurisdictional issues first, then liability, then remedies). Capture the points you will discuss in sufficient detail to prompt you to think the problem through to a fair and practical solution.

Complete your analysis and organization before you start writing

You may find that you devote a solid one-fourth of the time allocated to reading, analyzing the problem and organizing your answer. That’s okay. A logical organization and clear expression of ideas will strengthen your answer. This purposeful approach may even bolster an answer that’s somewhat weak.

Use the IRAC format for each issue raised

As you begin to write out your answer, we recommend you analyze each dispute using the IRAC method.

First, state the issue in precise legal terms (i.e., “Did the defendant’s mistake in computing his bid prevent the formation of an enforceable contract?”). Be careful to avoid generalizations or oversimplification of the issue.

Next, state the applicable law. Be sure to define the pertinent elements of a rule as well as any terms of art.

Application

Then, apply the rules to the facts using arguments. Avoid the common error of stating a rule and then jumping straight to the conclusion. Your professor will not infer a supporting argument for you — you must spell it out. Remember to use the Issue T you created earlier to remind you to discuss which facts in the fact pattern support (or prevent) application of the rule. Discuss and weigh each fact given and the logical inference to be drawn from it. Be sure to include counterarguments where possible.

Finally, come to a straightforward conclusion on each issue. Make sure you have clearly answered the question asked, and you have not left an issue hanging. If a number of outcomes are possible, discuss the merits of each, but always select one position as your conclusion and state why. In close cases, it is generally best to select the most practical and fair conclusion. Just don’t consider yourself bound by the “general rule” or “majority view” in answering on a law school final exam unless the question clearly calls for such.

Argue both sides of legal issues you spot and remember policy concerns

Once a dispute has been framed and a legal theory has been asserted, identify any problems surrounding the theory’s application as well as arguments that each side can make in support of their position.

Also, if time allows, include just a sentence or two regarding the policy implications of your conclusions. Law is meant to provide order in society and, when imposing laws, you should always predict the impact that they will have.

Take a deep breath and try not to panic

If you find yourself panicking, not understanding the issues presented or not remembering the rules related to such issues, don’t panic. Instead, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then, start working systematically through the information with these tips and do your best on your law school finals.

BARBRI 1L Mastery

The most complete and effective 1L resource available.

Using the IRAC method

Learn more about using the IRAC method in law school

👇 Recommended LLS Courses to Excel in this Opportunity​

Home » Blogs, News, Advice » Career Advice » 14 Legal Essay Writing Tips [OR] How to Write and Win Law Essay Writing Competitions

14 Legal Essay Writing Tips [OR] How to Write and Win Law Essay Writing Competitions

• Apr 7, 2014
• No Comments

By Tanuj Kalia

A friend on Facebook asked me about this on Facebook. I gave whatever ‘general’ advice I had to offer. She liked it and hence this “Legal Essay Writing Tips” post on Lawctopus.

Pre legal essay writing tips

A lot of essay writing competitions, even those with huge prize monies, receive very very few entries .

Out of the 25-30 entries that are received in an average essay competition, half are pathetic.

The odds that a well-written, well-researched essay wins the big prize money is pretty good.

Read ‘about’ the essay competition in detail.

Do read the brochure or the website carefully even before starting to write.

Know about the organisation which is organizing the essay competition, about what they are expecting, the rules, regulations etc.

Before starting to write an essay you should ideally consult a competent faculty member, unless of course, you yourself have made a project on it.

If you can find no faculty member with that subject as her specialisation, ask her to refer you to another faculty or a senior researcher.

Discuss the subject/essay topic with him/her. This will save you a lot of time and effort.

^ This will be your Bible.

On the Essay Now

Read extensively and from various sources on the subject. Take notes.

This can easily go on for 4 days-2 weeks depending on the subject.

Based on your extensive reading, decide upon the draft topic you are going to write on.

Make a brief, draft structure/table of content s.

Now read intensively on the topic, sub-topics.

Read only from high quality, authentic sources now.

Write with a flow, without any editing. Keeping writing. Do not revise for now .

Writing is hard and you would not want to stop that.

Be precise . Make each sentence count. Make each word count.

Make sure that your essay contains an argument . That gives a strong voice to the essay.

Your arguments are backed and strengthened by the sources you cite.

Cite properly. Sources from the internet should not make all of your citations. Books are still wonderful and scholarly.

After having written and written for long, edit ruthlessly .

Edit for words, sentences, paras, chapters.

Don’t keep words just to meet the word-count.

Check again for any errors in spellings, grammar, sentence construction etc.

If a sentence sounds confusing, re-write it.

After it’s done

Get a friend or a faculty to read your essay.

It serves as an important second revision . Ask for inputs too.

Give your essay a kick-ass title .

Give your chapters/sections kick-ass sub-titles too. Make the reader want to read your essay.

Make sure the essay looks neat .

Formatting gives the essay a good packaging and makes it stand-out from the crowd.

More tips are on this Legally India write-up here .

Download some prize-winning essays from SpicyIP  here .

Buy the book called ‘Elements of Style’.

Make Chicago Manual of Style your Bible.

Get a brand new kind of individual  essay help  on ThePensters.com.

Join Our WhatsApp Channel for Opportunity Updates

Get Daily Updates

Join our Telegram Channel for Opportunity Updates

Get an Internship

Add a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Congratulations! 🎉

Use this coupon inside the Lawctopus app to activate your 3 months’ free premium subscription.

🎦 Free Webinar on ‘Career Options in IPR and Technology Laws’

For Advertisements on Lawctopus

• +91 90235 43927
• [email protected]
• Office hours: 11AM - 7PM

For Lawctopus Law School

• +91 80474 94091
• [email protected]

Download our eBook on

Get An Internship

Get the Reddit app

For current and former Law School Redditors. Ask questions, seek advice, post outlines, etc. This is NOT a forum for legal advice.

Create Essay Answer Shells/Outlines For Your Exams

Hi guys, 2L here, will be entering my 3L starting in January of 2021 (took a full course load this summer because of COVID).

Currently studying for finals right now, but wanted to make this quick post to help all the struggling 1Ls (or anyone else just trying to make it through finals). I wanted to share a tip I've used throughout law school while studying and preparing for tests that has allowed me to excel on my prior midterms and finals (I'm actually working on them right now!).

For every exam I've had that has an essay portion, in addition to creating my standard outline, I've always created an "Essay Outline" that is essentially a pre-written answer to the questions I'm anticipating being asked on the final. Whether an issue spotter or a straight up call of the question, creating essay shells not only helps you study and prepare, but it also saves you an incredible amount of time actually writing the exam. If you think about it, there are only so many questions you could be asked, and so many multi-step/factor things you've learned in each class, that you could essentially guess what you will need to write about on the final. Of course, you still need to be open to spontaneity on the exam and willing to tweak your answers to meet the needs of the fact pattern, but creating essay shells is incredibly helpful because you're doing all the work prior to the exam.

For example, in Civ Pro, I created pre-written essay shells for every topic we covered: PJx (general & specific), SMJx, etc. Same for Constitutional Law: all justiciability doctrines, commerce power, dormant commerce clause, 10th Amendment, 14th Amendment, etc. Same for all other classes that had an essay.

I would start creating shells early in the semester. After each major topic was covered, I'd create the essay shell and meet with my teacher to confirm my understanding of the material and to make sure I was properly analyzing it in essay form. Some teachers were more than happy to help me and go over my shells, while others just straight up refused.

Say you covered 20 major topics in your class, all of which you know could be tested on in essay form. That means you create 20 essay outlines for each topic, even though you'll only be tested on 5. You would create pre-written answers for each of the 20 topics. These shells of course contain all your rule statements, exceptions to the rule, steps you need to follow, where the analysis goes from one step to the next, and leaves areas for you to fill in the blank with the facts from the fact pattern. The shell is pre-written and organized in such a way that it is a step-by-step version of how your teacher taught you to analyze the topic. This is vitally important, especially when you have confusing topics with multiple steps and multiple avenues of analysis. For example, if you conclude the answer to Step 2 is "yes", the remainder of your analysis goes one way, but if you conclude "No", the analysis would have gone another way. Having a pre-written essay outline for all major topics you could be tested on is so incredibly helpful because it allows you to already have organized your thoughts and the analysis prior to the exam.

And if you have an open note test??? Well ... all you need to do is copy your essay outlines! Even if its closed book, having already created pre-written essay shells will allow you to finish those race horse exams because you've already essentially pre-written your responses and know how to analyze each question.

Of course, this doesn't work for EVERY single class, but I guarantee you there are classes this tactic will be extremely helpful in. If you haven't been doing this all semester, maybe make shells for the areas of one class you know you're struggling in, rather than creating a shell for every topic in that class. At the very least, make sure to start doing this next semester.

Oh yea ... once you finish all your essay outlines, TAKE PRACTICE TESTS!!! Take them over and over and over again. Use your shells, spot the issues, and write the essay. I guarantee you that when the actual exam comes, you'll have sufficiently practiced and studied enough that the final will be just another practice exam.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Hopefully I explained this "Essay Answer Outline/Shell" tip clearly enough. I can further elaborate in the comments and clarify anything if anyone has questions. Happy studying!

TLDR: create pre-written essay answer outlines/shells for questions you anticipate will be on the final

By continuing, you agree to our User Agreement and acknowledge that you understand the Privacy Policy .

Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app

You’ve set up two-factor authentication for this account.

Enter a 6-digit backup code

Create your username and password.

Reddit is anonymous, so your username is what you’ll go by here. Choose wisely—because once you get a name, you can’t change it.

Reset your password

Enter your email address or username and we’ll send you a link to reset your password

Check your inbox

An email with a link to reset your password was sent to the email address associated with your account

Choose a Reddit account to continue

• Small Law Firms
• Legal Technology
• Legal Tech Non-Event
• Job Listings
• Newsletters
• Law Schools
• The Legal Tech Non-Event
• Law Firm Transparency Directory
• Law Firm Rankings
• Law School Rankings
• Resource Library
• Practice Management
• CRM for Law Firms
• Legal Operations
• Clio App Integrations
• Practice Mgmt. by Practice Area
• Document Management
• Time, Billing & Payments
• Law Firm KPIs
• Cybersecurity
• Spend Management Software
• Legal AI Software
• Legal Tech Directory
• Appellate Court Blog

Above The Law In your inbox

Subscribe and get breaking news, commentary, and opinions on law firms, lawyers, law schools, lawsuits, judges, and more.

The California Bar Is Flat Broke And Its Plan To Fix This Involves Throwing Out The Existing Bar Exam

When in doubt, write a new exam from scratch..

The California State Bar’s Board of Trustees will meet this week to discuss a variety of issues, including the giant sucking sound coming from the Admissions Fund. Per the State Bar’s agenda notes , “The Admissions Fund faces insolvency in 2026. The State Bar’s adopted 2024 budget forecasts Admissions Fund deficit spending of $3.8 million; the fund is projected to end 2024 with just $3.3 million of reserves.”

While the California Bar incurs a nearly $4 million deficit every year, the NCBE — the educational “non-profit” writing the test — brings in around $5 million in revenue over expenses (if only we had a word for that!). You don’t rack up $158 million in total assets by offering a cheap test. Nor is the test itself the biggest expense that the NCBE saddles upon states. From a Twitter post by Sean Silverman :

Referral Fees The Key To Growing A Modern Practice? Overture Thinks So.

The State Bar of California is broke. In an effort to save itself, it has proposed (the proposal still needs to be accepted) that it discontinue all relationship with the NCBE. There’s a lot of details on the pdf about this, but the crux is that when you administer an NCBE test, you’re bound by terms that the state bar would prefer to not be bound by. Especially the term preventing it from allowing for at-home testing, because at-home testing will allow it to save lots of money (and possibly eliminate its deficit).

Indeed, the State Bar memo estimates that adopting the changes would yield between $2.8 million and $4.2 million in annual savings. The reform would also have the benefit of aiding applicants who currently have to deal with the hassle of traveling and lodging to take in-person exams.

In place of the NCBE, the proposal before the board would commission Kaplan to write an exam that tracks the existing format while allowing the state to move toward alternative test administration arrangements — in other words, something that allows them to stop renting out giant halls.

One proposal would involve transitioning to Kaplan-owned facilities for administration, but that’s the option that saves the least money so there’s going to be a lot of interest in moving to an online (or at least hybrid) option soon.

Meet Me At ILTACON: Hotshot — GenAI Training For The Legal Industry

Powerful Branding Strategies and Marketing Tips for Small Law Firms

Meet Clio At ILTACON

Now, California’s COVID-era online exam efforts left a lot to be desired. When the vendor’s solution wouldn’t work, the state simply  gave up on responding to support requests from examinees and after the fact decided to just blindly accept that one-third of the examinees were cheating and the whole thing turned out to breach state procurement procedures . But that didn’t mean the examiners were wrong to try to find an online solution. Perhaps the disastrous experience of a few years ago has taught them key lessons.

Staff have received proposals from vendors capable of administering a fully remote bar exam, possessing the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the significant volume of applicants. All the vendors under consideration offer live remote proctoring, effectively addressing various exam security and integrity concerns that emerged during the pandemic-era remote exams. A fully remote administration approach would alleviate costly and labor-intensive tasks such as securing and managing large exam facilities and the recruitment and compensation of proctors. Staff continues to assess how to provide an equivalent exam experience for applicants with testing accommodations in a fully remote environment.

Yeah… let’s not hold our collective breath on this part.

In exchange for taking on the role of preparing the exam, Kaplan would agree to leave the bar prep business for California.

The primary objection to the proposal stems from its aggressive timeline, seeking to have this summer’s bar exam be the last one provided by the NCBE.

Meet Me At ILTACON: Traveling Coaches, Legal Learning Innovators

• June 2024: Delivery of an initial 35 multiple-choice questions to begin the content validation process. • August 2024: The study guide for applicants will be prepared. Revised guides will be produced periodically after that. • August-December 2024: 150 multiple choice questions will be delivered roughly monthly. The State Bar, as well as the panel of admittees, supervisors, and law school professors, will evaluate the materials on a rolling basis. • September 2024: The faculty guide for law schools will be prepared. • October 2024: Field testing some of the questions developed by Kaplan at the California Bar Exam Experiment. • February 2025: Newly developed multiple-choice questions will be administered at the bar exam. Subsequently, Item Response Theory, the same approach utilized by the NCBE, will be used for question validation, and a passing score study will allow for equating of future exams. • Ongoing: All questions shall be provided to the State Bar at least six months prior to each bar exam administration.

That’s a lot to ask of a vendor in a short timeframe. Silverman believes the proposal will pass but might well be modified to slow down the transition. That’s probably the most prudent option, but the mounting deficit might not afford the bar that luxury.

We’ll see what happens this week.

Bar Exams , Kaplan Bar Prep , Law Schools , State Bar of California

Benefiting From The Campaign Trail -- See Also

UC Law San Francisco Is Putting Its Presidential Connection Forward: Will it encourage more enrollment ?

How Set Is The Future Of The Bar?: It may be NextGen, but there’s no guarantee .

A Woman’s Place Is The Law Firm: Here are 3 tips for women looking to grow their law practices .

From Lawyer To Olympian: The difference 4 years can make !

Unpopular Majority: The line of people who dislike the conservative justices goes around the corner .

More From Above the Law

From Child Star To Lawyer

No One Likes Clarence Thomas, Or Really *Any* Of The Conservative Supreme Court Justices

Taking Over: Women In Law Are Crushing It

Biglaw Associates Are Impatiently Wondering Where Their Summer Bonuses Are

From the above the law network.

• Biglaw Professionals: We Want To Know About Your Dream Job Source: ABOVE THE LAW AND LATERAL LINK
• A Law Firm Checklist For Successful Client Portals Source: Thomson Reuters
• A Law Firm Checklist For Successful Transaction Management Source: Thomson Reuters
• Document Automation For Law Firms: The Definitive Guide Source: THOMSON REUTERS
• The Secrets Of Small Firm Success Source: Above The Law
• 5 Things To Consider Before Hiring A Legal Marketing Partner Source: THOMSON REUTERS
• How You Can Use Tech To Strengthen Client Ties Source: Thomson Reuters And Above The Law
• Differentiating Your Solo Firm In A Crowded Marketplace Source: Thomson Reuters & Above the Law

Love ATL? Let's make it official. Sign up for our newsletter.

Friend's Email Address

Your Email Address

Skip to Content

Other ways to search:

• Events Calendar

Want to write a college essay that sets you apart? Three tips to give you a head start

1. Keep it real. It’s normal to want to make a good impression on the school of your choice, but it’s also important to show who you really are. So just be yourself! Compelling stories might not be perfectly linear or have a happy ending, and that’s OK. It’s best to be authentic instead of telling schools what you think they want to hear.

2. Be reflective . Think about how you’ve changed during high school. How have you grown and improved? What makes you feel ready for college, and how do you hope to contribute to the campus community and society at large?

3. Look to the future. Consider your reasons for attending college. What do you hope to gain from your education? What about college excites you the most, and what would you like to do after you graduate? Answering these questions will not only give colleges insight into the kind of student you’ll be, but it will also give you the personal insight you’ll need to choose the school that’s right for you.

Have questions about college prep? We're here to help.

Written by CU Boulder Office of Admissions

• College-Prep

The University of Colorado does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, pregnancy, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation, or political philosophy. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. You may  view the list of ADA and Title IX coordinators  and  review the Regent policy .

As a student or prospective student at CU Boulder, you have a right to certain information pertaining to financial aid programs, the Clery Act, crime and safety, graduation rates, athletics and other general information such as the costs associated with attending CU Boulder. To view this information visit  colorado.edu/your-right-know .

Apply for Admission

Visit Campus

Support CU Boulder

• Safety & Health Services
• COVID-19 Information
• Campus Communications
• Emergency Alert System
• New Student & Family Programs

Getting Around

• Campus Events
• Parking & Transportation
• Visit Information

Information for

• Faculty & Staff
• Journalists

Initiatives

• Business & Industry Collaborations
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Free Speech
• Innovation & Entrepreneurship
• Public & Outreach Programs
• Sustainability
• Understanding Your Cost of Attendance

How to cite ChatGPT

Use discount code STYLEBLOG15 for 15% off APA Style print products with free shipping in the United States.

We, the APA Style team, are not robots. We can all pass a CAPTCHA test , and we know our roles in a Turing test . And, like so many nonrobot human beings this year, we’ve spent a fair amount of time reading, learning, and thinking about issues related to large language models, artificial intelligence (AI), AI-generated text, and specifically ChatGPT . We’ve also been gathering opinions and feedback about the use and citation of ChatGPT. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and shared ideas, opinions, research, and feedback.

In this post, I discuss situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript. We know instructors have differing opinions about how or even whether students should use ChatGPT, and we’ll be continuing to collect feedback about instructor and student questions. As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers. For more about guidelines and policies about student and author use of ChatGPT, see the last section of this post.

Quoting or reproducing the text created by ChatGPT in your paper

If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.

Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications , with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.

When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper.

When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

Creating a reference to ChatGPT or other AI models and software

The in-text citations and references above are adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10). Although here we focus on ChatGPT, because these guidelines are based on the software template, they can be adapted to note the use of other large language models (e.g., Bard), algorithms, and similar software.

The reference and in-text citations for ChatGPT are formatted as follows:

• Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023)
• Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023)

Let’s break that reference down and look at the four elements (author, date, title, and source):

Author: The author of the model is OpenAI.

Date: The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.

Title: The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers.

The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods.

Bracketed text is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader.

Source: When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage).

Other questions about citing ChatGPT

You may have noticed the confidence with which ChatGPT described the ideas of brain lateralization and how the brain operates, without citing any sources. I asked for a list of sources to support those claims and ChatGPT provided five references—four of which I was able to find online. The fifth does not seem to be a real article; the digital object identifier given for that reference belongs to a different article, and I was not able to find any article with the authors, date, title, and source details that ChatGPT provided. Authors using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for research should consider making this scrutiny of the primary sources a standard process. If the sources are real, accurate, and relevant, it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model’s interpretation of them.

We’ve also received a number of other questions about ChatGPT. Should students be allowed to use it? What guidelines should instructors create for students using AI? Does using AI-generated text constitute plagiarism? Should authors who use ChatGPT credit ChatGPT or OpenAI in their byline? What are the copyright implications ?

On these questions, researchers, editors, instructors, and others are actively debating and creating parameters and guidelines. Many of you have sent us feedback, and we encourage you to continue to do so in the comments below. We will also study the policies and procedures being established by instructors, publishers, and academic institutions, with a goal of creating guidelines that reflect the many real-world applications of AI-generated text.

For questions about manuscript byline credit, plagiarism, and related ChatGPT and AI topics, the APA Style team is seeking the recommendations of APA Journals editors. APA Style guidelines based on those recommendations will be posted on this blog and on the APA Style site later this year.

Update: APA Journals has published policies on the use of generative AI in scholarly materials .

We, the APA Style team humans, appreciate your patience as we navigate these unique challenges and new ways of thinking about how authors, researchers, and students learn, write, and work with new technologies.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Related and recent

Comments are disabled due to your privacy settings. To re-enable, please adjust your cookie preferences.

APA Style Monthly

Subscribe to the APA Style Monthly newsletter to get tips, updates, and resources delivered directly to your inbox.

Welcome! Thank you for subscribing.

APA Style Guidelines

Browse APA Style writing guidelines by category

• Abbreviations
• Bias-Free Language
• Capitalization
• In-Text Citations
• Italics and Quotation Marks
• Paper Format
• Punctuation
• Research and Publication
• Spelling and Hyphenation
• Tables and Figures

Full index of topics

Pardon Our Interruption

As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. There are a few reasons this might happen:

• You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser.
• You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed.
• You've disabled cookies in your web browser.
• A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article .

To regain access, please make sure that cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page.

Tim Walz's military record: What to know about potential VP's National Guard service

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, choosing a progressive yet plain-spoken VP candidate from America’s heartland to help her win over rural, white voters.

“I’m pleased to share that I’ve made my decision: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join our campaign as my running mate,” Harris said via text to supporters. “Tim is a battle-tested leader who has an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families. I know that he will bring that same principled leadership to our campaign, and to the office of the vice president.”

We look at Walz, a 60-year-old U.S. Army National Guard veteran, and his military career over the years.

More: Tim Walz is Kamala Harris' VP pick: Minnesota governor named running mate: Live updates

How long was Walz in the military?

Walz served in the military for 24 years, enlisting in the Nebraska National Guard at 17 in 1981 and then transferring to the Minnesota National Guard in 1996. He retired in 2005 to begin his successful run for the U.S. House, representing Minnesota as command sergeant major, among the highest ranks for enlisted soldiers. His battalion went on to deploy to Iraq shortly after Walz's retirement.

Walz specialized in heavy artillery and had proficiency ribbons in sharpshooting and hand grenades.

But during the 21 years that Walz spent working with large artillery pieces, he suffered hearing loss and tinnitus in both ears, Minnesota Public Radio reported. He was allowed to continue his service after undergoing surgery, which partially resolved his hearing loss.

Where did Walz serve, and what did he do in the National Guard?

During his service, Walz responded to natural disasters, including floods and tornadoes in Minnesota and Nebraska, and was deployed overseas for months at a time, according to MPR.

In 2003, he was sent to Italy, where he served with the European Security Force to support the war in Afghanistan. He was also stationed in Norway for joint training with other NATO militaries.

Walz told MPR that he reenlisted in the National Guard after the September 11 attacks but never saw active combat in his years in the military.

Stars and Stripes reported in 2020 that Walz credited his Army experience with helping him steer Minnesota through the COVID-19 pandemic as governor.

As governor of Minnesota, Walz is commander in chief of the 13,000-soldier Minnesota National Guard. “I’m certainly proud of my military service, but it’s one piece of me,” he told Minnesota Public Radio in 2018. “It doesn’t define me.”

Reuters and USA TODAY reporter Tom Vanden Brook contributed to this story.