Answered By: Claire Mazer
Last Updated: 16 Oct, 2023     Views: 748

Cite PDF publications (such as reports, but not journal articles) as per advice at OSCOLA oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf (ox.ac.uk) 
s 3.4 ‘Other Secondary Sources’:
Author, ‘Document title’ (Additional information, Publisher Date) <link> accessed date month year. 

The link and date of access have been greyed out here as they may be provided as a courtesy to the reader, but certainly should be provided where the link is essential to finding the publication or report.

In this example we look at the following report: The State of UK Competition (publishing.service.gov.uk)This is a report published by the Competition and Markets Authority and again takes its referencing pattern from OSCOLA s3.4 ‘Other Secondary Sources’. This report does not have an ISBN so it is appropriate, indeed essential, to provide the link and date of access. Note also the report's document number is included as additional information (CMA133): 

Competition and Markets Authority, 'The State of UK Competition' (CMA133, Competition and Markets Authority 30 November 2020) <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/939636/State_of_Competition_Report_Nov_2020_Final.pdf> accessed 16 October 2023.

In this example we look at the following report: https://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/assets/pdfs/Critical-care-decisions.pdf

This is a report published by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics so uses the OSCOLA s 3.4 ‘Other Secondary Sources’ referencing pattern. This report has an ISBN so the advice from OSCOLA  s 3.4.1 is to cite as if it were a book (the title is in italics like a book and not in plain / roman text within single quotation marks):

Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Critical care decisions in fetal and neonatal medicine: ethical issues (Nuffield Council on Bioethics 2006).