Creating Archival URLs to Comply With New Bluebook Rules

The 22nd edition of The Bluebook, released in May 2025, includes an overhaul of Rule 18, on internet sources. Rule 18.2.1(d) indicates "all online content cited or generated by authors be captured and stored in a permanent setting... Archiving can be achieved by using a reliable archival tool, or by saving the web-based source in a fixed form such as a PDF, and storing the saved version on file." In other words, the Bluebook now requires citations to internet sources to include backups. For example:

Rebecca J. Rose, The Law as Justice Gorsuch Sees It, Atlantic (Aug. 5, 2024), https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/interview-justice-neil-gorsuch-over-ruled/679342/ [https://perma.cc/PT32-56LR].

Given the ephemerality of web-based content, it makes sense to append a permanent URL to the end of a citation when possible. Although the above example uses PermaCC (a service available to law reviews, research assistants, staff, and faculty), a free alternative for backing up URLs is the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Here's how to use the Wayback Machine to archive a URL:

1. Visit web.archive.org/save.
2. Paste in your URL and select "SAVE PAGE". The backup process will then begin.
3. Archiving a website may take a few minutes. Once finished the Wayback Machine will provide a  permanent URL, which can then be appended to the end of a citation.

Note, however, that some websites block the Wayback Machine. If backing up a page via the Wayback Machine is impossible or inconvenient, students can alternatively download web pages as PDFs and indicate "on file with author." For example:

Christine Chung & Derek M. Norman, Airlines and Passengers Still Struggling, a Day After Global Outage, N.Y. Times (July 20, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/travel/outage-airlines-passengers-effects.html (on file with the Columbia Law Review).

To download a page as a PDF, use either control + P (Windows) or command + p (Mac) and select "print as PDF."

Law reviews, research assistants, and faculty members interested in PermaCC can request access by reaching out to lawlib.lclark.edu.