Legal Definitions - No signal

In legal and academic writing, "no signal" refers to the practice of citing a source immediately after a statement, without using any introductory words or phrases (known as "signal words" or "signal phrases") to explain how that source relates to the statement. When a writer uses "no signal," they are indicating that the cited source directly and unequivocally supports the preceding statement, requiring no interpretation or inference. This direct support means the statement is either a direct quotation, an objective restatement of information, or a precise piece of data taken directly from the source.

Here are some examples illustrating the use of "no signal":

• Direct Quotation: If a legal brief states, "The appellate court unequivocally held that 'a party cannot appeal a judgment to which it has consented,' " (Johnson v. Miller, 555 U.S. 100, 105 (2022)), the absence of a signal word like "see" or "accord" indicates that the preceding phrase is a direct, verbatim quote from page 105 of the Johnson v. Miller court opinion.

• Objective Fact or Data: A policy report might assert, "The total number of registered voters in the district increased by 15% between 2018 and 2022." (Election Commission Annual Report, p. 45). The "no signal" citation here confirms that the 15% increase figure is an exact, objective piece of data directly reported on page 45 of the Election Commission's Annual Report, without any need for the reader to infer or interpret its relevance.

• Precise Restatement of a Rule or Principle: In a legal memorandum, one might write, "For a claim of negligence, the plaintiff must demonstrate duty, breach, causation, and damages." (Prosser and Keeton on Torts § 30 (5th ed. 1984)). By not using a signal, the writer conveys that this statement is a direct and accurate summary of the essential elements of negligence as presented in section 30 of the cited legal treatise, requiring no further explanation of the source's relationship to the statement.