Citing Court Decisions in APA Style

by APA Style Kitty

 

Do you know which justices wrote the Supreme Court’s opinions in Brown v. Board of Educ., Roe v. Wade, and Bush v. Gore? Unlike many APA Style references, you don’t need to know the author’s name to write a basic reference for court decisions. This blog post discusses what you do need to know.

Parts of the Reference

Here are the three basic elements for an APA Style reference for most court decisions:

1. Name of the case: Name v. Name

2. Source reporting the decision: Volume Source Page

3. Court and date of the decision: (Court Date)

Name of the Case

Start the reference with the name of the case as listed at the beginning of the written court decision. In most cases, this is the name of the parties involved.

Give the name of the first party listed on each side. If Chomsky and Piaget are suing Skinner and Thorndike, and if the names are in that order on the court decision, the case name is Chomsky v. Skinner.

Abbreviate the word versus as v. in case names. This is an exception to the usual APA Style rule for abbreviating versus.

Other abbreviations for terms used in case names can be found in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Some commonly used abbreviations are Ass’n (Association), Co. (Company), Int’l (International), Rehab. (Rehabilitation), and Univ. (University).

Here are a few examples of case names.

Lessard v. Schmidt Brown v. Board of Educ.

Reporting the Decision

You’ll often find court decisions printed in bound volumes called case reporters. These reporters are the second element of the reference.

 

Identify the volume number, the name of the reporter, and the first page number of the case.

 

Abbreviate the name of the reporter as shown in The Bluebook. Check the first few pages of the reporter; some reporters list their abbreviated names there, in the front matter. You may also find the abbreviated name in the running head of the book or on the official web pages of the reporter.

Here are some examples of sources, including volume numbers, abbreviated case reporter names, and first page numbers:          

627 F. Supp. 418 Federal Supplement, volume 627, page 418 239 Va. 312 Virginia Reports, volume 239, page 312 347 U.S. 483 United State Reports, volume 347, page 483

Court and Date of the Decision

Finish the reference with the name of the court, the court’s geographical jurisdiction (if needed), and the date of the decision, all in parentheses.

Court. Omit the name of the Supreme Court and its jurisdiction in references to the Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.) and United States Reports (U.S.). Likewise, omit the court’s name and its jurisdiction if (a) the deciding court is the highest court of a state or (b) the name of the case reporter already conveys the name of the court and its jurisdiction.

Abbreviate the court’s name and jurisdiction as shown in The Bluebook. Here are a few examples:

2d Cir. United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit S.D.N.Y. United States District Court in the Southern District of New York N.Y. App. Div. New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division N.Y. Fam. Ct. New York Family Court

Date. For the date, use the year that the case was decided. If that’s not available, use the year of the court term.

Here are some examples of correctly formatted courts and dates.

(10th Cir. 1984) United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, decided 1984 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992) Texas Court of Appeals, decided 1992 (Mich. 1999) Michigan Supreme Court, decided 1999/PRE>

Reference Examples

Name v. Name, Volume Source Page (Court Date) Lessard v. Schmidt, 349 F. Supp. 1078 (E.D. Wis. 1972) Blystone v. Pennsylvania, 494 U.S. (1990) People v. Armour, 590 N.W.2d 61 (Mich. 1999)

Text Citation Example

To cite the reference in text, give the case name, in italics, and the year.

Name v. Name (Year) (Name v. Name, Year) Lessard v. Schmidt (1972) (Lessard v. Schmidt, 1972)

Beyond the Basic Format

Court cases can have long, complex histories that require more information than the basic reference format can convey. You may need a reference that mentions multiple courts and court dates, that identifies sources other than the primary case reporter, and that includes explanatory information, such as a note that a decision was overruled, reversed, or affirmed.

Other court decisions never appear in case reporters. Some are reported in slip opinions, and some are available only in electronic databases, in periodicals, or on the Internet.

Appendix 7.1 of the APA Publication Manualshows reference examples for a case affirmed by the appeals court, a case published as a slip opinion, and a case published in an electronic database (see the examples on p. 218 in the sixth edition of the APA Publication Manual).

For more examples, consult The Bluebook, which covers all of these reference variations and more.

Citing Treaties and Other International Agreements

by APA Style Staff

A treaty is a formal arrangement regarding relationships and standards for behavior among sovereign states and international organizations. The parties may have called it a treaty, a pact, a convention, an understanding, a protocol, or an agreement—but at its heart, a treaty defines cooperation, friendship, alliances, and negotiations.
 
The APA Publication Manual doesn’t include guidelines for citing and referencing treaties. That’s because APA follows The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation for preparing citations and references to legal materials. Such citations and references are more useful to readers when they are provided in conventional legal format.

If you need to cite and reference treaties and other international agreements in APA papers and articles, here are some guidelines from The Bluebook.
 
Basic Elements of a Treaty Reference
 
1. Title of the agreement. Start the reference with the full title of the treaty. Examples:

Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War

2. Names of the parties. If there are only two parties to the agreement (a bilateral treaty; for example, France and Germany), include the names of both parties. If the agreement is multilateral, you can choose to omit or include the parties’ names. Abbreviate names of countries. As you can see in the example below, when the United States is a party to the treaty, the United States is listed first and the other party or parties afterward. If there are two or more other parties (Canada and Mexico in the example), list them in alphabetical order. All parties are connected by hyphens.

Fr.-Ger. U.S.-Can.-Mex.

You’ll find a full list of abbreviations for geographic names in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.

3. Date of signing. Give the month, date, and year that the treaty was signed. Use abbreviations for the longer month names (Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sep., Oct., Nov., Dec.).

June 25, 1902 Dec. 12, 1984

4. Treaty source. A number of sources publish texts of treaties. Some sources use volume and page numbers; other sources use only item numbers. So provide volume and page numbers if your source has them; otherwise, provide the item number. Abbreviate the title of the source, and present the information in this order:

volume source page 63 Stat. 2241 or source item number T.I.A.S. No. 832

Here are a few official sources for U.S. treaties that use volume and page numbers: 

United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (U.S.T.; contains treaties from 1950–now) Statutes at Large (Stat.; contains treaties from 1778–1949)

And here’s one that uses item numbers:

Treaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.; contains treaties from 1945–date)

For intergovernmental treaties, here are the main sources that use volume and page numbers:

United Nations Treaty Series (U.N.T.S.; contains treaties from 1946–date) League of Nations Treaty Series (L.N.T.S.; contains treaties from 1920–1945) Pan-American Treaty Series (Pan-Am. T.S.; contains treaties from 1949–date)

And one that uses just item numbers:

European Treaty Series (E.T.S.; contains treaties from 1948–2003)

Reference and Citation Formats

1.  Bilateral treaties. Here are the reference and citation formats, along with examples, for a bilateral treaty.

Reference Title of Agreement, Party A-Party B, date, volume number volume name page number. Treaty of Neutrality, Hung.-Turk., Jan. 5, 1929, 100 L.N.T.S. 137. Agreement on Defense and Economic Cooperation, U.S.-Greece, Sept. 8, 1983, T.I.A.S. No. 10,814. Text citation Title of Agreement (Year) or (Title of Agreement, Year) Treaty of Neutrality (1929) or (Treaty of Neutrality, 1929)

2. Multilateral treaties. Here are the reference and citation formats for multilateral treaties.

Reference with party names omitted Title of Agreement, date, volume number volume name page number. Police Convention, Feb. 29, 1920, 127 L.N.T.S. 433. Text citation with party names omitted Title of Agreement (year) or (Title of Agreement, year) Police Convention (1920) or (Police Convention, 1920) Reference with party names included Title of Agreement, Party A-Party B-Party C, date, volume number volume name page number. Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion With Respect to Taxes on Estates, Inheritances, and Gifts, U.S.-Fr., Nov. 24, 1978, 32 U.S.T. 1935. Text citation for treaty with party names included Title of Agreement (year) or (Title of Agreement, year) Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion With Respect to Taxes on Estates, Inheritances, and Gifts (1978) or (Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion With Respect to Taxes on Estates, Inheritances, and Gifts, 1978)

To learn more about treaties, check out the State Department’s treaty website (http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/index.htm). It features frequently asked questions about treaties and hosts an online version of Treaties and Other International Acts.

For more information on formatting treaty references, abbreviating party names, and working with treaty sources that don’t fit the basic reference format, consult The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.

The Rules for Federal Regulations: II. The Federal Register

 

 

 

by Melissa

The last blog post in this series covered federal regulations in the Code
of Federal Regulations, which is the primary source for federal regulations.

However, for proposed regulations and regulations that haven’t been published in the Code of Federal Regulations yet, you need the Federal Register.

 

Reference Elements
Here are the basic elements of an APA Style reference for a regulation drawn from the Code of Federal Regulations.

1. Name of the regulation 
   Start the reference with the name of the regulation if it is commonly identified by its name. You can include the abbreviated name of the agency that issued the regulation as part of the name (e.g., FDA Prescription Drug Advertising Rule).
2. Volume number
   The Federal Register is divided into numbered volumes. The volume number should be included in the reference. If the reference doesn’t begin with the regulation’s name, then the title number is the first element of the reference.
3. Abbreviated name of the source 
   Use the abbreviation Fed. Reg. for the Federal Register.
4. Page number
   Use the page number on which the regulation (or discussion of the regulation) begins. You won’t need the section symbol for this element.
5. Date and other information
   The date format differs from the usual APA Style. Include the month, date, and year of the regulation (not the edition year of the Federal Register) in the reference list entry. Spell out the months of May, June, and July; for the other months, use first three letters of the month and a period (Jan., Feb., etc.).

For nonfinal regulations, add the status to the date (e.g., proposed Jan. 11, 2008). If the Federal Register provides information about the regulation’s future location in the Code of Federal Regulations, include that in a separate set of parentheses after the date and before the period at the end of the reference. 

 

Reference Formats
Here are the basic reference formats for the Federal Register. Use the first format for named regulations, and use the second format for unnamed regulations. 

Name, Volume number Source xxx (Month, Date, Year) (to be codified at X C.F.R. pt. xxx). Volume number Source xxx (Month, Date, Year) (to be codified at X C.F.R. pt. xxx).

Compare this to the format for the Code of Federal Regulations. Note the lack of a section symbol, the differences in the date format, the addition of parenthetical information after the date, and the abbreviation of part as pt.

 

Here’s a reference example from the Federal Register:

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parametersfor 2012, 78 Fed. Reg. 15410 (March 11, 2013) (to be codified at 45 C.F.R. pts. 153, 155,156, 157, & 158).

 

In-Text Citation Formats
The in-text citation format for a named regulation follows the standard name–date format used in APA Style. Here’s the format and a sample citation:

Name (Year) or (Name, Year) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2013) or (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 2013)

If the name is particularly long, you can shorten it, provided that the shortened name clearly identifies the appropriate reference list entry.

 

If you have an unnamed regulation, use this in-text citation format:

Volume number Source xxx (year) or (Volume number Source xxx, year)

 

To learn more about citing federal regulations, consult section A7.06 (pp. 223–224) of the sixth edition of Publication Manual or consult the most recent edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.

 

The Rules for Federal Regulations: I. The Code of Federal Regulations

 

 

 

by Melissa

Do you follow the rules? Rules that regulate psychological research, patient treatment, and everyday human and organizational behavior are written by federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education.

Here’s what you need to know to follow the APA Style rules for federal regulations.

The Code of Federal Regulations is the primary source for federal regulations. This post covers regulations drawn from that code. Our next post will cover regulations drawn from the Federal Register.

Reference Elements
Here are the basic elements of an APA Style reference for a regulation drawn from the Code of Federal Regulations.

1. Name of the regulation. Start the reference with the name of the regulation if the regulation is commonly identified by its name. You can include the abbreviated name of the agency that issued the regulation as part of the name (e.g., FDA Prescription Drug Advertising Rule).
2. Title number. The Code of Federal Regulations is divided into numbered titles. Include that number in the reference. If the reference doesn’t begin with the regulation’s name, then the title number is the first element of the reference.
3. Abbreviated name of the source. Use the abbreviation C.F.R. for the Code of Federal Regulations.
4. Section number. For a single section number, use the section symbol (§) and the section number in the reference. For a range of section numbers, use a doubled section symbol (§§) before the numbers and separate the numbers with an en dash.
5. Date. End the reference with the edition year of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Reference Formats
The basic reference formats for the Code of Federal Regulations appear below. Use the first format for named regulations, and use the second format for unnamed regulations.

Name, Title number Source § xxx (Year). Title number Source § xxx (Year).

Here are reference examples from the Code of Federal Regulations:

Financial Assistance to Individuals, 45 C.F.R. § 234 (2012). 7 C.F.R. § 319 (2000).

In-Text Citation Formats

Named regulations. The in-text citation format for a named regulation follows the standard name–date format used in APA Style. Here’s the format and a sample citation:

Name (Year) or (Name, Year) Financial Assistance to Individuals (2012) or (Financial Assistance to Individuals, 2012)

If the name is particularly long, you can shorten it, provided that the shortened name clearly identifies the appropriate reference list entry.

Unnamed regulations. The in-text citation format for unnamed regulations and a sample citation are below.

Title number Source § xxx (Year) or (Title number Source § xxx, Year) 7 C.F.R. § 319 (2000) or (7 C.F.R. § 319, 2000)

To learn more about citing federal regulations, consult section A7.06 (pp. 223–224) of the sixth edition of the APA Publication Manual or consult the most recent edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.

Executive Orders

by Melissa

By executive order, American presidents have created mental health care commissions, directed national councils to prioritize health care, and removed barriers to the funding of scientific research. Executive orders directly affect the field of psychology.

When you discuss executive orders, reference and cite them as shown in Section A7.07 (pp. 223–224) of the sixth edition of the APA Publication Manual and this blog post.

Reference Format
These are the essential elements of a reference for an executive order that appears in the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.):

1. Order number
2. Volume number and name of the code in which the order appears (e.g., executive orders always in appear in 3 C.F.R.)
3. Page number
4. Year that the order was promulgated

Here’s the basic format for an executive order reference:

Exec. Order No. xxxxx, 3 C.F.R. page (year).

If the order has been codified in the United States Code (U.S.C.), you can add the following elements at the end of the reference:

5. Volume number and abbreviated name of the code
6. Section number
7. Explanatory information indicating that that the order was reprinted or amended or that it appeared in an appendix to the code (app. at xxx–xxx)
8. Year of the most recent code in which the order appeared

Here’s the extended format:

Exec. Order No. xxxxx, 3 C.F.R. page (year), reprinted in title number U.S.C. § xxx app. at xxx–xxx (year).

For example, Executive Order 11,609, delegating some of the president’s authority to various federal agencies, is formatted as follows:

Exec. Order No. 11,609, 3 C.F.R. 586 (1971–1975), reprinted as amended in 3 U.S.C. § 301 app. at 404–407 (2006).

Text Citation Format
Here’s the in-text citation for executive orders:

Executive Order No. xx,xxx (year) (Executive Order No. xx,xxx, year)

For more on executive orders, consult the latest edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.

From Microprocessors to Sticky Notes: Patent References and Citations

 

 

  

by Melissa

 

Psychologists use tools ranging from sophisticated computer hardware and software systems to simple sticky notes. Patent documents describe in detail the appearance and operation of many of these tools.

In this post, we describe how to use APA Style when incorporating information from patent documents in your work.

The first step is to gather information from patent documents by searching databases at intellectual property agencies like the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For information about other intellectual property agencies, consult the Member States page on the World Intellectual Property Organization website. 

With patent information in hand, now you’re ready to create a reference and citation for a patent using APA Style!

Patent Reference Format
The elements of a patent reference list entry are slightly different from those of the typical APA Style author/date/title/source reference.

Here are the four patent reference elements:

• Name of the inventor to whom the patent was issued
• Year the patent was issued,
• Unique patent identifier (i.e., the patent number) 
• Name of the official source of the patent information (usually the name of the patent office).

Below is the general patent reference format:

Surname, A. B. (year). Patent Identifier No. xxx. Location: Source Name.

See section A7.07 of the APA Publication Manual for more information on formatting patent references.

 

Patent Reference List Examples and Quiz
Reference list entries for a few famous patents appear below. Try to match these patent references with the following famous innovations: ballpoint pens, electrocardiographs, sticky notes, telephones, and microprocessors. The answers are at the end of this blog post.

1. Bell, A. G. (1876). U.S. Patent No. 174,465. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
2. Biro, L. J. (1945). U.S. Patent No. 2,390,636. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
3. Einthoven, W. (1926). U.S. Patent No. 1,592,628. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
4. Fry, A. L. (1993). U.S. Patent No. 5,194,299. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
5. Hoff, M. E., Jr., Mazor, S., & Faggin, F. (1974). U.S. Patent No. 3,821,715. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

 

Patent In-Text Citation Format
In text, cite the patent identifier and the year.

U.S. Patent No. 174,465 (1846) (U.S. Patent No. 174,465, 1846)

 

Answers to the Patent Match Quiz
Alexander Graham Bell patented a device that he described in his patent application as improvements in telegraphy (U.S. Patent No. 174,465, 1876), a device commonly known as the telephone.

Laszlo Jozsef Biro invented a fountain pen that had a rotatable ball at one end (U.S. Patent No. 1,592,628, 1945), also known as a ballpoint pen.

Willem Frederik Einthoven’s U.S. Patent No. 1,592,628 (1926) described a device that is the precursor of modern electrocardiographs.

Arthur L. Fry’s patent for sticky notes was granted in the United States (U.S. Patent No. 5,194,299, 1993) and other countries (e.g., Canadian Patent No. CA 1340261, 1980; Canadian Patent No. CA 1340262, 1980).

Marcian Edward Hoff, Jr., Stanley Mazor, and Federico Faggin were among the early innovators who patented microprocessors (U.S. Patent No. 3,821,715, 1974).

For more links to patent resources and patent-related research information, check out the following Library of Congress website: http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/beonline/subjects.php?SubjectID=17

 

 

Citing the Charter of the United Nations

by Melissa

We’re sometimes asked about how to cite international agreements, such as the Charter of the United Nations, in APA Style. You won’t find an example of how to cite that document in the APA Publication Manual.

The Charter of the United Nations is a legal document, so use The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation as your foundation for building APA Style references and citations.

The APA Style reference for the Charter of the United Nations can include these elements:

1. Name of the agreement
2. Article number
3. Paragraph number

 

References
The reference format and an example using that format appear below.

U.N. Charter art. xx, para. xx. U.N. Charter art. 1, para. 3.

If you want to reference an entire article of the charter, you can omit the paragraph element:

U.N. Charter art. xx. U.N. Charter art. 1.

 

In-Text Citations
In text, use one of these citation formats:

U.N. Charter art. xx, para. xx (U.N. Charter art. xx, para. xx)

In the below example of an in-text citation, the article and paragraph numbers (rather than page numbers) pinpoint the location of quoted text from the U.N. Charter.

The founders of the United Nations encouraged countries to work cooperatively on “international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character” (U.N. Charter art. 1, para. 3).

Consult the latest edition of The Bluebook to learn more about citing United Nations documents and other international agreements.

Finding Federal Statutes

 

 

 

by Melissa

Legal research is a different type of beast. The skilled hunter of psychology data may need a guide when tracking down information for an APA Style reference to a federal statute. This blog post is your guide to tracking down the text of a federal statute and the statute’s name, title number, section number, and year. Happy hunting!

The sixth edition of the APA Publication Manual states that the United States Code is the official source for federal statutes. Where can I find a copy of it?
If you can’t get your hands on a printed copy of the United States Code, there’s an exact copy of the code on the Government Printing Office’s (GPO’s) website (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html).

According to the 19th edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, the PDF version of the code on the GPO website can be cited as if it were the printed copy. However, for some information, it is helpful to consult a printed copy of the code.

Printed copies of the United States Code may be found in any law library. Some law schools and some state and local government offices have law libraries that are open to the public. Try an Internet search to find one near you.

You also may find a printed copy of the code in one of the Government Printing Office’s (GPO’s) federal depository libraries. Check the Federal Depository Library public page on the GPO website to find a federal depository library near you (http://catalog.gpo.gov/fdlpdir/FDLPdir.jsp).

 

How do I find the official name of a statute?
The official name can be found in the text of the statute. Search the first few subsections of the statute to find the name. The words Short Title usually appear before the official name of the statute. Remember, not all statutes have names.

In the screenshot below, the name of the statute, National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, is under the heading Short Title, in section 4321.

 

If I know the name of a statute, but not the title or section numbers, how can I find them?
Use the Popular Name Tool on the U.S. House of Representatives website at http://uscode.house.gov/popularnames/popularnames.htm to find the title number, section numbers, and section in which the name of the statute can be found.

A search for the National Environmental Policy Act yields the following results:

The results show that the statute can be found in Title 42 of the United States Code, beginning at section 4321; the short title (name) of the statute can be found in Title 42, section 4321 note. Confirm this information by consulting your copy of the United States Code.

 

How do I find the right year to use in the reference?
The edition year should come from, in order of preference, the spine of the volume of the United States Code that you are using, the year on the title page of the volume, or the latest copyright year.

 

List of Research Resources
Federal depository libraries: http://catalog.gpo.gov/fdlpdir/FDLPdir.jsp
PDF copy of the United States Code: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html
Popular Name Tool: http://uscode.house.gov/popularnames/popularnames.htm

 

Writing References for Federal Statutes

 

 

 

by Melissa

It’s 2 a.m. You are hunched over a laptop computer, and you have 20 ounces of hastily drunk coffee sloshing around in your stomach, or maybe you have a sheaf of heavily edited, stained papers spread across half your desk, while you gnaw on half an inch of wood or whatever it is that lead pencils are made of these days. Is this stressful scenario what your process for creating challenging references looks like?

Researching and writing may be stressful, but with the right resources, creating references can be relatively easy. Relax, put down the oversized coffee cup (or chewed up pencil), and take a look at this simple template for creating APA Style references for federal statutes:

Name of the Statute, Title number Source § Section number(s) (Year).

 

Parts of the Reference
There are just five pieces of information that you need when creating an APA Style reference for a basic federal statute: the name of the statute, the title number, the name of the source in which you found the statute, the section number(s) of the statute, and the year of the source in which you found the statute.

This blog post defines each of these elements and shows you how to put them together to create a reference and an in-text citation. A subsequent blog post will provide more information on how to find this information in official and authoritative sources.

 

1. Name of the Statute. If a statute has a common name, this is the first element of the APA Style reference. The name of the statute is followed by a comma. If a statute doesn’t have a name, omit this element, and start with the title number.

Note that the terms statute and act refer to the same thing; you will see them used interchangeably if you regularly work with legal materials.

The name of one statute is the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

 

2. Title Number. The title number is the second element that appears in APA Style references for a named statute. If a statute does not have a name, the title number is the first element. Note that in the Publication Manual, the title number is referred to as the volume number.

 Title numbers identify the subject matter group to which a statute belongs. For instance, in the collection of statutes known as the United States Code, education statutes are grouped in Title 20, public health and welfare statutes are grouped in Title 42, and labor statutes

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is in Title 29 of the United States Code.

 

3. Source. The official source for federal statutes is the United States Code. In the reference, use an abbreviated version of this title: U.S.C.

Although statutes can be found in other places, use the official code unless it is not available (e.g., a recently passed statute usually cannot be found in the United States Code; therefore, it would be appropriate to cite another source).

 

4. Section number(s). A statute is usually divided into several numbered sections and subsections. In a reference for a statute, a section symbol (§) should be listed before the section number. If your reference includes more than one section, provide the first and last section numbers, preceded by a double section symbol (§§), and separate

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 runs from section 2601 to section 2654, formatted as §§ 2601–2654.

 

5. Year. Finish the reference with the edition year of the United States Code (not the year that the statute was enacted). Set the year in parentheses, and end the reference with a period.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 can be found in the last printing of the full United States Code, which has an edition year of 2006.

 

Reference Example
A reference list entry for a federal statute looks like this:

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (2006).

 

In-Text Citation Example
The in-text citation format for a federal statute is similar to that for other APA Style references. Cite the name of the statute and the year:

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (2006) (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 2006)

 

Bluebook
If your work includes statutes that differ from the basic format shown above, requiring you to go beyond the scope of Appendix 7.1, be sure to consult The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.

Introduction to APA Style Legal References

 

by Melissa

Writers sometimes try to squeeze a reference for a statute or a court decision into the same format as a journal article, essentially trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. It won’t fit, it won’t look quite right, and it won’t be as useful to your readers as it could be.

There’s a better way. Instead of contorting legal references like pretzels, consult one or more of the following style resources: Appendix 7.1 in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, this blog, and the specialized style resources discussed below.

 

1. Appendix 7.1 in the Publication Manual

When creating APA Style legal references, your first and best resource is the Publication Manual’s Appendix 7.1: References to Legal Materials (pp. 216–224). There, you’ll find sample references for the legal documents that are most commonly used in psychology research, including court decisions, statutes, administrative regulations, and executive orders.

The reference examples in Appendix 7.1 are drawn from The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, which is an authoritative source for legal citations and the primary style guide used by legal scholars and other professionals in that field. The reference and citation formats that you’ll find in Appendix 7.1 are a hybrid of APA Style and Bluebook style, adapted to both fit well in an APA Style article and provide the unique information that will allow your readers to find the referenced legal document.

 

2. The APA Style Blog

The APA Style Blog already provides some resources for legal references. Citation of the U.S. Constitution is discussed in How to Cite the U.S. Constitution in APA Style. Capitalization of the names of legal documents is discussed in Do I Capitalize This Word?

New blog posts to help you find, reference, and cite other legal materials in APA Style are on the way. These posts will cover the following topics:

• Writing References for Federal Statutes
• Finding Federal Statutes
• Citing the Charter of the United Nations
• Patent References and Citations
• Executive Orders
• The Rules for Federal Regulations: I. The Code of Federal Regulations
• The Rules for Federal Regulations: II. The Federal Register
• Citing Treaties and Other International Agreements
• Citing Court Decisions in APA Style

As each topic is added to the blog, we’ll include a link to the relevant post in the above list.

 

3. Additional Resources

The Bluebook. If you’re working with more complex legal references that require you to go beyond the scope of Appendix 7.1, be sure to consult The Bluebook, which provides citation formats for constitutions, international treaties, domestic and foreign statutes, legislative bills and resolutions, administrative regulations and proceedings, executive orders, legal briefs and other court filings, reported and unreported court decisions, and many other legal documents.

Because Bluebook citation style relies heavily on footnotes and doesn’t include the reference list and name–date citations that are the hallmarks of APA Style, when you use a legal reference format from The Bluebook, consult Appendix 7.1 in the Publication Manual and, using the create-a-reference skills that you learned from our Frankenreference blog post, adapt the reference to closely follow the examples in Appendix 7.1.

Law Librarian. The law mutates. New laws that alter or overrule existing laws are passed all the time. You may wish to consult a law librarian to ensure that your references are complete and correct and that the law you are citing has not been superseded or overturned.

Additional Information Online. Finally, one other resource that I find helpful in my own research is the online guide Introduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter W. Martin (an emeritus law professor at Cornell University). This is not an official source, so if you consult it, be sure to seek additional verification in The Bluebook.