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Citation Guides

Find how to cite sources and properly format your paper in ALA, MLA, Chicago, CSE, ASA, and Bluebook styles.

Legal Citations

The rules and guidelines for legal citations are covered in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, published by the editors of prestigious law journals.

Examples

Case (or judicial opinion) citations follow a common structure, whether from a federal or state court. They include 3 sections, Party Names, Reporter Information, and Jurisdiction. Each section includes specific information:

  • Party Names: Plaintiff v. Defendant
  • Reporter Information: vol. reporter starting page#
  • Jurisdiction: (court year)

The complete citation would include the following:

Plaintiff v. Defendant, vol. reporter starting page # (court year)

As an example:

Franklin v. United States, 992 F.2d 1492 (10th Cir. 1993)

  • Party Names: Franklin v. United States
  • Reporter Information: 992 F.2d 1492
  • Jurisdiction: (10th Cir. 1993)

 

**Georgetown Law Library has a brief, 4-minute video describing case citations.**

Statutes are published in sets called codes. It varies from state to state, but generally has the following structure:

United States Code

Title Code Section Year

18 U.S.C. § 844 (2006)

  • Title: 18
  • Code: U.S.C.
  • Section:  § 844
  • Year: (2006)

Montana Code

Code Title-Chapter-Section Year

Mont. Code Ann. § 30-2A-101 1991

  • Code: Mont. Code Ann
  • Title-Chapter-Section: § 30-2A-101
  • Year: 1991

An abbreviated version is also commonly used within Montana courts:

§ 30-2A-101, MCA

**Georgetown Law Library has a brief, 3 minute video explaining statutory citations.**

Law Reviews and Law Journals

Author, Article Title, Volume Abbreviated Journal Name Page (Year)

Dan L. Burk & Julie E. Cohen, Fair Use & Infrastructure for Rights Management Systems, 15 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 41 (2001)

  • Author: Dan L. Burk & Julie E. Cohen
  • Article title: Fair Use & Infrastructure for Rights Management Systems
  • Volume: 15
  • Abbreviated journal name: Harv. J.L. & Tech 
  • Page: 41
  • Year: (2001)

* see Cardiff Legal Abbreviations for journal name abbreviations *

Magazines and Newspapers

Author, Article Title, Abbreviated Journal Name, Issue Date, at Page Number

David S. Cloud & Greg Jaffe, For Bush, the Path to War Gets More Complex, Wall St. J., Sept. 3, 2002, at A1

  • Author: David S. Cloud & Greg Jaffe
  • Article title: For Bush, the Path to War Gets More Complex
  • Abbreviated journal name: Wall St. J.
  • Issue date: Sept. 3, 2002
  • At page number: at A1

 * see Cardiff Legal Abbreviations for journal name abbreviations *

Author, Title Page (Year)

John. R. Vile, The United States Constitution: Questions and Answers 55 (2d ed. 2014)

  • Author: John. R. Vile
  • Title: The United States Constitution: Questions and Answers
  • Page: 55
  • Year: (2d ed. 2014)

 * edition is only included for editions other than the first.

Electronic Sources

General Guidelines

Legal citations are less concerned with format or location when citing sources.

The Blue Book recommends that you provide a URL if it will make it easier to find the source. 

Add the URL to the end of the citation, followed by a period:

Tyler Pager, Drafting Only Men for the Military Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules,New York Times, Feb. 24, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/us/military-draft-men-unconstitutional.html.