Law and Legal Studies
Legal citations
Legal citations enable a reader to easily locate the cases, statutes, regulations or other material cited in legal documents.
Case citations often appear as a number, an abbreviation of the publication in which the document is found followed by another number, e.g. 410 U.S. 113 is the citation to Roe v. Wade. This case can be found in volume 410 at page 113 in the United States Reports. You may further pinpoint a citation by the page number or paragraph number. Note that sometimes a case might have more than one citation ("parallel citation"). If you are pinpointing, be sure that the page number you use corresponds to the particular citation (usually indicated in Westlaw by the number of asterisks).
United States federal law is codified in the United States Code. The Code is arranged as 54 titles of various subject matters of federal jurisdiction (e.g. Title 12: Banks and banking; Title 17: Copyrights; Title 47: Telecommunications). The titles are then split up into chapters, which are further divided into sections (e.g. Title 17: Copyrights -- Chapter 1: Subject matter and scope of copyright -- Section 106: Exclusive rights in copyrighted works). Federal laws might be cited as follows: TITLE U.S.C. § SECTION. For example, 47 U.S.C. § 21 refers to Telecommunications (Title 47), Submarine cables; willful injury to; punishment (section 21).
In common social science, science, and humanities citation styles, such as APA, Chicago, or MLA, the Bluebook is recommended for citing legal documents.
Resources for legal citations
Web sites
- Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (updated 2020)This free, online guide by Cornell's Legal Information Institute is indexed to both the ALWD guide and the 19th edition of The Bluebook. It also documents the many respects in which contemporary legal writing, very often following guidelines set out in court rules, diverges from the citation formats specified by those academic texts.
- Bluebook GuideFree, online guide to Bluebook citations by Georgetown Law Library.
Books
The Bluebook : A uniform system of citation by Call Number: ReserveISBN: 9780578666150Publication Date: 2020 (21st ed.)A Uniform System of Citation: The Bluebook is the definitive style guide for legal citation in the United States. For generations, law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other legal professionals have relied on The Bluebook's uniform system of citation in their writing. In a diverse and rapidly changing legal profession, The Bluebook continues to provide a systematic method by which members of the profession communicate important information to one another about the sources and legal authorities upon which they rely in their work.
User's Guide to the Bluebook by Call Number: KF245 .D853 2010ISBN: 9780837738383Publication Date: 2010Revised for 19th edition. Because the Bluebook can seem exceedingly complex, the User's Guide provides simplified instructions and examples for the casual user.
ALWD Guide to Legal Citation by Call Number: KF245 .A45 2014ISBN: 9781454828754Publication Date: 20145th edition.
- Cardiff Index to Legal AbbreviationsThis database allows you to search for the meaning of abbreviations for English language legal publications, from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the United States, including those covering international and comparative law.
Prince's Dictionary of Legal Citations by Call Number: KF246 .P73 2006ISBN: 9780837736075Publication Date: 20067th edition.
