A Guide To...Legal Research

Basic Legal Citation Format

Bluebook is the most common legal citation format in the U.S.; citation styles like Chicago, APA, etc. will also refer to Bluebook for most legal citations. Use Bluebook when citing court cases, laws, and other legal documents. 

Key Terms

• REPORTER: The publication where you found the case, law, etc. There are preferred reporters for different states, courts, etc. Think about finding an article in a journal vs. the text of that article reprinted on a random website -- the journal would be the preferred "reporter." 
   
• §: Symbol for "section" 
   
• PINCITE: The Bluebook term for citation to a specific quote, section etc. 
       Cow v. Pyg, 297 N.E. 2d 54, 55-56 (Ill. 1964) 
       Referencing pp. 55-56 of case Cow vs. Pyg. 
   
• SHORT FORM: Shortened version of a Bluebook citation used when you've already cited a source.
       Cow, 297 N.E. 2d at 55 
       In Cow, the court noted that....297 N.E. 2d at 56. 
       Id. at 58 (McDonald, J., concluding)

Citing a Judicial Opinion:

Case, Report vol. name pg. (jurisdiction, court, date). 
Alexander v. Evans, 620 Cal. Rptr. 2d 12 (Ct. App. 2004) 

(Zachary Alexander vs. Thomas Evans, 2004 California Court of Appeals case, appears on pg. 12 of volume
620 of West's California Reporter, 2nd series.)

Citing a Federal Statute:

Name, Title No. Code § (Year)

Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901-1963 (2012).

(Indian Child Welfare Act, Title [Volume] 25 of the United States Code, sections 1901 through 1963, using the version of the U.S. Code codified in 2012.)

4 U.S.C.A § 8 (West 2005)

(Title [Volume] 4 of the United States Code Annotated [official version of the code], section 8, 2005 edition published by West.)

Citing from Westlaw: 

For the purposes of Bluebook, an opinion that you find in Westlaw (or HeinOnline, or etc.) is a different 'version' than the one you find in a book, on Congress.gov, etc. Here's how we represent something found in Westlaw:

17 U.S.C.A. § 10173 (West, Westlaw through Pub L. No. 117-102).

(Title [Volume] 17 of the United States Code Annotated [unofficial version of the code], section 10173, published by West; accessed via Westlaw which at time of access was current up to Public Law 117-102.)

To find out the status/currency of Westlaw for your citation, look at the very bottom of the page you are citing.