Anaya Nolan
The American Association of Law Libraries' Universal Citation Guide is a standard legal citation style used in all disciplines. APA Style, on the other hand, is a distinct citation style with its own templates and patterns. When citing a law in APA Style, the name of the law and U.S.C. (United States Code) are included. However, there are variations in how laws are cited depending on the style guide being used, such as the Bluebook, McGill Guide, or APA. For example, the Bluebook is the standard for legal citation in the US, while the McGill Guide is the standard in Canada, and they may have different requirements for italics and other formatting. Ultimately, the choice of citation style depends on the preferences of the instructor or publication guidelines.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| APA citation style | 7th edition |
| In-text citations | Name of the act, year |
| Reference list | Name of Act, Title Source § Section Number (Year). URL |
| Parenthetical citation | (Name v. Name, Year) |
| Narrative citation | Name v. Name (Year) |
| URL | Optional |
| Case name | Italicized in in-text citation |
| Canadian citation style | McGill Guide |
| American citation style | Bluebook |
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What You'll Learn
APA style for citing federal laws
The APA Publication Manual 7th edition states that "existing legal references are usually already written in legal style and require few, if any, changes for APA Style reference list entry". However, the APA Publication Manual 7th edition uses American legal citation styles, including The Bluebook as its foundation.
To cite federal laws (also commonly referred to as statutes or acts) in APA Style, include the name of the law, "U.S.C." (short for United States Code), the title and section of the code where the law appears, the year, and optionally the URL. The United States Code and most other compilations of laws are divided into parts called "titles", and within those titles, sections. No symbol is used for the title in your reference, but the section number is preceded by the symbol "§".
If the law has just passed and does not yet appear in the United States Code, cite to the Public Law Number with a parallel citation to its location in Statutes at Large. For example: "Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58, 119 Stat. 594 (2005). https://www.congress.gov/109/plaws/publ58/PLAW-109publ58.pdf". In this example, "Pub. L. No. 109-58" refers to Public Law number 58 from the 109th Congress, with a parallel citation to its location in volume 119, page 594 of the US Statutes at Large (119 Stat. 594).
When a law is spread across multiple consecutive sections, the term "et seq." (Latin for "and following") is added after the initial section number. It is always italicized and followed by a period. For example, "Fess–Kenyon Act, 29 U.S.C. § 31 et seq. (1920)".
In APA Style, most legal materials are cited in the standard legal citation style used for legal references across all disciplines. However, there are notable differences from other APA Style formats. For instance, the title or name of a case is written in standard type in the reference list entry and in italic type in the in-text citation. For cases that have not yet been assigned a page number, include three underscores instead of the page number in the reference list entry.
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Citing a law that's not in the United States Code
When citing a law that is not in the United States Code, you should follow a few key steps. Firstly, identify the law using its public law number, which is used when a law is not included in the United States Code or is spread across non-consecutive parts of the Code. This public law number should be accompanied by information on where the law was published. For instance, if the law was published in the United States Statutes at Large, you would use the abbreviation "Stat." as shown in the example: "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-2, 123 Stat. 5 (2009)".
The laws and statutes of individual states are cited in a similar format to federal laws. Simply replace "U.S.C." with the abbreviation for the law code of that particular state. It is important to note that some state codes may use article or chapter numbers instead of or in addition to section numbers, or they may not use titles at all. Therefore, it is crucial to adapt your reference to the standards of the specific state you are citing. For example, a citation from the Virginia Code would include the title and section number, separated by a hyphen.
When citing federal statutes, you may refer to a current official or unofficial code. The official federal code is the United States Code (U.S.C.), while unofficial, annotated versions include the U.S.C.A. (United States Code Annotated) and U.S.C.S. (United States Code Service). The year of publication is optional in citations, but if included, it indicates when the cited code volume or supplement was published, not when the law was passed, amended, or supplemented.
Additionally, when citing to an individual section or sections of the United States Code, exclude the name of the act and only include the title number, abbreviated name of the code, and section number(s). For instance, "15 U.S.C.A. § 77a (West)". If you are citing an unofficial print code like U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S., remember to include the name of the publisher.
Finally, it is worth noting that the APA Publication Manual 7th edition states that existing legal references typically require minimal changes for APA Style reference. However, your instructor may request modifications to follow Canadian legal citation practices, such as those outlined in The McGill Guide (The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation).
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Using the Bluebook for state statutes
The Bluebook is a style guide that outlines the rules for legal citation. It is the foundation for American legal citation styles, including APA.
State statutes may be published in both an official code and an unofficial code. The Bluebook requires citing the official code, if possible (Rule 12.2.1). Table 1 of the Bluebook provides a list of statutory codes for each state, indicating the official/preferred code to cite, along with the abbreviations for each code. The citation format for state statutory codes is similar to federal statutes but varies by state.
For example, in Virginia, a citation to a statute in the Code of Virginia 1950 Annotated would follow this format: Va. Code Ann. (abbreviation for the code in Table 1) § (section number).
If a current official code does not exist, as is the case for many states, or if the statute is not yet published in an official codification, a citation to a current, unofficial code is preferred. The United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A) and the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) are unofficial federal codes. The unofficial code citations are the same as the official code citations, but the name of the publisher, editor, or compiler is added before the year.
In general, a statute's name should only be included in a citation if the statute is commonly cited by name. The statute's name and original section number should be included if it is commonly cited that way or if it would aid in the identification of the statute.
Citing Sections of the U.S. Code
The U.S. Code and many state codes are arranged by numeric titles. Statutes are codified within these titles and sections. The Bluebook outlines specific rules for citing sections of the U.S. Code. Rule 12.3.2 specifies that citations to a federal code, whether official or unofficial, do not require a date. However, Rule 12.5 requires currency information for citations to codes in digital databases.
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Citing a law with a public law number
When citing a law in APA style, it is generally advisable to identify the law by its location in the United States Code (U.S.C.). However, there are exceptions to this rule.
If a law is spread across various sections of the U.S.C., or if it is not featured in the U.S.C. at all, then it is appropriate to include the public law number. In such cases, you should also include information on the source you accessed the law from. For example:
> Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-2, 123 Stat. 5 (2009).
Here, "Pub. L. No." is an abbreviation for "Public Law Number". The number "111-2" refers to Public Law number 2 from the 111th Congress.
It is worth noting that the year included in the citation refers to the year the law was published in the source consulted, rather than the year it was passed, amended, or supplemented.
In addition, when citing a law with a public law number, it is useful to include a URL, although this is not required in APA style. The URL can aid the reader in retrieving the source, but even without it, the other information included should be sufficient to locate the law.
Finally, it is important to adapt your reference to the standards of the state. For example, when citing a law from the Virginia Code, include the section number separated by a hyphen.
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Differences between APA and Canadian legal citation styles
The APA Publication Manual (7th ed.) states that "existing legal references are usually already written in a legal style and require few, if any, changes for APA style reference list entry" (2019, p. 355). However, the APA Publication Manual (7th ed.) uses American legal citation styles, including the Bluebook, as its foundation. The Bluebook is also the recommended style for citing Canadian government sources.
The Publication Manual of the APA [print] does not cover Canadian government sources, though it does include some American government sources. For legal sources, APA recommends using Bluebook Legal Citation style [print]. The major resource for Canadian legal citation is The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (also called The McGill Guide). The McGill Guide is the standard Canadian citation style and, unlike APA 7th ed. style, uses italics for case names in reference citations.
When citing a case or court decision in APA style, the URL from which you retrieved the case information can be included. However, this is not required for legal citations but may aid readers in retrieving the source. For legislation, you may include the URL from which you retrieved the statute after the year.
Some other differences between APA and Canadian legal citation styles are as follows:
- The APA style modifies some rules to align with the McGill Guide and Canadian legal citation practices. For instance, the title or name of a case for an in-text citation is written in italics in APA style, but the case name is written in standard type in the reference list citation.
- APA style includes examples for legal material from the United States and the United Nations.
- The year included in an APA citation is the year the law was published in the source consulted, not when it was passed, amended, or supplemented.
- In APA style, the United States Code and most other compilations of laws are divided into parts called "titles," and within those titles, sections. No symbol is used for the title in your reference, but the section number is preceded by the § symbol.
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Frequently asked questions
Universal citations are a standard way to cite legal references across all disciplines. The Bluebook is a commonly used universal citation style.
To cite federal laws in APA style, include the name of the law, "U.S.C." (United States Code), and the section number. For example: "Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990)".
APA defers to Bluebook style for legal materials. However, APA style has notable differences from other APA formats. Consult your instructor for their preference.
If the law is not included in the United States Code, cite it using its public law number and information about where it was published, such as the United States Statutes at Large.
