APA Format Style Guide: Legal References
Legal Citations vs. APA Citations
Legal references are usually written in legal style and require few changes for an APA reference list entry. Some court decisions are reported in multiple places, which is called “parallel citation.” When a work has parallel citations, include all the citations in the reference list entry. Existing legal references generally include the parallel citations, meaning you will not have to do additional research to find them. The in-text citation for legal references are created from the reference list entry.
A general form for each reference type is given below. Each form usually includes a popular or formal title or name of the legislation and the reference information, which is called a citation. Below are the key differences between APA style references and legal references.
| Difference | APA Style | Legal Style |
|---|---|---|
| Order of elements in the reference list entry | Author, Date, Title, and Source, in that order | Title, Source, Date, in that order |
| In-text citation | Author and Year | Title and Year |
| Version of work being referenced | Exact version used | Version of record as published in an official legal publication |
| Use of standard abbreviations | Used for parts of a work (e.g. “2nd ed.” for a second edition) | Used for legal entities and publications (e.g. “S” for Senate or “H.R.” for House of Representatives) |
Common Legal Reference Abbreviations
| Type of Word or Phrase | Word or Phrase | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| Part of Government | Congress | Cong. |
| House of Representatives | H.R. | |
| Senate | S. | |
| Type of Legal Material | Regulation | Reg. |
| Resolution | Res. | |
| Section of Legal Material | Section | § |
| Sections | §§ | |
| Number | No. | |
| And following | et seq. | |
| Reporter of Federal Legal Material | United States Reports | U.S. |
| Federal Reporter | F. | |
| Federal Reporter, Second Series | F.2d | |
| Federal Reporter, Third Series | F.3d | |
| Federal Supplement | F.Supp. | |
| Federal Supplement, Second Series | F.Supp.2d | |
| Federal Supplement, Third Series | F.Supp.3d | |
| United States Code | U.S.C. | |
| Congressional Record | Cong. Rec. | |
| Federal Register | F.R. |
Cases or Court Decisions
Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!
References for a case or court decision includes the following information:
- Title or name of case (e.g. Brown v. Board of Education)
- Citation – usually to a volume or page of a set of books where published cases can be found, called “Reporters” (e.g. Federal Reporter, Second Series)
- Precise jurisdiction of the court writing the decision (e.g. Supreme Court, New York Court of Appeals)
- Date of the decision
- URL – optional – where you retrieved the case information
Federal Court Decisions
U.S. Supreme Court – Decisions are published in the United States Reports
- Reference List: Name v. Name, Volume U.S. Page (Year). URL
- Parenthetical Citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
- Narrative Citation: Name v. Name (Year)
U.S. Supreme Court case, with a page number
- Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483
U.S. Supreme Court case, without a page number
- Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf
U.S. Circuit Court – Decisions are published in the Federal Reporter
- Reference List: Name. v. Name, Volume F. [or F.2d, F.3d] Page (Court Year). URL
- Parenthetical Citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
- Narrative Citation: Name v. Name (Year)
U.S. circuit court case
- Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 951 F.2d 1128 (9th Cir, 1991). https://openjurist.org/951/f2d/1128/william-daubert-v-merrell-dow-pharmaceuticals
U.S. District Court – Decisions are published in the Federal Supplements
- Reference List: Name v. Name, Volume F. Supp. Page (Court Year). URL
- Parenthetical Citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
- Narrative Citation: Name v. Name (Year)
U.S. district court case
- Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA, 133 F. Supp. 2d 1034 (N.D. Ohio 2001). https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/133/1034/2293141
U.S. district court case with appeal
- Durflinger v. Artiles, 563 F. Supp. 322 (D. Kan. 1981), aff’d, 727 F.2d 888 (10th Cir. 1984). https://openjurist.org/727/f2d/888/durflinger-v-artiles
State Court Decisions
Can refer to the state supreme court, state appellate court, or state trial court
- Reference Lists: Name v. Name, Volume Reporter Page (Court Year). URL
- Parenthetical Citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
- Narrative Citation: Name v. Name (Year)
State Supreme Court case
- Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976). https://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/torts/torts-keyed-to-dobbs/the-duty-to-protect-from-third-persons/tarasoff-v-regents-of-university-of-california
State appellate court case
- Texas v. Morales, 826 S.W.2d 201 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992). https://www.leagle.com/decision/19921027826swd20111010
Legislative Material
Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!
Legislative materials include federal testimony, hearings, bills, resolutions, reports and related documents. Bills and resolutions that have been passed by Congress and signed by the President should be cited as statutes.
When a URL is available, it is optional to include it in the reference list entry.
Federal testimony
Title of testimony, xxx Cong. (Year) (testimony of Testifier Name). URL
- Federal real property reform: How cutting red tape and better management could achieve billions in savings, U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. (2016) (testimony of Norman Dong). http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/233107
Full federal hearing
Title of hearing, xxx Cong. (Year). URL
- Strengthening the federal student loan program for borrowers: Hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, 113th Cong. (2014). https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/strengthening-the-federal-loan-program-for-borrowers
Unenacted federal bill or resolution
Title [if relevant], H.R. or S. bill number, xxx Cong. (Year). URL
Title [if relevant], H.R. or S. Res. resolution number, xxx Cong. (Year). URL
- Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, H.R. 1100, 113th Cong. (2013). https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1100
Enacted simple or concurrent federal resolution
S. Res. xxx, xxx Cong., Volume Cong. Rec. Page (Year) (enacted). URL
H.R. Res. xxx, xxx Cong., Volume Cong. Rec. Page (Year) (enacted). URL
- S. Res. 438, 114th Cong., 162 Cong. Rec. 2394 (2016) (enacted). https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2016/04/21/senate-section/article/S2394-2
Federal report
S. Rep. No. xxx-xxx (Year). URL
H.R. Rep. No. xxx-xxx (Year). URL
- H.R. Rep. No. 114-358 (2015). https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-114hrpt358/pdf/CRPT-114hrpt358.pdf
Statutes
Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!
A statute is a law or act passed by a legislative body. Statutes exist on the federal and state level.
Federal statutes are published in the United States Code (U.S.C.). State statutes are published in state-specific compilations; for example a Florida statute could be found in the Florida Statutes.
The reference template for statutes is as follows:
- Reference List: Name of Act, Title Source § Section Number (Year). URL
- Parenthetical Citation: (Name of Act, Year)
- Narrative Citation: Name of Act (Year)
Federal Statute, Americans with Disabilities Act
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990). https://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm
Federal Statute, Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241 (1964). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-78/pdf/STATUTE-78-Pg241.pdf
State Statute in state code
- Florida Mental Health Act, Fla. Stat. § 394 (1971 & rev. 2009). http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0394/0394.html
Administrative and Executive Materials
Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!
Administrative and executive materials include rules and regulations, advisory opinions, and executive orders.
Federal regulation, codified
Title or Number, Volume C.F.R. § xxx (Year). URL
- Protection of Human Subjects, 45 C.F.R. § 46 (2009). https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sites/default/files/ohrp/policy/ohrpregulations.pdf
Federal regulation, not yet codified
Title or Number, Volume F.R. Page (proposed Month Day, Year) (to be codified at Volume C.F.R. § xxx). URL
- Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees, 81 F.R. 32391 (proposed May 23, 2016) (to be codified at 29 C.F.R. § 541). https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/05/23/2016-11754/defining-and-delimiting-the-exemptions-for-executive-administrative-professional-outside-sales-and
Executive order
Exec. Order No. xxxx, 3 C.F.R. Page (Year). URL
- Exec. Order No. 13,676, 3 C.F.R. 294 (2014). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2015-title3-vol1/pdf/CFR-2015-title3-vol1-eo13676.pdf
Patents
Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries.
Patent references look similar to regular APA citations.
Patent
Inventor, A.A. (Year Patent Issued). Title of patent (U.S. Patent No. x,xxx,xxx). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. URL
- Hiremath, S.C., Kumar, S., Lu, F., & Salehi, A. (2016). Using metaphors to present concepts across different intellectual domains (U.S. Patent No. 9,367,592). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=9367592
Constitutions and Charters
Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!
To cite the whole constitution, a citation is not necessary. Simply refer to the constitution in text.
The U.S. Constitution has 26 amendments.
The Massachusetts Constitution was ratified in 1780.
.
Article of the U.S. Constitution
U.S. Const. art. xxx, § x.
U.S. Const. art. I, § 3.
.
Article of a state constitution
State Const. art. xxx, § x.
S.C. Const. art. XI, § 3.
.
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
U.S. Const. amend. xxx.
U.S. Const. amend. XIX.
.
Repealed amendment to the U.S. Constitution
U.S. Const. amend. xxx (repealed Year).
U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933).
.
U.S. Bill of Rights
U.S. Const. amend. 1-X.
.
Charter of the United Nations
U.N. Charter art. xx, para. xx.
U.N. Charter art. 1, para. 3.
Treaties and International Conventions
Remember to indent the second and following lines of the reference list entry!
References to a treaty or international convention should include the name of the treaty, convention, or other agreement; the signing or approval date; and a URL if available.
- Reference List: Name of Treaty or Convention, Month Day, Year, URL.
- Parenthetical Citation: (Name of Treaty or Convention, Year)
- Narrative Citation: Name of Treaty or Convention (Year)
United Nations Convention
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 20, 1989, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
Remember!
- Capitalize only the first word in the document title and any proper nouns. If there is a colon in the title (a subtitle), capitalize only the first word after the colon and any proper nouns.
- Alphabetize your reference list by the first word of the citation, usually the author’s last name. If there is no author, alphabetize by the first main word in the title, ignoring “a,” “an,” or “the.”
- Double space all of the citations on your reference list.
- Indent the second and following lines of the citation 5 to 7 spaces.