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APA Style -6th edition

This guide provides resources for learning how to cite your sources using APA Style guidelines.

Court Cases

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, sets the standard for all legal citations, and the style for legal citations that you see in the APA Publication Manual (see Appendix 7.1: References to Legal Materials, pp. 216–224) comes directly from The Bluebook.

In-Text Citation:

Name v. Name (Year) 

(Name v. Name, Year)

Example:

Wienhorst v. Stonebraker (1988)

(Wienhorst v. Stonebraker, 1988)

Either format is acceptable.

Reference List Citation:

Name v. Name, Volume Source Page (Court Date). See APA manual, (6th ed.), p. 217.

Example:

Wienhorst v. Stonebraker, 356 F. Supp. 1078 (E.D. Wis. 1988).

Common Legal Source Abbreviations

 Cong.  U.S. Congress
H.R.  House of  Representatives
S.    Senate
Reg.

 Regulation

Res.  Resolution
F.  Federal Reporter
F.2d  Federal Reporter,  Second Series
F.3d  Federal Reporter,  Third Series
F.  Supp.     Federal Supplement
U.S.C.  United States Code
Cong. Rec.  Congressional  Record
Fed. Reg.  Federal Register

 

Consult The Bluebook for additional abbreviation styles.

Statutes

In-Text Citation:

Name of Act (Year)

OR

Name of Act "of" Year

Example:

No Child Left Behind Act (2001)

OR

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

Reference List Citation:

Name of Act, Volume Source § section number (year). See APA manual (6th ed.), p. 220, #9

Example:

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 6319 (2008)

-U.S.C. stands for United States Code. If you are using the annotated version, use U.S.C.A.

-Unless you are citing a specific version of the statute for historical reasons, use the most current version of the statute.

Note: The "§" is a special section symbol that you insert as follows: in Microsoft Word 2013, click "Insert," go to the far right and select "Symbols," click the "Special Characters" tab and select the symbol marked "Section."

 

Internal Revenue Code

For Internal Revenue Code citations,  U.S.C. (United States Code) may be replaced (but is not required) with I.R.C.

Example:

26 U.S.C. § 61 (2000). becomes 26 I.R.C. § 61 (2000).

For more information on the citation of Federal Taxation Materials and Internal Revenue Code, please consult The Bluebook, page 15, section B6.1.5 and page109, section 12.8.1.