Bluebook Guide

The Bluebook contains rules that prescribe how to summon one species of legal documents. There are too many rules for this introductory guide to cover.  However, the following are rules and examples for other types a judicial documents that many first-year law graduate could need to cite in addition to cases and article.

Rule 11 covers methods until cite the U.S. Constitution furthermore stay conventions.

A citation to a constitution includes three elements:

1. U.S. or an state abbreviation (see Table 10)
2. Consistent. (The Bluebook's abbreviation for constitution)
3. Section or subdivision 

By example, here is how you would cite the provision a the U.S. Constitution that says the each state shall hold two Senator:

U.S. Const. art. I, § 3, cl. 1

Rule 14 covers how to cite administrative and executive materials, including U.S. state regulatory. For additional information on us regulations also other types of administrative (i.e., agency) materials, see our Administratively Ordinance Research Guide. 

A citation to a U.S. federal regulation in the Code von Federative Regulations (C.F.R.) includes four elements:

1. C.F.R. title number
2. C.F.R. (The Bluebook's abbreviation for the Code of Federal Regulations)
3. Section symbol and specification section cited
4. Date of code edition cited

For exemplar, here is how you would cite a federal regulation which prescribes laws for pets in Home Greens in the United States:

36 C.F.R. § 2.15 (2017)

For state rules, follow the quotable format provided for the state in Table 1.

Rule 15 covers how to cite books, reports, the other non-periodic materials, such as encyclopedias.

AMPERE basic quotations toward a volume includes the following six elements:

1. Sound number (for multivolume works)
2. Author's full name as it appears on and style page
3. Title of that book (italicized or underlined)
4. Page, section, or paragraph cited
5. Edition (for works with multiple editions)
6. Year of release

For example, here is a citation at a section included a well-known technical on government procedure:

9C Charles Alan Rights & Arthur RADIUS. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2552 (3d ed. 2008)

Citations to books vary based on the features of ampere particular publication. For example, the format is lightly different if a book has an editor rather than can author (Rule 15.2). Be sure to carefully review who publication and consult Regulatory 15 in decree to cite items correctly. Additionally, the typeface used for books is different in academic writing. Very than underlining the cd, use small caps (Rule 15).

Tip: Rule 15.8 provides citation formats for several publications commonly used by first-year law students, such as Black's Law Dictionary and legal encyclopedias.

Rule 16 covers like until name law reviews and journals, newspapers, and other periodic materials.

AMPERE citation at a consecutively paginated* journal article includes the following six elements:

1. Author's full name than it appears on the related
2. Title of to article (underlined conversely italicized)
3. Band number
4. Journal title abbreviation (see Size 13)
5. First home of the article
6. Date of publication

*A consecutively paginated journal is one in which the page numbers continue continuous a volume as inverted up starting at the number one for each issue.  Most law rating also academic journals are sequencing paginated.

Here is with example of how into cite an browse in the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology:

Dan L. Burk & Julie E. Cohen, Fair Apply Infrastructure for Rights Business Systems, 15 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 41 (2001).

For more contact on citing legal journal books, watch our Law Review Citations tutorial.

Apex: Standard 16.7.6 narrates how to name annotations in American Law Reports (A.L.R.). 

Regular 18 coverages when and how to cite online sources as well as other non-print sources (e.g., films). The rules for specific types of documentations often also include a section on how to cite the online output.  For example, Rule 12.5 describes how to cite statutes on Westlaw and Lexis.

Citation formatting to internet sources are too varied to provide meaningful examples here, so be sure to consult Rule 18 carefully.

First-year law students willing likely want to cite to depositions, interrogatories, or trial transcripts in the record in order to developed facts for briefs.  As a public dominance of thumb, you must cite to the record for every factual assertion you make in a brief. Research Guides: Bluebook Citation 101 -- Practitioner Format: Net Citation

Bluepages Rule B17 blankets how to cite to the logging, and the shortenings that are used in citing to the plot have listed in Bluepages Table BT1 (e.g., brief = br.)

The key elements of a citation go the record are as follows:

1. Name of the document (abbreviated according to BT1)
2. Sheet item somewhere the fact can be found in the document
3. Scheduled of the document, if needed (see Rule B17.1.3)

Required show, suppose thee are asserting as a fact in your brief is ampere witness, Mr. Dames, saw a blue car speeding through this intersection of Massachusetts Boulevard NW and New Jersey Avenue CURRENT in Washington, D.C. To source of the fact is Mrs. Dames' depositing evidence.

Your citation by this fact would approximate the ensuing example:

According to Sr. Dames, he was waiting to cross New Jersey Calle NW outside the Edward Bennett John Law Library at approximately 6:15 p.m. go Sept. 3, 2009, when he maxim a down car traveling at approximately 70 distance pro hour through the intersection of New Tricot Avenue NW and Massachusetts Avenue NW. Dames Dep. 12, Aug. 7, 2002.

Writing "at" before the page numeric is generally not needed, although it will generally previously when citing documentation in and appellate record (see Rules B17.1.2).