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APA 7th Citation Guide

A guide on APA Style 7th edition, derived from the APA Style Manual

General Guidelines

General Guidelines

When citing legal sources, APA Style follows the standard legal citation style outlined in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (20th ed.). Please consult The Bluebook when creating legal references. The Bluebook is on Reserve and available in the Reference at Reese Library.

 

APA Style vs. Legal style

Legal citations has notable differences from APA Styles. Please see table below to identify key differences between APA Style references Legal Style references.

 
Examples

Difference

APA Style

Legal style

Order of elements in the reference list entry

Author, date, title, and source, in that order

Title, source, and date, in that order

In-text

Author and year

Title and year

Version of work being referenced

Exact version used

Version of record as published in an official legal publication such as the United States Code for the Federal Register, plus URL (optional) for the version used

Use of standard abbreviations

Used for parts of work (e.g., “2nd ed.” for a second edition)

Used for common legal entities and publications (e.g., “S.” for the Senate and “H.R.” for the House of Representatives)

Court Decisions

Citation of a case or court decision requires the following components:

  • Title or name of the case
  • Citation: The source where you found the case (usually to a volume and page of one of the various set of books where published cases can be found, which typically contain court decisions.
  • Jurisdiction of the court writing the decision (The court where the case was decided)
  • Date of the decision: The year the decision took place
  • URL (optional): The website in which you retrieved the case information

Federal Court Decisions

Reference List

- U.S. Supreme Court: Name v. Name, Volume U.S. Page (Year)

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)

- U.S. Circuit Court: Name v. Name, Volume F. [or F.2d, F.3d] Page (Court Year). URL

Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corley, 273 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2001)

- U.S. District Court: Name v. Name Volume F. Supp. Page (Court Year). URL

 Lessard v. Schmidt, 349 F. Supp. 1078 (E.D. Wis. 1972)

 

Citing In In-Text 

Parenthetical citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
Narrative citation: Name v. Name (Year)

State Court Decisions

Reference List: Name v. Name, Volume Reporter Page (Court Year). URL

State supreme court: 
Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of Cal. - 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:
Texas v. Morales, 826 S.W.2d 201 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992). https://www.leagle.com/decision/19921027826sw2d20111010

State trial court: 
Since state trial court is the lowest of the courts, these decisions are seldom cited because they do not establish precedent, and not reported in prominent legal databases.

 

Citing In In-Text 

Parenthetical citation: (Name v. Name, Year)
Narrative citation: Name v. Name (Year)

Statutes (Laws and Acts)

Below is the template for federal or state statutes. Please note, the format for state statutes may differ depending on teh state, but generally follow the same format as federal statutes.

  • Name title of the act
  • Source: Title source in which it is found
  • Section: The chapters or section(s) being referred to.
  • Year: The year in which it was enacted (session laws) OR the year in which the source was published (codes).
  • URL (optional): 

Examples

Federal statute, Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990

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

Additional Resources

Additional Legal Resources

APA Publication Manual Section #

For more details and examples on how to reference journal articles, including for types not covered here, consult the following section in the APA 7th Publication Manual:

Chapter 11

EndNote Reference Type

Legislation - Statute 

Case Law - Case

More APA Resources