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Legal Citation Formats
If you are searching for a legal citation you must use the precise format shown below, including exact punctuation. For other types of references such as newspaper and magazine articles, see the article on Citing References.
Contents
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Getting a Document by Legal Citation in LexisNexis
If you are looking for a specific law, legal decision, or law review article and have the citation in hand you can retrieve it immediately on the appropriate legal search form(s) or the Power Search form. If you are not sure which type of material your citation refers to, compare it to the examples below to choose the right search form.
U.S. Case Law
As a general rule, you can use citation formats found in the Uniform System of Case Citation (Blue Book). See specific examples below. You can search for U.S. case law citations on any of the following forms:
- Easy Search
- US Federal & State Cases
- Power Search (Pick "Federal & State Cases, Combined" from the drop down or use Browse Sources or Find Sources to pick a specific court.
Federal Reporters
- 100 F.2d 1
- 134 F.3d 817
- 19 F Supp. 2d 104
- 789 F. Supp. 320
- 139 L. Ed. 2d 25
- 118 S Ct. 62
- 514 U.S. 673
- 65 U.S.L.W. 3204
State Reporters
- 246 App Div 2d 682
- 19 Cal 4th 142
- 23 Fla. Law W. D 733
- 344 Ill. App. 266
- 344 Mich. 624
- 230 N.J. Super. 182
- 23 N.Y.S.2d 2
- 84 Ohio St. 3d 1457
- 2000 PA Super 2
- 150 Tex. 39
Regional Reporters
- 723 A.2d 852
- 250 Cal. Rptr. 21
- 100 N.E.2d 497
- 75 N.W.2d 19
- 100 P. 34
- 300 P.2d 19
- 727 So. 2d 913
- 150 S.W.2d 202
Citation Formats for Canadian Legislation
You can search for Canadian legal material on the following forms:
- Canadian Cases
- Canadian Legislation
- Canadian Law Journals
- Power Search (Use Browse Sources or Find Sources to pick a specific court.
When typing in a citation, it is necessary to enter brackets, punctuation, capitalization or spaces.
- [1997] O.J. no 4806
- 39 D.L.R. (4th) 595
U.S. Law Reviews & Journals
As a general rule, you can use citation formats and abbreviations found in the Uniform System of Case Citation (Blue Book). See specific examples below. You can also use the Law Review search forms to look for specific articles by author, title, and date.
- 74 Fordham L. Rev. 1475
- 54 Emory L.J. 1139
- 22 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 901
- 14 N.Y.L. Sch. J. Hum. Rts. 375
- 113 Harv. L. Rev. 1963
- 29 Cardozo L. Rev. 927
U.S. Statutes, Codes, and Regulations
Annotated U.S. Code (USCS)
The system recognizes the following statute citation formats:
- 5 USCS SEC 5901
- 5 USCS SECTION 5901
- 5 USCS § 5901
- 101 PL 509
Replace the § symbol with SECTION or SEC when constructing a search: 5 USCS § 5901 becomes 5 USCS SEC 5901
U.S. Code of Federal Regulations
Format your Code of Federal Regulations citation like the examples below:
- 40 CFR 129.4
- 20 CFR PART 404 APPENDIX I
- 17 CFR 230.429
Federal Register
Format your Federal Register citation like the examples below:
- 64 FR 71680
- 63 FR 33835
- 58 FR 51735
State Registers
State | Official Register Name | Citation Format |
Alabama |
Not Online |
N/A |
Alaska |
Alaska Administrative Journal |
24 AAJ 94 |
Arkansas |
Arkansas Government Register |
72 ARGR 40 |
Arizona |
Not Online |
N/A |
California |
California Regulatory Law Bulletin |
2005-40 CRLB 495 |
Connecticut |
Connecticut Law Journal |
58 conn l j 14 |
Delaware |
Delaware Government Register |
40 DEGR 23 |
District of Columbia |
District of Columbia Register |
45 d c reg 7589 |
Florida |
Florida Administrative Weekly |
23 faw 463 |
Georgia |
Georgia Government Register |
10 GAGR 21 |
Hawaii |
Hawaii Government Register |
10 whgr 9 |
Idaho |
Idaho Administrative Bulletin |
97-1 iab 187 |
Illinois |
Illinois Register |
27 l reg 1154 |
Indiana |
Indiana Register |
29 ind reg 2898 |
Iowa |
Iowa Administrative Bulletin |
19 iowa admin bull 1142 |
Kansas |
Kansas Register |
18-35 kan reg 1272 |
Kentucky |
Not Online |
N/A |
Louisiana |
Louisiana Register |
26 LR 99 |
Maine |
Maine Government Register |
71 megr 139 |
Maryland |
Maryland Register |
30-5 md reg 377 |
Massachusetts |
Massachusetts Register |
808 ma reg 79 |
Michigan |
Not Online |
N/A |
Minnesota |
Minnesota State Register |
24 minn reg 1379 |
Mississippi |
Mississippi Government Register |
15 msgr 3 |
Missouri |
Missouri Register |
23 moreg 2503 |
Montana |
Not Online |
N/A |
Nebraska |
Nebraska Government Register |
7 negr 39 |
Nevada |
Nev. Register of Admin. Regulations |
23-4 nev reg 1999 |
New Hampshire |
New Hampshire Government Register |
7 nh gov reg 176 |
New Jersey |
New Jersey Register |
38 njr 3095(b) |
New Mexico |
New Mexico Register |
8 n m reg 69 |
New York |
New York Register |
2006-22 N.Y. St. Reg. 40 |
North Carolina |
North Carolina Register |
13 nc reg 621 |
North Dakota |
Not Online |
N/A |
Ohio |
OH - The Register of Ohio |
2006 OH Reg. 7030008 |
Oklahoma |
Oklahoma Register |
19 ok reg 2299 |
Oregon |
Oregon Bulletin |
45-7 Or Admin R Bull 3 |
Pennsylvania |
Pennsylvania Bulletin |
27 pa bull 701 |
Rhode Island |
Rhode Island Government Register |
52 rigr 85 |
South Carolina |
South Carolina State Register |
30-3 sc reg 1 |
South Dakota |
South Dakota Register |
23 south dakota reg 123 |
Tennessee |
Tennessee Administrative Register |
25-7 tenn admin reg 14 |
Texas |
Texas Register |
22 texreg 1317 |
Utah |
Utah State Bulletin |
99-17 utah bull 4 |
Vermont |
Vermont Government Register |
77 vtgr 4 |
Virginia |
Virginia Register of Regulations |
15 va regs reg 2667 |
Washington |
Washington State Register |
96-24 wsr 3 |
West Virginia |
Not Online |
N/A |
Wisconsin |
Wisconsin Administrative Register |
488 wis admin reg 43 |
Wyoming |
Wyoming Government Register |
20 wygr 19 |
State Administrative Codes
State Administrative Code formats vary from state to state. Find the state you are looking for in the table below to see the a sample citation:
State Citation Format
State | Citation Format |
Alabama |
ala admin code r 20-X-6-.04 |
Alaska |
3 alas admin 32.390 |
Arizona |
ariz admin r1-1-101 |
Arkansas |
014 04 CARR 002 |
California |
23 CCR 2915 |
Colorado |
1 CCR 301-40 |
Connecticut |
ct admin 12-2-1 |
Delaware |
de admn 10-400-005 |
District of Columbia |
cdcr 25-100 |
Florida |
fac 12-1.001 |
Georgia |
ga admin 560-11-5-.01 |
Hawaii |
WCHR 2-51 |
Idaho |
IDAPA 02.01.03.004 |
Illinois |
1 il admin 100.100 |
Iowa |
21 IAC 85.41(215) |
Kansas |
kar 4-4-920 |
Kentucky |
306 kar 1:050 |
Louisiana |
lac 42:XIII.3501 |
Maine |
CMR 01-001-125 |
Maryland |
COMAR 02.01.08.03 |
Massachusetts |
102 cmr 7.07 |
Michigan |
mich admin code r 318.143 |
Minnesota |
mn r 1325.2700 |
Mississippi |
CMSR 06-000-002 |
Missouri |
1 CSR 20-5.020 |
Montana |
mont admin R 4.10.1401 |
Nebraska |
Nebraska Admin. Code Title 119, Ch. 35 |
Nevada |
nac 97.125 |
New Hampshire |
N.H. Admin. Rules, Cmp 301.03 |
New Jersey |
njac 2:71-2.6 |
New Mexico |
8.16.2.18 NMAC |
New York |
6 NYCRR 703.2 |
North Carolina |
2 N.C.A.C. 7J. 0017 |
North Dakota |
N.D. Admin. Code 7-03.1-02-01 |
Ohio |
oac ann 901:9-1-14 |
Oklahoma |
OAC 165:55-17-21 |
Oregon |
Or. Admin. R. 291-011-0005 |
Pennsylvania |
4 pac 1.313 |
Rhode Island |
CRIR 01-025-016 |
South Carolina |
SC Code Regs 7-500 |
South Dakota |
ARSD 5:02:10:08 |
Tennessee |
Tenn Comp R & Regs 0765-1-.05 |
Texas |
1 tac 5.195 |
Utah |
uac r23-19-7 |
Vermont |
wcvr 10-060-009, @ 5813.2 |
Virginia |
11 VAC 10-20-270 |
Washington |
wac 12-10-170 |
West Virginia |
W Va CSR 11-1A-4 |
Wisconsin |
Wis. Adm. Code ATCP 29.41 |
Wyoming |
wcwr 002-040-006 @ 31 |
Bibliography Help: MLA, APA, Turabian Style Hints
Although most style guides simply defer to the bluebook's style, here are some examples of ways you can incorporate Cases or Codes that you have found in LexisNexis Academic into your Bibliography page. For more help with style guides, visit our page on Citing References.
Cases
MLA
Case title, U.S. Reports citation, page numbers, docket number, name of the court, year of decision, Internet address, and date of accessing the site
Fullilove v. Klutznick. 448 U.S. 448. 448-554. No. 78-1007. US Supreme Court. 1980. Online. LexisNexis® Academic. (11 Feb. 2010).
APA
Case title, U.S. Reports citation, year of decision, and Internet address.
Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U.S. 448 (1980) [Online] Retrieved from www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic.
Turabian
Case Name, Reports Citation (Year of Decision) LexisNexis main URL (accessed date for Turabian).
Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U.S. 448 (1980). Accessed 13 February 2010; available from LexisNexis Academic www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic
Codes
MLA
Title number, statute book of the U.S. Code. section. year. publication medium, name of computer service, and date of access.
42 US Code. Sec. 405. 1998. Online. LexisNexis® Academic. 13 February 2010.
APA
Act or Section Name, Abbreviated Citation et seq. (Edition year of the Code) Retrieved date from LexisNexis Academic database.
Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §2301 et seq. (2006). Retrieved 13 February 2010 from LexisNexis Academic database.
Turabian
Act or Section Name. U.S. Code. Year. Vol(Which is really title number, but Turabian style forces you to use Volume), section number. Accessed date; available from LexisNexis Academic
Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act. U.S. code. 1998. Vol 20, sec. 2301. Accessed 24 March 2005; available from LexisNexis Academic
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