How to Cite a Law in APA Style | Format & Examples. Published on February 11, 2021 by Jack Caulfield.Revised on December 27, 2023. To cite federal laws (also commonly referred to as statutes or acts) in APA Style, include the name of the law, “U.S.C.” (short for United States Code), the title and section of the code where the law appears, the year, and optionally the URL.
When a statute applies to numerous sections of the Code, and you wish to cite the Act as a whole, cite using the Public law number.. To determine where the statute is codified (where it appears in the United States Code), follow this process:. Find the U.S.C. number listed in the header of the law.
Both the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and The Bluebook Manual of Legal Citation indicate that state statutes (laws that have been passed and added to the state code), should be cited to the code.. Try searching the state name and the term "code" or "laws" to find online versions of the state codes. State codes are organized differently in every state.
APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Government & Legal Documents. Introduction; How to Cite: ... Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List. ... Statute. Name of Act, public law number, (year). Example:
Federal statutes are published in the United States Code (U.S.C.). The U.S.C. is divided into sections, called titles-- for example, Title 42 refers to public health and welfare. The Template for federal or state statutes is as follows: Reference List: Name of Act, Title Source § Section Number (Year). URL; Parenthetical Citation: (Name of Act ...
It is not the year a statute was enacted or last amended.* Adding the Name of the Statute. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C.A. §§ 1431-1444 (West 2017) If you cannot figure out whether you need to include the name of a statute in a citation or if you do not know how to find the name, email linda.sizemore@eku.edu
Relax, put down the oversized coffee cup (or chewed up pencil), and take a look at this simple template for creating APA Style references for federal statutes: Name of the Statute, Title number Source § Section number(s) (Year). ... Cite the name of the statute and the year: Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (2006)
APA defers to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, a popular legal citation style, to cite legal materials. Citing a state statute follows the same format used to cite a Federal statute. However, state codes (a code is a subject arrangement of the laws for that state) differ.
Use this format for enacted bill or resolution not signed into law; Bills and resolutions passed by Congress & signed by the President to become law should be cited as statutes . Additional Resources: Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School: Guidance on legal citations. Verify legal references containing necessary information and ...
Most federal statutes APA citations have these basic elements: Name of the Statute; Title Number; Source; Section number(s) Year; URL if available; Parts of the Reference. Name of Statute. Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, Title Number. 42 . Source. U.S.C. Section Number(s) §§ 12101 et seq.
Cite state codes and legal statutes in APA style for college research or professionally written papers and reports. APA style is a method of citing references developed 80 years ago by the American Psychological Association and is designed to augment a straightforward, precision approach to academic and professional writing. ...
When referencing/citing laws/statutes/codes, nothing is italicized in either the reference or in-text citation. However, APA rules are different when citing court cases. Michigan School Board Policies, accessed through Boarddocs.com website. Using the Federal regulation, codified template which appears in the APA Manual, 7th ed. p. 365:
This page provides examples of the most commonly used legal and legislative references and in-text citations in APA Style. The information comes from Chapter 11 of the Publication Manual ... that have been passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president become law and should be cited as statutes. Congressional Report Citation ...
Creating accurate citations in APA has never been easier! Automatically cite a federal statute in APA by using Citation Machine's free citation generator.
Examples for in-text citations: (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974) (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 2010):(18 U.S.C. § 2258). References list: Format 1 – law name with US Code citation Name of law, title # U.S.C. § section #. Example Entry: Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974, 42 USC §§5101–5106.
Citations for Legal Materials In Chapter 11, the APA Manual (7th edition) provides examples of citations to legal materials, including cases, statutes, legislative materials, and administrative and executive materials. For more information on writing legal citations, consult The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st edition).
APA Law Citation – In a Nutshell. For the reference list, order the APA law citations in alphabetical order.Remember the recommended format for each resource type. In in-text citations, use the format you would use in APA for work with no authors.For instance, the APA law citation should be as follows; style of cause, date, page or paragraph number.
APA defers to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, a popular legal citation style when citing legal material.. The basic format for the References list citation from the official United States Code is:. Name of Act, Volume Source § section number (Year). View the format and example of a Reference and companion in-text citation below:
Citing a Statute (Law or Act) from a Government Website (APA Publication Manual 7th ed., 11.5, p.361)*Note-- APA Publication Manual 7th ed. does not italicize the title of the statute in the in-text (parenthetical) citation. Your instructor may ask that you modify this APA rule in keeping with the McGill Guide example of italicizing the title of the statute of in-text citations.
