Omar Bennett
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is the go-to source for citing legal materials in APA format. While the Publication Manual for APA Style includes a variety of legal citation examples, it does not cover constitutions. To cite the U.S. Constitution in APA Style, you can simply refer to it in the text by name, without a reference list entry. However, if you are citing a specific part of the Constitution, you should use the article, amendment, section, and/or clause numbers, following the Bluebook's guidelines for federal and state constitutions. The U.S. Constitution should be abbreviated to U.S. Const. in reference lists and parentheticals, with Roman numerals for article and amendment numbers, and Arabic numerals for section and clause numbers. For acts, the general format is the name of the act, followed by the title source, section number, and year. If the act is not included in the United States Code, you can include the public law number and source information.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the act | Name of Act |
| Title | Title |
| Source | U.S.C. (United States Code) |
| Section | § Section Number |
| Year | Year |
| URL | URL (optional) |
| Author | Author |
| Date | Date |
| Title of work | Title of Work |
| Version | Version |
| Standard abbreviations | Standard abbreviations (e.g. "S." for Senate) |
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What You'll Learn
Citing the US Constitution as a whole
The APA recommends following the Bluebook uniform system of citation for legal materials. The APA Publication Manual provides some information on citing legal sources in Chapter 11 (page 355). For more in-depth information on citing legal materials, see The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.
If you simply want to make a passing reference to the U.S. Constitution in an APA Style paper, you can mention it in the text without a reference list entry. However, if you are using some part of the U.S. Constitution as evidence to support a point in your paper, you should construct the citation using Bluebook Rule 11, which covers federal and state constitutions.
All citations of the U.S. Constitution begin with U.S. Const., followed by the article, amendment, section, and/or clause numbers as relevant. The terms article, amendment, section, and clause are always abbreviated as art., amend., §, and cl., respectively. Preamble is abbreviated as pmbl. Article and amendment numbers are given in Roman numerals (I, II, III), while section and clause numbers are given in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3).
The Bluebook states that for parts of the Constitution currently in force, do not include a date. If you are referring to a part of the Constitution that has been repealed or amended, include the year that the part in question was repealed or amended in parentheses.
If you are trying to cite a source that is not listed, and you cannot find guidelines from APA elsewhere, you can create a generic reference. The Publication Manual lists certain elements that should be included in a generic reference: Who/Author, When/Date, and What/Title.
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Citing a specific article or amendment
The APA recommends following the Bluebook uniform system of citation for legal materials. The APA Publication Manual (7th edition) provides some information on citing legal sources in Chapter 11 (page 355). For more in-depth information on citing legal materials, see The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed., 2005; www.legalbluebook.com). The Bluebook sets the standard for all legal citations, and the style for legal citations in the Publication Manual comes directly from the Bluebook.
If you simply want to make a passing reference to the U.S. Constitution in an APA Style paper, you can mention it in the text without a reference list entry. However, if you are using some part of the U.S. Constitution as evidence to support a point in your paper, you should construct the citation using Bluebook Rule 11, which covers federal and state constitutions.
All citations of the U.S. Constitution begin with "U.S. Const.," followed by the article, amendment, section, and/or clause numbers as relevant. The terms "article" and "amendment" are always abbreviated as "art." and "amend.," respectively. Article and amendment numbers are given in Roman numerals (I, II, III), while section and clause numbers are given in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3).
For example, to cite the First Amendment, you would use the following format:
> U.S. Const. amend. I
If you are referring to a specific section within an amendment, you would include the section number after the amendment number. For example, to cite Section 1 of the First Amendment, you would use the following format:
> U.S. Const. amend. I, § 1
If you are citing a specific clause within a section, you would include the clause number after the section number. The term "clause" is abbreviated as "cl." in APA format. For example, to cite Clause 3 of Section 1 of the First Amendment, you would use the following format:
> U.S. Const. amend. I, § 1, cl. 3
The Bluebook states that for parts of the Constitution currently in force, do not include a date. However, if you are referring to a part of the Constitution that has been repealed or amended, include the year that the part in question was repealed or amended in parentheses.
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Citing a federal law or statute
- Identify the Relevant Information: To cite a federal law or statute, you will need to identify specific information about the law or statute you are citing. This includes the name of the law or statute, its location in the United States Code (U.S.C.), the title and section of the code where it appears, and the year of publication.
- Structure the Citation: The basic structure of a citation for a federal law or statute in APA Style is as follows: Name of Law or Statute, Title U.S.C. § Section Number (Year). For example: Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (1990).
- Include Additional Information: If the law or statute has a public law number and is not yet included in the U.S.C. or is spread across non-consecutive sections, include the public law number and source information. For example: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-2, 123 Stat. 5 (2009).
- Provide a URL: Including a URL in your citation is optional but recommended. It helps readers locate the source easily. The URL should direct readers to the official online location of the law or statute, such as a government website.
- In-Text Citations: For in-text citations, follow the same pattern as court decisions, using the name of the act and the year. For example: ("Americans With Disabilities Act," 1990).
- Consult the Bluebook: For more complex legal citations or specific types of laws and statutes, it is recommended to consult "The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation." This resource provides comprehensive guidelines for legal citations and covers a wide range of legal sources.
Remember that the specific format of legal citations may vary depending on the type of law, statute, or regulation you are citing. Always refer to the most recent APA guidelines and consult legal citation guides for accurate and detailed instructions.
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Citing a law with a public law number
The APA recommends following the Bluebook uniform system of citation for legal materials. The APA Publication Manual provides some information on citing legal sources, but for more in-depth information on citing legal materials, see The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.
Generally, you should identify a law in an APA reference entry by its location in the United States Code (U.S.C.). The United States Code and most other compilations of laws are divided into parts called "titles," and within those titles are sections. No symbol is used for the title in your reference, but the section number is preceded by the symbol §. To insert the section symbol in Word, click on "Insert," "Symbol," "More symbols," "Special characters," and then find it in the list under "section."
However, if the law is either spread across various sections of the code or not featured in the code at all, include the public law number in addition to information on the source you accessed the law in. For example:
> Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-2, 123 Stat. 5 (2009).
A law may also have a public law number. This is not used in the citation, except in special cases: when the law is not (yet) included in the United States Code, or when it is spread across non-consecutive parts of the Code. A law that has not been codified (published in the United States Code) should be cited using its public law number and information about wherever it was published. For example, when an act is codified across different non-consecutive sections of the Code, it is also cited using the public law number and information about its location in the Statutes at Large.
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Citing a state constitution
The APA recommends following the Bluebook uniform system of citation for legal materials. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed., 2005; www.legalbluebook.com) sets the standard for all legal citations. The Publication Manual includes a variety of legal citation examples (cases, statutes, bills, and more), but citing constitutions is not among them. So, for further guidance on legal citations, you should consult the Bluebook directly or seek advice from a law librarian.
If you simply want to make a passing reference to a state constitution in an APA Style paper, you can mention it in the text without a reference list entry. However, if you are using some part of the state constitution as evidence to support a point, you should construct the citation using Bluebook Rule 11, which covers federal and state constitutions.
All citations of state constitutions should begin with the abbreviated name of the state, followed by "Const.", and then the article, amendment, section, and/or clause numbers as relevant. The terms article, amendment, section, and clause are always abbreviated as "art.", "amend.", "§", and "cl." respectively. Preamble is abbreviated as "pmbl.". Article and amendment numbers are given in Roman numerals (I, II, III), while section and clause numbers are given in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3).
For example, a citation for the Indiana Constitution might look like this:
Ind. Const. art. IX, § 2
Note that the Bluebook states that for parts of the Constitution currently in force, do not include a date. If you are referring to a part of the Constitution that has been repealed or amended, include the year that the part in question was repealed or amended in parentheses.
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Frequently asked questions
You can simply mention the U.S. Constitution in your paper without including a citation in the references list.
Begin with "U.S. Const." followed by the article, amendment, section, and/or clause numbers as relevant. The terms article, amendment, section, and clause are abbreviated as "art.", "amend.", "§", and "cl."
Use the legal state abbreviation for the state constitution, e.g. "In. Const." for Indiana's Constitution.
You can follow the same format as for the U.S. Constitution, using the appropriate abbreviation for the country or state, and ensuring you use the correct numbering pattern for articles and amendments.
Include the name of the law, "U.S.C." (United States Code), the title and section of the code, the year, and optionally the URL. If the law is not featured in the code, include the public law number in addition to the source information.
