Omar Bennett
The American Psychological Association (APA) has specific guidelines for citing the U.S. Constitution in the APA format. If you are simply referring to the U.S. Constitution, you can do so without a reference list entry. However, if you are citing a specific part of the Constitution, such as an amendment, there is a specific format to follow. This involves using the abbreviation U.S. Const. followed by the amendment number in Roman numerals and the section number in Arabic numerals. For example, U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 2. In addition, if you are referring to a part of the Constitution that has been amended, you should include the year of amendment in parentheses.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| When to cite | If you are simply making a passing reference to the U.S. Constitution, you can mention it in text without a reference list entry. If you are using a part of the Constitution as evidence, you should construct a citation. |
| Where to find citation rules | The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. |
| Abbreviation | U.S. Const. |
| Article | Use "art." followed by the article number in Roman numerals. |
| Amendment | Use "amend." followed by the amendment number in Roman numerals. |
| Section | Use "§" followed by the section number in Arabic numerals. |
| Clause | Use "cl." followed by the clause number in Arabic numerals. |
| Preamble | Use "pmbl." |
| Date | Include the year in parentheses if referring to a repealed or amended part of the Constitution. Do not include a date for parts of the Constitution currently in force. |
| Author | N/A |
| Title | N/A |
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What You'll Learn
Citing a passing reference
When citing a passing reference to the US Constitution in an APA-style paper, you can simply mention it in the text without a reference list entry. However, if you are using a specific part of the Constitution as evidence to support your argument, you must follow Bluebook Rule 11, which covers federal and state constitutions.
All citations of the US Constitution should begin with "U.S. Const." followed by the relevant article, amendment, section, and/or clause numbers. The terms article, amendment, section, and clause are abbreviated as "art.," "amend.," "§," and "cl.," respectively. Preamble is abbreviated as "pmbl." Article and amendment numbers are written using Roman numerals (I, II, III), while section and clause numbers use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3).
For example, a citation for the First Amendment would appear as "U.S. Const. amend. I." If you are referring to a part of the Constitution that has been repealed or amended, include the year in parentheses, as in "U.S. Const. amend. I (1791)."
The Bluebook states that for parts of the Constitution currently in force, a date is not necessary. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is the definitive guide for legal citations, and while the APA Publication Manual includes examples of legal citation, it does not cover citing constitutions specifically.
In general, when using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication should appear in the text, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper. If you are directly quoting from a work, include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference, for example, "According to Jones (1998), 'students often had difficulty using APA style' (p. 199).' Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names, and give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work.
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Referencing an amendment
To reference an amendment in APA format, you must first identify the amendment in question. For the purposes of this answer, we will use the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as an example.
When referencing an amendment in APA format, it is important to follow the Bluebook Rule 11, which covers federal and state constitutions. All citations of the U.S. Constitution begin with "U.S. Const." followed by the relevant amendment, section, and/or clause numbers. The terms "article," "amendment," "section," and "clause" are abbreviated as "art.," "amend.," "§," and "cl.," respectively. The Bluebook states that for parts of the Constitution currently in force, a date is not required. Here is an example of how to reference the Fourteenth Amendment:
> U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 2.
If you are referring to a part of the Constitution that has been amended, include the year of amendment in parentheses. For example, if you are referencing the Fourteenth Amendment but need to specify that it was amended in 1868, your reference would look like this:
> U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 2 (1868).
It is important to note that the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is the definitive source for legal citation format. The APA Publication Manual may provide some guidance on citing legal sources, but for comprehensive instructions on citing legal materials, it is recommended to refer to the Bluebook directly.
Additionally, when creating a reference for an amendment, it is important to follow the specific guidelines for in-text citations and reference list entries outlined by the APA style guide you are using (e.g., 6th edition, 7th edition).
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Citing a repealed section
To cite a repealed section of the US Constitution in APA format, you must 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 to "Art.", "Amend.", "§", and "cl.", respectively. Article and amendment numbers are written using Roman numerals (I, II, III), while section and clause numbers use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3).
If you are referring to a repealed part of the Constitution, include the year that the part in question was repealed in parentheses. For example, "U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933)". Here, the citation refers to the repealed 18th Amendment to the US Constitution.
If you are citing a source that is not listed in the APA guidelines and cannot find specific instructions elsewhere, you can create a generic reference. The Publication Manual lists certain elements that should be included in a generic reference:
- Author: This can be a person (author or editor) or an organisation. If there is no author or editor, follow the guidelines discussed in "No Author."
- Date: Usually, a year is acceptable, but you may need to include the month and day as well. If there is no date, use "n.d."
- Title: The title of the work you are using, not necessarily the larger "container" like a website. If there is no title, enclose the description in square brackets. You may also wish to clarify the format in brackets after the title.
It is important to use the proper abbreviations and standards for writing. For example, when citing an article, use "Art." followed by Roman numerals. For amendments, use "Amend." and Roman numerals. Sections are denoted by "§" and Arabic numerals, and clauses are written as "cl." followed by Arabic numerals.
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Using Bluebook Rule 11
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is the go-to source for all legal citations in APA format. The APA Publication Manual also provides some guidance on citing legal sources in Chapter 11 (page 355).
If you are referring to a part of the US Constitution that has been repealed or amended, include the year in parentheses. For example, "U.S. CONST. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933)". If you are citing a part of the Constitution that has been amended, you would cite it as "U.S. CONST. amend. XVIII, repealed by U.S. CONST. amend. XXI".
All citations of the US 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 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, to cite the first article and section of the Fourth Amendment, you would write: "U.S. CONST. amend. IV, § 1".
If you are simply making a passing reference to the US Constitution, you do not need to include a reference list entry. However, if you are using a specific part of the Constitution as evidence to support your argument, you should construct the citation using Bluebook Rule 11.
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Creating a generic reference
If you are trying to cite a source that is not listed in the APA guidelines, you can create a generic reference. The Publication Manual lists certain elements that should be included in a generic reference:
Who/Author
Who is responsible for the work? This can be a person (author or editor) or an organisation. If there is no author or editor, follow the guidelines discussed in 'No Author'.
When/Date
When was the work published? A year (Year) is usually acceptable, although you may need to include a month and day (Year, Month Day). If there is no date, use 'n.d.' (meaning 'no date').
What/Title
What is the work called? This is the title of the actual work you are using, not necessarily a larger 'container' like a website. If there is no title, you must create one and enclose it in square brackets [ ]. You may also wish to clarify the format of the item in square brackets, after the title.
To cite a constitutional amendment in APA format, you should begin with "U.S. Const." (or the abbreviated name of the state, e.g. "Mass. Const." for the Massachusetts Constitution), followed by "amend." and the amendment number in Roman numerals. If you are referring to a part of the Constitution that has been repealed or amended, include the year that the change was made in parentheses. For example: "U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 2 (1868)".
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Frequently asked questions
If you are making a passing reference to the U.S. Constitution, you can mention it in the text without a reference list entry. If you are using a part of the U.S. Constitution as evidence, you should construct the citation using Bluebook Rule 11. 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 abbreviated to "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).
No, 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 in parentheses.
To cite a state constitution, use the legal state abbreviation, e.g. "Md. Const." for the Maryland Constitution. Spell out the name of the state in the narrative, for example, "the Wisconsin Constitution."
