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APA 6th ed. Style Guide: Legal Sources

Legal Materials

Supreme Court Decision

To cite legal documents,  APA defers to the most recent edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Cambridge: Harvard Law Rev. Assn.). In text cite the name of the case (italicized) and the year of the decision.

Example:

Synder v Phelps et al., 562 US _____(2011)


Unenacted federal bills and resolutions

Example:

Removing the deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment, H. J. Res. 47, 112th Cong. (2011-2012)


Sample reference to a statute in a federal code

Example:

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (2018).