Bluebook Citation Guide

A working guide to legal citation under the 22nd edition, built around how a legal writing course actually teaches it. Start with the anatomy and the tables, then jump to the source type you are citing: cases, statutes and rules, court documents, administrative and legislative materials, or internet sources.

The Bluebook is the citation manual you will use for almost everything you write in law school and practice. It looks intimidating, but it is really a giant lookup system: a set of rules that tell you the order of the pieces, and a set of tables that tell you how to abbreviate them. This guide follows the 22nd edition and the order my legal writing course covered things in. Learn the anatomy and the tables first, and the rest falls into place.

A quick orientation on the numbering. A rule that starts with R comes from the main whitepages and is used for academic writing. A rule that starts with B comes from the Bluepages and is used for documents you file in court. Anything that starts with T is a table. You will move between all three constantly, so it helps to know which is which.

The tables you will live in

Know these before anything else

Most of citation is not memorizing formats, it is knowing which table to open. These are the ones that come up again and again.

Table	What it gives you
T1	Which reporter and citation form to use by jurisdiction. T1.1 is federal, T1.2 is federal administrative, and T1.3 is the states and D.C.
T6	Abbreviations for words commonly found in case names. Add an "s" to make a plural.
T10	Abbreviations for geographic terms, like states and countries.
T9	Abbreviations for legislative materials, like the chambers and sessions of Congress.
T12	Abbreviations for the months, which you use in dates.
BT1	Abbreviations for the names of court documents, found on pages 32 to 33.

The shape of a citation

Anatomy of a case cite

Here is the building block everything else hangs on. Once you can see these six pieces, a case citation is just a matter of filling each one in.

Tallent v. Blake, 291 S.E.2d 336, 340 (N.C. Ct. App. 1982).

1
Case name. Tallent v. Blake
2
Volume of the reporter. 291
3
Reporter abbreviation. S.E.2d
4
First page of the case. 336
5
Pincite, the exact page you are referring to. 340
6
Court and date of the opinion, in a parenthetical. N.C. Ct. App. 1982

Pincites and rangesR3.2, R3.3

Page ranges and the en dash

A pincite points the reader to the exact page. When that pincite spans more than one page, two small rules trip up almost everyone, so get them right early. Use an en dash, not a hyphen, and drop the repetitious digits.

Correct

53–56

Incorrect

53-56

When the page numbers have three or more digits, keep only the last two digits of the second number.

Correct

121–22 · 1035–37

Incorrect

121–128 · 1035–1037

Saying it again, shorter

Short forms and id.

Once you have given a full citation, you do not have to repeat the whole thing. You shorten it. As you move further from the full cite, you can shorten more, and when the source you are citing is the very same one you just cited, you use id.

Full cite

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579, 581 (1952).

Short cites, in order of how much you can drop

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., 343 U.S. at 581.
Youngstown, 343 U.S. at 581.
Id. at 581.

Id. only works when the immediately preceding source is the same one.

SignalsR1.2

Telling the reader how a source relates to your point

A signal is a short word that tells the reader the relationship between your sentence and the source you are citing. Signals come right before the citation and are italicized. Most of the time you will not need one, because the source directly states your point, and no signal is the right call there. You reach for a signal when there is some gap between what you wrote and what the source says.

No signal: the source directly states the point

United States v. Carpenter, 585 U.S. 296, 300 (2018).

See: the source supports the point, but with an inferential step

It is important to provide prisoners with medical care. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976) (concluding that failure to provide medical care to prisoners amounted to a constitutional violation).

R1.2 has the full list of signals and what each one means. Reach for it when you need one.

Explanatory parentheticalsR1.5

Explaining why a source matters

An explanatory parenthetical comes after the citation and tells the reader why the source is relevant, when that is not already obvious from your sentence. Start it with a present participle, the "-ing" word, like concluding, holding, finding, or explaining. The one exception is when the parenthetical is a quotation that reads as a full sentence, in which case you do not need the participle.

Participle form

See Flanagan v. United States, 465 U.S. 259, 264 (1984) (explaining that the final judgment rule reduces potential for parties to "clog the courts" with lengthy appeals).

Full-sentence quotation, no participle needed

Atl. Richfield Co. v. Fed. Energy Admin., 429 F. Supp. 1052, 1061 (N.D. Cal. 1976) ("Not every person aggrieved by administrative action is necessarily entitled to the protections of due process.").

Cases are the heart of legal citation, and once you have a system they go quickly. Build the case name first, then choose the right reporter, then add the court and date. This section walks through each step in that order.

Step 1: the case name, omissionsR10.2.1

What to leave out

Start by trimming the full name down. The Bluebook wants a clean, short version, so several things get cut.

Omit every party except the first one listed on each side of the "v." R10.2.1(a), B10.1.1(i).
For individuals, use only the last name. B10.1.1(ii).
Omit words that indicate multiple parties, like "et al." B10.1.1(iii).
Omit "the" when it is the first word of the name of a party. R10.2.1(d).
Omit descriptive terms that just describe a party already named, like "administrator," "executor," or "trustee." R10.2.1(e).
See R10.2.1(f) for when to omit geographic terms from the name of a party.

Step 2: the case name, abbreviationsR10.2.2

What to shorten

Use T6 to abbreviate words commonly found in case names, and add an "s" for plurals.
Use T10 to abbreviate geographic terms.
Do not abbreviate when the geographic unit is the entire name of the party. This includes "United States." R10.2.2.
Widely known acronyms can be abbreviated, such as AARP, CBS, CIA, EPA, FCC, FDA, FEC, NAACP, and NLRB. R10.2.1(c).
Replace procedural phrases per R10.2.1(b): "on the relation of" and "on behalf of" become ex rel., and "in the matter of" and "petition of" become In re.

Step 3: the reporterT1

Choosing the right reporter

Use T1 to find the proper reporter. T1.1 covers federal courts, and T1.3 covers the states and D.C.
Find the state and the court you are in. If you are in state court, the Bluebook generally requires the regional reporter.
Use that to cite the correct reporter volume and the first page of the case.

Step 4: court and date

The parenthetical at the end

The court and the year go in a parenthetical right after the pincite. For state courts, T1.3 tells you the abbreviation for the court. One thing students miss: for the highest court of a state, you only put the state in the parenthetical, not the court.

Highest court of the state

(Va. 2023)

Intermediate appellate court

(Va. Ct. App. 2023)

Supreme CourtT1.1

U.S. Supreme Court cases

Always cite to the U.S. Reports. If the U.S. Reports cite is not available yet, cite to the Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.).
Do not put a court name in the parenthetical, since the U.S. Reports already tells the reader which court it is.

Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310, 312 (2010).

Trump v. CASA, Inc., 145 S. Ct. 2540, 2542 (2025).

Unreported cases

Cases pulled from Westlaw or Lexis

When a case has not been published in a reporter yet, you cite it through the database where you found it. The pieces are a little different, so here is the full breakdown.

Galloway v. Ludwick, No. 2:07-cv-15242, 2010 WL 101543, at *1 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 6, 2010).

1
Case name. Galloway v. Ludwick
2
Docket number. No. 2:07-cv-15242
3
Database identifier. 2010 WL 101543 (Westlaw here, or a Lexis identifier)
4
Pincite, with the asterisk. at *1
5
Court and full date. E.D. Mich. Jan. 6, 2010 (months abbreviate per T12)

Statutes are more uniform than cases, which makes them easier once you know the pattern. The main thing to watch is the difference between the federal code and state codes, and the small symbols that come up when you cite more than one section at a time.

Federal statutes

Citing the U.S. Code

A federal statute cite is short. It is the title number, the code abbreviation, and the section. For the official U.S.C., the year of the code edition is optional.

42 U.S.C. § 1983.

1
Title of the code. 42
2
Code abbreviation. U.S.C.
3
Section number. § 1983

State statutesT1.3

Every state is different, but the process is the same

Start at T1.3 and find your state, which tells you the exact form that state uses.
Unlike the federal code, the year parenthetical is mandatory for state codes.
The Bluebook prefers that you cite to a particular compilation when one is available.

Wash. Rev. Code § 28B.20.020 (2014).

Sections and subsectionsR3.3

When you cite more than one

This is where the section symbol gets fiddly. The rule is about how many sections versus subsections you are citing, and it uses an en dash, never a hyphen.

More than one whole section: use two section symbols and an en dash.
Multiple subsections within a single section: use one section symbol and an en dash.
Multiple subsections across multiple sections: use two section symbols.
Subsection designations always sit in parentheses.

Multiple sections

21 U.S.C. §§ 841–842.

Subsections within one section

28 U.S.C. § 105(a)(3)–(b)(1).

Subsections across multiple sections

19 U.S.C. §§ 1485(a), 1486(b).

Rules of evidence and procedureR12.9.3

Court rules and procedural rules

Federal rules

Fed. R. Civ. P. 11.
Fed. R. Evid. 403.

Court rules

1st Cir. R. 6(a).
Sup. Ct. R. 17.

Special citation formsR12.9.4

Restatements, model codes, and guidelines

Restatements, model codes, uniform acts, and the sentencing guidelines all get cited by their section or rule. Two details to remember: abbreviate the name per T6, and use the original publication date for restatements but the adoption date for the sentencing guidelines.

Restatement, original publication date

Restatement (Second) of Conts. § 178 (A.L.I. 1981).

Sentencing guidelines, adoption date

U.S. Sent'g Guidelines Manual § 2D1.1(C) (U.S. Sent'g Comm'n 2021).

Court documents are everything filed in a case, which together make up the record. You cite them whenever you refer to the facts of your own case, usually in the statement of facts in a brief. The rule of thumb is simple: just as a fact from a case needs a case cite, a fact from your record needs a cite to the document it came from, so every factual assertion in your statement of facts gets one.

The full citationBT1

What goes in a court document cite

A citation to a court document has two basic pieces: the name of the document, abbreviated per BT1, and a pincite. You generally do not put "at" before the pincite, though it is customary for certain sources like an appellate record or a joint appendix.

Simmons Aff. 6.
Clark Dep. 15:21–16:4.
Ex. 4 at 7.
Clark Aff. ¶ 3.
J.A. at 10.

J.A. is the joint appendix. Notice the "at" with it and with the exhibit.

Abbreviating the titleBT1

How to shorten document names

BT1 is on pages 32 to 33. Like T6, you form plurals and possessives by adding an "s," so "Plaintiffs" becomes "Pls." and "Plaintiff's" becomes "Pl.'s."
Generally omit all articles and prepositions from the abbreviated title, unless dropping them would confuse the reader.

Def.'s Mem. Supp. Summ. J. 10, 11.
Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. 5.

Dates and docket numbers

When to add a date or a number

Add the date of the document when more than one document shares the same title, when the date matters to your point, or when it is needed to avoid confusion. If the document was filed electronically and has a docket number, put that after the date.

Same person, two affidavits

Clark Aff. ¶ 3, May 5, 2023.
Clark Aff. ¶ 11, Sep. 19, 2024.

With a docket number

Def.'s Mot. Summ. J., Dkt. No. 59.

Short citing

Shortening after the first reference

Once you have given a full cite, you can use a short form when it is clear what you are citing, the full cite is part of the same general discussion, and the reader will have little trouble finding it. Only use id. here if it actually saves significant space.

Full, then short

Mem. Supp. Def.'s Mot. Suppress 26:34–25:19.
Mem. 5:30–6:2.

The record on appeal

Always check the rules of the court

This is the one place where the Bluebook takes a back seat. Before you cite the record, look at the citation rules of the court you are actually filing in, because they vary.

Some courts just want a cite to the record, like R. at 45.
Some courts want that cite in parentheses, like (R. at 45).
Some courts want something else entirely, so the rules of the court control.

This section covers two related families of sources: administrative materials, which are the rules and decisions that agencies produce, and legislative materials, which trace how a bill moved through Congress. They have their own rules and tables, but the logic is the same as everywhere else.

AdministrativeB14, R14, T1.2

Regulations and agency materials

Final rules live in the Code of Federal Regulations, and the format is the title, then C.F.R., then the section or part, then the year.

C.F.R.

18 C.F.R. § 1309 (2026).

A rule cited with its name

FTC Credit Practices Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 444.1 (2019).

Cite a rule by its name only when it is commonly cited that way, or when the name gives important identifying information.
Most rules go to the C.F.R., but a few titles have unique citations, so check T1.2. The Federal Acquisition Regulation is one example: FAR 52.249-2(e) (2019).
If a rule has not made it into the C.F.R. yet, cite the Federal Register instead. When both are available, prefer the C.F.R.

Federal Register

Dog Breeding Regulation, 65 Fed. Reg. 1230, 1234 (Feb. 14, 2025) (to be codified at 32 C.F.R. pt. 9).

Executive order

Exec. Order No. 9,999, 3 C.F.R. § 9 (1903), reprinted as amended in 13 U.S.C. § 1301 (2012).

Agency adjudications and arbitrations

When agencies act like courts

Agency adjudications follow the case rules in R10, with a few exceptions. Name the case by the reported name of the first-listed private party or the official subject-matter title, omit procedural phrases entirely (no in re or ex rel. here, just drop them), and cite to the reporter of the adjudicating agency, using T6 and T10 abbreviations.

Adjudication

Trojan Transp., Inc., 249 N.L.R.B. 642 (1980).

For arbitrations, if the adversary parties are named, cite it like a court case; if they are not, cite it like an administrative adjudication. Either way, name the arbitrator in a parenthetical at the end.

Food Lion v. Cattleman's Meat, 4 Lab. Arb. Rep. 78, 79 (2005) (Wilson, Arb.).

LegislativeB13, R13, T9

Bills, hearings, and reports

Legislative materials show how a bill became, or failed to become, a law. The general order of elements is the title, the abbreviated name of the legislative body per T9, the number assigned to the material, the Congress and session, and the year, but the exact order shifts with the type of material.

Bill (unenacted)

S. 1983, 93rd Cong. § 10 (1973).

Bill with a name

Enacted bills are statutes, so cite them as statutes unless the legislative history itself is what matters.

Hearing

Toxic Substances Control Act: Hearings on S. 776 Before the Subcomm. on the Env't of the S. Comm. on Com., 94th Cong. 343 (1975).

Report

H.R. Rep. No. 99-253, pt. 1, at 54 (1985).

State bill

H.B. 636, 1999 Gen. Assemb., 413th Sess. (Md. 1999).

The last family of sources is the internet, along with a handful of special forms. The key idea here is to look past the screen: a lot of what you find online is really a print source in disguise, and when that is true, you cite it like the print source it is.

Internet sourcesB18

Citing a webpage

A basic internet cite has the author if there is one, the title of the specific page, the domain name of the website abbreviated per T6 and T10, the date and time if available with the month abbreviated per T12, and the URL. If the page shows a "last updated" date, use that instead of the original publication date.

Nina Siegal, Van Gogh and the Meaning of Yellow, N.Y. Times (Feb. 19, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/arts/design/van-gogh-museum-yellow.html.

When the page has no date at all, use the date you last visited it, in a parenthetical after the URL. If there is no author, just leave that part out.

Equity Sharing Agreements, Unison, https://www.unison.com/faqs/equity-sharing-agreement (last visited Feb. 19, 2026).

Online but really printR18.2.1

When to ignore the website entirely

This is the rule students forget most. If what you accessed online is an exact copy of the print version, cite it as if you held the print in your hands, with no URL. Law review articles and book PDFs are the classic examples.

Law review article read online, cited as print

Grant Christensen & Anne Mullins, The Lone Dissent, 82 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1219, 1221 (2025).

A close cousin: if an online source has the characteristics of a print source, like an author, a title, and pagination, cite it under the rule for that kind of source and just append the URL. This comes up most with agency reports, which you cite under the books and reports rule.

Online report cited under R15, URL appended

Fed. Trade Comm'n, Consumer Fraud in the United States: The Second FTC Survey 15 (2007), https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/consumer-fraud-united-states-second-federal-trade-commission-survey-staff-report-federal-trade/fraud.pdf.

A few more

Databases, social media, and the rest

For commercial databases like Westlaw and Lexis, keep citing by the rule for the underlying material. A case is still R10, a statute is still R12, and so on. Do not apply the internet rule to them.
Social media has its own rule, R18.10, though it is the kind of thing you reach for rarely.

Social media (R18.10)

Image posted by Shashwat Bhaskar (@shashwatbhaskarphotography), Instagram, The Bengal Tiger (Aug. 26, 2022), https://www.instagram.com/p/Cht48pzroLd/.