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APA Style Guide

Legal Citations

The library has a Legal Research Handout that might be helpful. 

See chapter 11 in The Publication Manual  for more information.

A reference for a case or court decision includes the following information:

  • Title or name of case
  • Citation – usually to a volume and page of one of the books where published cases can be found called reporters.
  • Precise jurisdiction of the court writing the decision – Supreme Court, Oklahoma Court of Appeals, etc.
  • Date of the decision
  • URL from where you retrieved case.  This is not a requirement, but may aid readers in retrieval.   

Type In-Text Reference
U.S. Supreme Court Decision ( Brown v. Board of Education, 1954)

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483

The title or name of a case is written in standard type in the reference list entry and in italic type in the in-text citation.
U.S. Circuit Court ( Daubers v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1991)

Daubers v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 951 F.2d 1128 (9th Cir. 1991).
U.S. District Court ( Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA, 2001)

Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA, 133 F. Supp. 2d 1034 (N.D. Ohio 2001).
State Supreme Court Decision (Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 1976)

Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 12 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14,551 P.2d 334 (1976). https://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/torts/torts-keyed-to-dobs

Include the URL is not required.  Include it if you found the case online, but not in one of the library's databases.

 

The library has a Legal Research Handout that might be helpful.

See chapter 11 in The Publication Manual  for more information.

A reference for a law or statute includes the following information:

  • Name of law or act
  • Title-Federal statutes are published in the United States Code (U.S.C.). The U.S.C. is divided into sections called titles
  • Section number of the statute
  • Date
  • URL. This is not a requirement but may aid readers in retrieval

Type In-Text Reference
Federal Statute (Every Student Succeeds Act, 2015)

Every Student Succeeds Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2015). https://www.congress.gov/114/plaws/publ95/PLAW-114pubI95.pdf
State Statute (Assault and Battery Defined, 1951/2014)

Aggravated Assault and Battery Defined, Okla. Stat. § 21-646 (1951/2014). http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os21.rtf

This Oklahoma act can be found in the Oklahoma Statutes, Section 2341 and was first codified in 1951 and then revised in 2014.​

 

A citation is not necessary if you are citing a whole federal or state constitution.  Simply refer to the constitution in the text. Create reference list entries for citation to articles and amendments of constitutions. See section 11.9 in The Publication Manual for more information.

Type  In-Text Reference
Article of the U.S. Constitution (U.S. Const. art. I, § 3) U.S. Constitution, art. I, § 3.
Article of a state constitution (Okla. Const. art. XI, § 3)

Okla. Constitution, art. XI, § 3.
Treaties and international conventions (Name of Treaty or Convention, year)

Name of Treaty or Convetion, Month Day, Year, URL