General Citation Guidelines for the Bluebook
Your professor's directions for Bluebook style take precedence over the information provided in this guide. You will need to make any necessary changes to match your instructor's assignment. Additionally, the citation guidelines presented herein only represent those used for academic legal writing. Law practitioners should check the Bluebook for citation guidelines relevant to non-academic legal writing.
- The citation examples found in this guide have been taken from The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 22nd edition.
- This guide does not provide examples of citations for every format covered in the Bluebook. Where a format is not covered here, please refer to the Bluebook for guidance. If a specific format is not covered in either place, please pick the closest format and cite accordingly.
- There are many elements within a citation that may be abbreviated. Tables of approved abbreviations can be found at the back of the Bluebook in sections T1-T16. For the specific rules on how and when to abbreviate in academic legal writing, please see Rule 6 in the book.
- Use the § or ¶ symbols instead of the words to cite sections or paragraphs from an authority. When citing multiple sections or paragraphs within a single citation, use two of the required symbol put together (e.g. §§ or ¶¶). For more information, see Rule 3.3 in the book.
Please speak to one of your ACC Librarians if you have any questions about citing your legal sources!
