# How do you cite law cases in a research paper? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-cite-law-cases-in-a-research-paper/353982 "2006-04-24T13:38:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diamonds02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-cite-law-cases-in-a-research-paper/353982/1 "2006-04-24T13:38:54Z")
In APA style. Or, do you know any online resources explaining this? I can’t really find any. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-cite-law-cases-in-a-research-paper/353982/2 "2006-04-24T15:17:51Z")
Check out the [Harvard Blue Book: A Uniform System of Legal Citation, 18th ed.](http://www.legalbluebook.com/about.shtml). It’s got an introductory section on legal citation aimed at first-year students, who don’t have extensive knowledge of legal citation. You might find it helpful. > [@](#): > > The Bluepages, new to the Eighteenth Edition, is a how-to guide for basic legal citation. Unlike the remainder of The Bluebook, which is designed in a style and at a level of complexity commensurate with the needs of the law journal publication process, the Bluepages provides easy-to-comprehend guidance for the everyday citation needs of first-year law students, summer associates, law clerks, practicing lawyers, and other legal professionals. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-cite-law-cases-in-a-research-paper/353982/3 "2006-04-24T15:39:23Z")
[http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/research/apastyle.pdf](http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/research/apastyle.pdf) (pdf page 7) [http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/legalapa.htm](http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/legalapa.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-cite-law-cases-in-a-research-paper/353982/4 "2006-04-24T15:40:29Z")
The Bluebook is used for legal documents and law-related publications (I use it every day). I don’t know how appropriate its conventions are for non-legal works. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-cite-law-cases-in-a-research-paper/353982/5 "2006-04-24T15:56:37Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > The Bluebook is used for legal documents and law-related publications (I use it every day). I don’t know how appropriate its conventions are for non-legal works. The links say that APA format for legal citations is based on the Bluebook. I don’t have a copy of the APA stylesheet here, but we had a thread a few weeks ago(?) that presented an interesting question: In legal writing, a case is a case. APA format requires the writer to indicate a print source that is viewed online. What happens if you find a case on findlaw? Do you attribute it there? An easy solution for anyone with access to a law library would be to simply check the cite against the printed version of the case. But if it’s in some obscure reporter, or if you don’t have a law library nearby, what then?