Bluebook Citation 101 -- Academic Format

Rule 16.7.6 of  The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers how to cite ALRs.

Elements

The citation should contain:

• Author
• The word "Annotation"
• Title (italicized)
• ALR volume
• ALR series
• Page number or article number (newer ALRs use articles). If pinpoint citing use the page number or the section for newer ALRs.
• Copyright date of volume and supplement if appropriate

Example

William B. Johnson, Annotation, Use of Plea Bargain or Grant of Immunity as Improper Vouching for Credibility of Witness in Federal Cases, 76 A.L.R. Fed. 409 (1986 & Supp. 2025).

Linda Sharp, Annotation, Definition of "Sex" Under Title VII of Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 2000e et seq., Concerning Discrimination on Basis of Sexual Orientation, Gender Conformance, or Transgender Status—Post-Bostock, 67 A.L.R. Fed. 3d Art. 14, § 10 (2022)

Rule 15.8 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) governs the citation of dictionaries.

Elements

The citation should include the following:

• Word (italicized)
• Dictionary (small caps font)
• Edition
• Year

Online Dictionaries

Rule 15.9 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers databases and online secondary sources. It also refers to R. 18.2. Follow the elements above plus add a citation to the database or source.

Example

Replevin, Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014).

Replevin, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/replevin [https://perma.cc/ZK5T-FHZA] (last visited June 18, 2025).

Short Form

Use Id. or Supra. -- See R. 15.10 and R. 4

Rule 15.8 and BT.1 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers the citation of encyclopedias. 

Elements for a Print Citation

The citation should include the following:

• Volume
• Encyclopedia abbeviation (small cap font)
• Article title (underlined or italicized)
• Section
• Copyright date of the volume (in the parenthetical)

Elements for an Encyclopedia on Lexis or Westlaw

The citation follows the print except it should also include a citation to the database and when the database was last updated (or copyright if that is the only date supplied).

Examples

88 C.J.S. Trial § 192 (1955).

88 C.J.S. Trial § 192, Westlaw (database updated May 2025).

17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74 (1964).

17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74, Lexis (database updated 2025).

14 Ohio Jur. 3d Civil Rights § 82 (2006).

Short Form

Id. or Supra -- See R. 15.10 & R. 4

Bluebook

Rule 16 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers the citation of law reviews and other legal periodicals. 

Consecutively paginated law reviews and journals (R. 16.4)

Elements

The citation should include the following:

• Author's name
• If the article is written by a student author, the designation of the piece such as note, comment, book review, recent case, etc. (see R. 16.7.1)
• Title of the article (in italics or underlined)
• Volume number (if no volume, use the year as the volume and don't put the year at the end)
• Abbreviation of journal name (Use small caps font and T.10 and T.13)
• The beginning page number (if pinpoint citing, include the beginning page number and the pinpoint cite)
• Year (in parenthesis)

Databases & Online Sources

Follow R. 16 but add a citation to the database. Use a database identifier if one is available. See R. 16.8.

Examples:

Charles A. Reich, The New Property, 73 Yale L.J. 733, 737-38 (1964).

Ariel Ezrachi & Maurice E. Stucke, Artificial Intelligence & Collusion: When Computers Inhibit Competition, 2017 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1775.

Delaney Cook, Student Note and Comment, When Courts Collide: How Statutory Interpretation Divides the Fifth and Eighth Circuits on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 93 U. Cin. L. Rev. 799 (2025).

Short Form:

Use Id. or Supra -- See R. 16.9

Bluebook

Rule 16 & B16 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers the citation of law reviews and other legal periodicals. 

Nonconsecutively paginated periodicals (R. 16.5 & B16.1.2)

For articles appearing in legal periodicals that restart their page numbering with each new issue.

Elements

The citation should include the following:

• Author
• Title of the article (in italics or underlined)
• Abbreviation of journal name (use small caps font and see T. 6,10 & 13)
• Date as it appears on the cover (if no date of issue is available, provide the issue number and indicate the volume number before the title)
• the word "at"
• The beginning page number (if pinpoint citing, include the beginning page number and the pinpoint cite)

Newspapers (R. 16.6 & B16.1.4)

 The citation format for newspapers and newsletters is largely the same as for nonconsecutively paginated periodicals. See your Bluebook for specific exceptions involving special designations, place of publication etc.

Databases & Online Sources (R. 16.6, 16.8)

Follow R. 16 and include a citation to the database or URL. If there is a specific database identifier, provide it. Online newspapers may be used instead of print publications but authors and cite checkers should be aware of paywalls that may impede readers from accessing the source.

Examples

Susan A. Berson, Starting Up: If You're Hanging a Shingle in 2011, A.B.A. J., Jan. 2011, at 40.

Catie Edmondson et al., Senate G.O.P. Unveils Domestic Policy Package With Big Medicaid Cuts, N.Y. Times, June 17, 2025, at A13.

Kaycee Sloan, What Pardon Means for Sittenfield, Cin. Enquirer, May 30, 2025, at A9, 2025 WLNR 13205076.

Short Forms

Use Id. or Supra.-- See R. 16.9

Rule 12.9.4 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers the citation of restatements.

Elements

The citation should include the following:

• Restatement series (use small cap font, for title abbreviations use T.6)
• Section (if citing a comment or illustration or note, include that after the section)
• Institutional author (abbreviate per T. 15.1(c))
• Copyright date of the volume

Examples

Restatement (Third) of Torts § 46 (A.L.I. 2012).

Restatement (Third) of Torts § 46, cmt. c (A.L.I. 2012).

Short Form

Subsequent citations may use any short form that clearly identifies the source. Use Id. if cited in the immediately preceding citation.

Id.

Id. at § 48.

Bluebook

Rule 15 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers citing treatises.Shorter works within collections fall within this rule.

Elements

The citation should include the following:

• Individual work author
• Individual work title (italicized)
• the word "in" italicized
• Volume number of the collection if applicable
• Title of the collection (in small cap font)
• Page on which the individual work begins and any pinpoint pages
• Editors, translators, editions in the parenthetical
• Year

Examples

Michael Solimine, Party Patronage in Oxford Handbook of American Election Law 503-21 (Eugene Mazo, ed., 2024).

Short Form

Use Id. for the shorter individual work if it was cited in the immediately preceding citation. Do not use id. for the larger work if the shorter individual work is different. Use supra. See R. 15.10.1

Rule 15 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers citing treatises. There are many variables in citing a treatise so definitely consult the rule for its many permutations. 

Elements

Generally, a citation to a treatise should contain the following elements:

• Volume (if applicable)
• Author (small cap font) (see R. 15(b) for more than 3 authors (this is a change from previous Bluebook editions) and R. 15(c) for institutional authors)
• Title (large & small cap font)
• Section and/or Page
• Editor, translators (if applicable)
• Edition
• Copyright Date

If you have an institutional author, abbreviate (use Tables 6 & 10) only if it is unambiguous. Do abbreviate United States. If an individual author is credited on behalf of an institution, use the individual's name and the institutional name. If no individual author, use the smallest subdivision and then the overall body.

If you have multiple volumes of a work with different editors, only cite the editors of the volume cited.

Examples

2 Joseph M. Perillo & Helen Hadjiyannakis Bender, Corbin on Contracts § 1.1 (1993).