Bluebook Citation 101 -- Academic Format

The Bluebook requires citation to printed material (provided it is available), unless there is an authenticated, official, or exact digital copy of the printed sources.  See R. 18.2.1

• Authenticated:  those sources using encryption based authentication such as digital signatures and public key infrastructure (preferred by The Bluebook - look for certificates, seals,or logos)
• Official:  materials that a jurisdiction has designated as "official"
• Exact Copy:  unaltered copy of the printed source in a format that preserves pagination and other format attributes (most likely PDF)

Example:  The Ohio Supreme Court has designated the Supreme Court website as the Ohio Official Reports for opinions of the courts of appeals and the Court of Claims. See Ohio Rep. Op. R. 3.2, http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/LegalResources/rules/reporting/Report.pdf [https://perma.cc/772J-5ALP]. These opinions are in PDF format and bear a watermark.

When an authenticated, official, or exact copy of a source is available online, citation can be made as if to the original print source with no need for a URL BUT if the print is obscure or if adding the URL will help someone find it, add the UR at the end of the citation and provide for the archival preservation of the source.

If there is no print format or if the print format is obscure and is, for all practical purposes unavailable, cite to the most stable Internet source available.

Elements

• Author (if available)
• Titles
  • Use title bar or page-identifying heading
  • Include main page title and abbreviate it per T. 10 & 13 (use large & small cap font)
  • If the source is published under a blog or other subdivision with consistent content and presence on the larger site, also include the name of the subdivision.
• Date
  • Use dates that refer clearly to the material cited (for blogs, include time-date stamp)
  • Otherwise use last updated or last modified
  • Or last visited
• URL (but not if it is too long or complicated -- use the root URL if that is the case and append a parenthetical)
• R. 18.2.1(d) requires all online content cited or generated by authors to be captured and stored in a permanent setting.
  • When using an archival tool like perma cc, put the archive URL in brackets at the end of the citation.

Examples

Eric Goldman, When Should Search Engines Ignore Court Orders To Remove Search Results?,Tech. & Marketing L. Blog (Sept. 4, 2013), http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2013/09/when_should_sea.htm [https://perma.cc/U2AN-2TXE].

Ryan Thoreson, Trump Administration Moves to Reject Transgender Identity Rights, Hum. Rts. Watch: Dispatches (Jan. 23, 2025 5:00AM EST), https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/23/trump-administration-moves-reject-transgender-identity-rights [https://perma.cc/Q22L-CSPL].

Bill Ong Hing, Understanding SB1070 from the Lens of Institutionalized Racism and Civil Rights, Legal Services N. Cal.: Race Equity Project, http://www.equity.lsnc.net/understanding-sb1070-from-the-lens-of-institutionalized-racism-and-civil-rights (last visited Sept. 9, 2015) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130215000000*/http://www.equity.lsnc.net/understanding-sb1070-from-the-lens-of-institutionalized-racism-and-civil-rights].

A parallel citation to an Internet source may be provided if it substantially improves access to the source.  Follow the regular rules for citing the source and then add the parallel Internet citation.

Elements

• Original print citation
• URL

Examples

Commission on Women in the Profession, American Bar Association,From Visible Invisibility to Visibly Successful: Success Strategies for Law Firms and Women of Color in Law Firms (2008), http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/wome/woc/VisiblySuccessful.authcheckdam.pdf.

D. Andrew Austin & Mindy R. Levit, Cong. Research Serv., The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases (Aug. 27, 2013), http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/213995.pdf [https://perma.cc/RM46-46PS].

Rule 18.3 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) requires authors citing output from AI or Google search results save a screenshot capture of that output as a PDF to be stored on file.

Elements of Citation for Large Language Model (LLM) AI:

• Author of the prompt
• Name of the model used (include the version number if a version number exists)
• Exact text of the prompt submission in quotation marks
• Date the prompt was submitted
• Parenthetical stating where the PDF is stored

Elements of Citation for Search Engine Results

• Name of the search engine (in small cap font)
• Exact text of the query (include Boolean operators if used) in quotation marks
• Number of results (if available)
• Date the search was conducted
• Parenthetical stating where the PDF is stored

Elements of Citation for AI Generated Content

• Cite according to the relevant subrule
  • If the subrule requires an author, use the name of the person submitting the prompt or omit if the prompt author is unavailable.
• Parenthetical indicating the content was AI generated and the name of the AI model used

• Id., per R. 4.1
• Supra per R. 4.2