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INTERPRETING LEGAL CITATIONS
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Prepared by Karen Kimber, Social Sciences and Humanities Team Leader
Paul Laurence Dunbar University, Wright State University

Introduction

Legal citations follow this format: numerical designation of the major part of a set, followed by an abbreviation for the resource, and then a secondary numerical designation. Examples:

CitationWhat it means
40 CFR 87.1 Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 87.1
197 F.3d 1178 Volume 197 of the Federal Reporter, 3rd Series, page 1178

Where to find more detailed information

A guide to legal citations, including a list of common abbreviations can be found in Reading Legal Citations (from Boston College Law Library).

For a comprehensive list of abbreviations, see Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations (Ref KF246 .P73 2001).

  Return to Legal Research Basics
Revised 30 August 2007
http://www.wright.edu/~karen.kimber/citations.html 		Karen Kimber (karen.kimber@wright.edu)
Paul Laurence Dunbar Library - (937) 775-3034
Wright State University Libraries