If you use “legal style,” you should use footnotes in your paper. If you are using a version of Word, footnotes are easy to do. Click on “Insert” in the toolbar, then footnote. Format for Auto Number 1, 2, 3, etc., and click on OK. The software will insert a superscript number in the text where the footnote should be and create a space for you to write the citation. Your footnote text should be in the same format as the body text, except that footnotes can be single-spaced. You can edit footnotes by clicking on “View” in the toolbar and selecting footnotes, or using the draft view of the document in Word, which should display each page as it will appear when printed, including footnotes.
If you have a question about how to cite a type of work that is not listed here, use a style for a similar type of work or ask ___ for help.
How to Cite
Cases
Name of case, volume of reporter, name of reporter, first page of case in reporter (court and year), any subsequent history, if relevant.
Example: Smith v. Jones, 285 F. Supp. 2d 578 (S.D. Ind. 2005), affirmed, 572 F.
3d 185 (7th Cir. 2006).
If you’re quoting a specific part of the case and this is your first reference, add the page number of the quote after the first page of the case.
Example: Smith v. Jones, 285 F. Supp. 2d 578, 585 (S.D. Ind. 2005), then subsequent history if any.
If you’re using Nexis Uni, you can determine the reporter page numbers by looking for numbers in brackets in the text. If there is no reporter citation or if you’d prefer to use the Lexis page numbers, those numbers are preceded by asterisks and begin with *1.
Example: Smith v. Jones, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5088 (S.D. Ind. 2005) at *4.
If you are citing Media Law Reporter, the format is similar to other printed reporters except for one additional reference to the publisher.
Example: Smith v. Jones, 33 Media Law Reporter 1428 (BNA) (S.D. Ind. 2005).
Most of your case cites won’t have subsequent history info because you should use the decision of the highest court that heard the case. However, sometimes the appellate court will only briefly affirm the lower court decision, so you may want to quote from the lower court opinion. Also, you should note subsequent history if you’re quoting from an appellate court decision and the Supreme Court denied certiorari:
Example: Smith v. Jones, 572 F.3d 185 (7th Cir. 2006), cert. denied, 2006 U.S.
LEXIS 8888 (2006).
Constitutions
Abbreviation for type of constitution (federal or state), part of constitution cited, section (if applicable).
Examples: U.S. Const. art. II, § 8.
U.S. Const. amend. 1.
Ind. Const. art. V, § 2.
(Note: § is the abbreviation for “section.” It can be found under
Insert, Advanced Symbols in Word.)
Statutes
Name of law (if there is one), section, source (year).
Examples: Administrative Procedure Act § 6, 5 U.S.C. § 555 (2012).
22 U.S.C. § 2567 (2012; Supp. 2017). (Supp. is short for
Supplement, which is what pocket parts are called.)
Ind. Code § 34-40-5-3.5 (LEXIS 2016).
Legislative Materials
Unenacted laws (laws that were never passed or that are still pending).
Federal: Name of bill, if any, S. for Senate or H.R. for House, number, session of
Congress in which it was introduced, section of bill being cited (year introduced).
Example: Free Flow of Information Act, S. 1419, 109th Cong., § 2 (a) (2005).
State: Same thing, but note that each state names its legislative houses differently. Use an abbreviation that seems to make sense or take your cue from Lexis.
Example: Protecting Our Children Act, H.R. 325, 170th Legis. Sess., § 3 (Ind.
2005).
Books
Name of author, name of book, page number (year published).
Example: Deborah L. Rhode, Justice and Gender 56 (1989).
If you are quoting from a chapter or article in an edited work:
Example: Kay Deaux & Brenda Major, “A Social-Psychological Model of
Gender,” in Theoretical Perspectives on Sexual Difference
89, 92 (Deborah L. Rhode ed., 1990).
If citing a newer edition of an older work:
Example: Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Law in Science and Science in Law,”
in Collected Legal Papers 210, 212 (Freedom House ed. 2001)
(1920). (Last date is date of original publication. You should be
able to find that date on the copyright page.)
Periodicals
Consecutively paginated journals, such as law reviews and other academic journals. (Consecutively paginated means that within one volume with multiple issues, the page numbering begins at 1 in the first issue but the first page of the subsequent issues start where the last page of the last issue left off. So if Vol. 32, No. 1 ends on page 316, Vol. 32, No. 2 begins on page 317.)
The citation style is author name, title of article, volume number of journal, name of journal, first page of article, specific page being quoted (year of publication unless year is also volume number).
Examples: Susan Jones, “The Paradox of Law and Policy,” 85 Harvard Law
Review 350, 365 (1982).
Susan Jones, “The Paradox of Law and Policy,” 1982 Supreme
Court Review 250, 265.
Newspapers: Name of author, name of article, name of paper, date of publication, first page of article (don’t worry about jumps).
Examples: Mary Doe, “Council Votes to Ban Smoking in Parks,” Chicago
Tribune, May 18, 2015, at A1.
“Three Hurt in Accident on Beltway,” Indianapolis Star, July 22,
2015, at B3.
Magazines: Same as newspapers, but note difference in dates on monthly and bi-monthly publications.
Examples: Mary Doe, “The Fragile Cease-Fire,” Time, Aug. 21, 2015, at
7.
Jane Smith, “Obama’s Mideast Problem,” Atlantic Monthly, August 2014, at 67.
Mary Jane Doe-Smith, “The Press’s Mideast Problem,” Columbia
Journalism Review, July-August 2015, at 33.
Internet Sources
Similar to newspapers and magazines, but include last day you checked the site because some material does disappear from the Internet as new material is added.
Name of author, if any, name of article or entry, name of publication, sponsor, or site, page or section if any (year posted), URL for site, date site was last visited by you.
Example: Jane Smith, “How to Get Access to Public Records in Indiana,”
Indiana Coalition for Open Government, § 7 (2004),
http://www.indianacog.org/access, last visited Feb. 8, 2017.
Works Already Cited
If you are citing a work that you have already cited and footnoted in the text, you do not have to repeat the entire citation again. If you are citing the work again immediately after the first citation to that work, all you need to say is “Id.” If you are citing the same work but a different page, it’s “Id. at 24,” or whatever the page number(s) is/are. If you cite a work early in the paper and then go back to it later, cite name of author and page number. If you cite different works by the same author, use the name of the author and a few words from the title of the work, plus the page number. For cases, use the full name of the case again, but shorten the rest of the cite and drop the year and subsequent history. Here are examples.
4Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 725 (1972) (Stewart, J., dissenting).
5Anthony L. Fargo, “The Journalist’s Privilege for Non-Confidential Information in States With Shield Laws,” 4 Communication Law and Policy 325, 342 (1999).
6Anthony L. Fargo, “The Year of Leaking Dangerously,” 14 William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal 125, 143 (2006).
7Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. at 743.
8Id.
9Id. at 745.
10Fargo, Year of Leaking Dangerously, at 148.
