Bluebook Citation

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is the dominant citation authority governing how American legal documents are cited. Becoming familiar with its rules is essential for your legal career.  

It is vital that sources you rely on in your legal writing, such as cases, statutes, and regulations are cited with sufficient precision so they may be easily found by a reader of the document. Precise citation also indicates the jurisdiction and weight of a primary authority. A statement that is not cited indicates original thought, and should only take place when what you have written came entirely from your own head. Improper citation can result in a plagiarism accusation.

The Bluebook is divided into four basic parts: the Bluepages, the Whitepages, the Tables, and the Index.

The Bluepages are found at the beginning of the book and are blue in color. The Rules begin with the letter "B" and are used by practitioners as a guide to citing court documents and legal memoranda.  

The Whitepages are the in-depth rules of citation and style. The pages are white in color with a dark blue bar across the top of the page. The Rules begin with the letter "R" and are used by legal scholars writing law review articles. There are 21 rules in the Whitepages, and they can be subdivided into two major groups. Rules 1-9 cover the general citation standards, while Rules 10-21 are the rules for specific sources, such as cases, statutes, books, and articles.

The Tables are used in conjunction with the rules. The pages are white with a dark blue bar down the outside edge of each page. They are used by both practitioners and scholars and contain information on which authority to cite and how to abbreviate words. Finally, the Index is a comprehensive listing of all of the Bluebook's content.