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 can be used as a guide to citing court documents and legal memoranda. The Bluepages provide easy and basic principles for common citations.
The Whitepages are the in-depth rules of citation and style. There are 21 rules in the Whitepages, and these 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 conjuction with the rules. They are an indespensable resource on which authority to cite and where and when to abbreviate.
Finally, the Index is a comprehensive listing of all of the Bluebook's content.
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The Bluebook 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, be 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.
|
Topic |
Description |
Rule |
Pages in BB |
|
Style |
Typeface, citation placement, signals, and other style matters. |
B1-B3 |
3-10 |
|
Short Form Citation |
Citing the same authority multiple times. |
B4.1-4.2 |
78-81 |
|
Local Citation Rules |
Explanation of how to convert Bluebook citations to local citation styles found in local courts. |
BT2.1 |
30-56 |
|
Cases |
Citing federal and state cases. |
Rule 10 |
94-117 |
|
Constitutions |
Citing federal and state constitutions. |
Rule 11 |
118-119 |
|
Statutes |
Citing federal and state statutes. |
Rule 12 |
120-134 |
|
Legislative Materials |
Citing federal and state legislative materials. |
Rule 13 |
135-142 |
|
Administrative Materials |
Citing administrative and executive materials |
Rule 14 |
143-148 |
|
Books |
Citing books, reports, white papers, treatises, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. |
Rule 15 |
149-172 |
|
Periodicals |
Citing law reviews, magazines, and periodicals. |
Rule 16 |
159-171 |
|
Electronic Sources |
Citing internet sources, such as Westlaw and LexisNexis. |
Rule 18 |
178-189 |
|
U.S. Tables |
Official names of reporters and statutory compilations for U.S. federal and state courts. |
T.1 |
223-306 |
|
Abbreviations |
Abbreviations for case and court names, phrases, geographic places, and periodicals. |
T.6-T.16 |
496-523 |
|
Index |
Comprehensive index to entire Bluebook |
|
525-560 |
Adapted from Georgetown Law Library.
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter Martin (2013)
This is a free e-book that explains the reasoning behind legal citation forms and offers answers to common questions on citing print and electronic sources. It is available in PDF, MOBI (Kindle), ePUB (other e-readers), and HTML. There is also a companion wiki for discussion of the book.
A blog on legal citation in real life