Legal Citation rules are different Courtesy of Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Penn The “Bluebook” A Uniform System of Citation
Citation basics Three elements: Title info; publication info; date
info Publication Info is what is usually thought of as the
“citation” – where can this document be found? Publication info also has three elements
Volume/Title Document/Publication page/section
Rules were developed in/for the world of print
Court decision: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 Court decision: Tripoli v. BATFE, 437 F.3d. 75 Court decision: Comm v. Dowling, 511 Pa. 28,
511 A.2d. 792 United States Code: 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Pennsylvania Statute: 18 Pa. C. S. A. § 3929.1 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations: 27 CFR 555.29 PA Admin Code: Pa Code §137.1 Court Rules: Fed R. Civ. P 12(b); PA R. Civ.P. 51 Legal Journals (continuous pagination):
Author, Title, 61 U. Pitt L.R. 819 (year) Legal Journals (issue pagination)
Author, Title, Information Today, Sept 2010, at 17.
Most primary law from the last 15 years is available on the Internet
It’s OK to Google Citation is best Case name may work Beware the Deep Web
Google Scholar -Legal Opinions and Journals
Statutes, Codes, Legislation GPO Access: Public Laws, U.S. Code Cornell Univ Legal Information Institute: Constitution, U.S. Code Thomas from Library of Congress: Legislation
Court decisions U.S. Supreme Court Third Circuit Court of Appeals Western District of PA Other federal courts Other resources
Google Scholar LexisOne PACER
Court rules LLRX.com Court Websites
Administrative Rules and Regulations GPO Access: CFR and Federal Register Agency Websites
Statutes, Codes, Legislation PA Session Laws “Purdons” PA Statutes PA Legislature
Local Ordinances Pittsburgh Philadelphia Others
Court decisions PA Supreme, Commonwealth, Superior Courts Local courts Local Dockets
Court Rules Administrative Rules and Regulations
PA Bulletin PA Administrative Code
Self-help resources PA Law Help Nolo Findlaw
Professional resources Scholarly resources Research guides
Barco Law Library: Pennsylvania Law Duquesne Law Library Legal Research Guides