HELEAD 720: Legal Issues in Higher Education

Many databases offer a "Cite" tool. Use these a starting point for building your References page; however, as these are often inaccurate, verify provided citations by checking them against a writers' manual or style guide.

The standard guide for legal citations is The bluebook: A uniform system of citation. The most recent edition is available at the Andersen Library Reference Desk for in-library use. Older editions available for checkout are in the 3rd-floor Main Collection, KF245 .U55 2005 (18th ed.) and KF245 .U53 (17th ed., 2000).

• Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (Cornell University) - Based on the Bluebook.

Westlaw citation tool provides a citation like this:

Andrew T. Bell, Federally Funded and Religiously Exempt: Exploring Title IX Exemptions and Their Discriminatory Effect on LGBT Students, 81 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 735, 735–36 (2020)

You will need to follow the model for a journal article.

• If no DOI is present, omit it. 
• Use the complete law review title, not the abbreviated form.

Corrected version:

Bell, A. T. (2020).  Federally funded and religiously exempt: Exploring Title IX exemptions and their discriminatory effect on LGBT students. University of Pittsburg Law Review, 81. 735–36.

"How do I format an in-text citation when the article I am reading is citing another article?"

APA emphasizes that when possible, find the original reference. In that way, you have the original source in hand, and can verify that the interpretation of the citing author(s) is accurate. 

Sometimes, such as when I primary source is in another language or not available through the library or online, citing a secondary source may be unavoidable.

Follow these directions when citing a secondary source:

1. In the reference list, provide a citation for the secondary source.
2. In the in-text citation, cite the primary source first and write “as cited in” the secondary source that you used.
3. Include the year of publication of the primary source in the in-text citation.

For example, if you read an article by Piotrowski and King (2020) in which Bangerter (2014) was cited, and you were unable to read Bangerter’s work yourself, cite Bangerter’s work as the original source, followed by Piotrowski and King’s work as the secondary source. 

(Bangerter, 2014, as cited in Piotrowski and King, 2020)

If you are using a direct quote (not paraphrased), include a page number where the quote is found:

(Bangerter, 2014, as cited in Piotrowski and King, 2020, p. 210)

Only Piotrowski and King’s work appears in the reference list. Do not include a reference for Bangerter.

Source: APA Style Guide online, Secondary Sources; or refer to page 258, section 8.6 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition.