References for federal, state statutes and court decisions are very different from other types of sources. The following examples are based on Appendix 7.1 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, pp. 216-224, and examples from the APA Style Blog.
For secondary sources, use UWW Citation Guide for APA Style (printable)
Reference Page
Basic format: Official name of the act, Source, and section number of the statute (pub. date of the statute). The abbreviation Pub. L. in the example below stands for public law. They symbol § stands for the specific section, an example of which you can find in the table of contents in the primary source example above.
Example: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, § 101, Stat. 1425 (2002).
In-Text Citation
"...No Child Left Behind Act of 2002..."
"... No Child Left Behind Act (2002)..."
First occurrence: (No Child Left Behind [NCLB], 2002)
Following occurrences may be abbreviated: (NCLB, 2002)
Reference Page
Basic format: Name v. Name, Vol. number U.S. Page number (Year).
Example: Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
In-text Citation
Basic format: (Name v. Name, Year)
Example: (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954)
Basic format: Wis. Stat. § Chapter number: Article (date if needed)
Example: Wis. Stat. § 118.40 (2017).
In-text Citation Examples:
(Wis. Stat. § 118.40, 2017)
“Wisconsin statutes outline the requirements for a charter school petition (§ 118.40, 2017)."
Go to the source for accurate style information. Copies are available online, in Reference, and in the Main Collection. Stop at the Reference Desk for assistance.
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