Anatomy of a Citation

What are Citations? Brown v. Bd. of Ed. of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kan., 347 U.S. 483 (1954) Point to authority for a legal or factual proposition – When public schools segregate children on the basis of race, children of the minority group are deprived equal education opportunities. Brown v. Bd. of Ed. of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kan., 347 U.S. 483, 493 (1954) Tell you the source of a quotation. – “We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” Brown v. Bd. of Ed. of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kan., 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954)

Cases Knecht v. Vandalia Med. Ctr., Inc., 470 N.E.2d 230, 231 (Ohio App. 2d Dist. 1984) Name of the parties Published source(s) in which case appears Page on which the case begins Pinpoint citation, if needed Court Date Subsequent history, if any

Party Names Knecht v. Vandalia Med. Ctr., Inc., 470 N.E.2d 230, 232 (Ohio App. 2d Dist. 1984)

Reporters are multi-volume hardcover books containing judicial opinions in chronological order Volume Number and Reporter

Knecht v. Vandalia Med. Ctr., Inc., 470 N.E.2d 230, 232 (Ohio App. 2d Dist. 1984) Volumes in a reporter are numbered consecutively A new series starting with volume 1 begins when one series becomes too unwieldy – Volume after 999 F.Supp. is 1 F.Supp.2d. Volume Number

Reporters Knecht v. Vandalia Med. Ctr., Inc., 470 N.E.2d 230, 232 (Ohio App. 2d Dist. 1984) Three Types of Reporters: Federal Reporters Regional Reporters State Reporters

Federal Reporters Three Types of Federal Reporters: Federal Supplement Federal Reporter U.S. Reports

Federal Reporters Three Types of Federal Reporters: Federal Supplement – Contains US district court (trial) opinions – Not all opinions by the district courts are published – Citation: 75 F.Supp 275

Federal Reporters Three Types of Federal Reporters: Federal Reporter – Contains US circuit court (appellate) opinions – There are 13 U.S. circuit courts of appeal – Citation: 333 F.2d 220

Federal Reporters Three Types of Federal Reporters: US Reports – US Supreme Court opinions – Citation: 347 U.S. 483

Regional Reporters – Cases from all 50 states reported in 1 of 7 regional reporters – Each region’s reporter organizes opinions chronologically for all of the states in that region – Contain only appellate level opinions

Regional Reporters Knecht v. Vandalia Med. Ctr., Inc., 470 N.E.2d 230, 232 (Ohio App. 2d Dist. 1984) Regional Reporters – The first page of the reporter lists states with cases published in that reporter

Page on which Case Begins Knecht v. Vandalia Med. Ctr., Inc., 470 N.E.2d 230, 232 (Ohio App. 2d Dist. 1984) The first number listed after the reporter is the page on which the case begins

Pinpoint Citation Knecht v. Vandalia Med. Ctr., Inc., 470 N.E.2d 230, 232 (Ohio App. 2d Dist. 1984) The next number is a pinpoint citation Pinpoint citations point the reader to the exact page containing the information being cited

Date and Court Knecht v. Vandalia Med. Ctr., Inc., 470 N.E.2d 230, 231 (Ohio App. 2d Dist. 1984) Date is the year of decision – 1984 No court designation given if the court is clear from the reporter name – 347 U.S. 483 (1954) Add designation if court is not clear from reporter name – 132 F.2d 1059 (5th Cir. 1996)

Statutes Volume, title or chapter number Abbreviation of code or compilation Section number Publisher, editor or compiler Date Supplements

Abbreviations of Code Cited 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000) U.S.C. - United States Code U.S.C.S. - United States Code Service U.S.C.A. - United States Code Annotated S.C. Code Ann. - South Carolina Code Annotated

Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000).

Date 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000) Year appearing on the spine Year appearing on the title page Latest copyright year Year of replacement volume, not original Material in supplement: – 42 U.S.C.A. § 300a-7 (West Supp. 2005). Material in main volume & supplement: – 42 U.S.C.A. § 300a-7 (West 1998 & Supp. 2005).

Section Numbers 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000) 12 U.S.C. § 1455 Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 5.01 S.C. Code Ann. § Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 5, § 37

Publisher, Editor, or Compiler No publisher needed for official codes published by governmental entity – 42 U.S.C.§ 300a-7 (2000) Provide publisher for official and unofficial codes published commercially – 42 U.S.C.A. § 300a-7 (West 1998) – 42 U.S.C.S. § 300a-7 (Lexis 2002) – S.C. Code Ann. § (West 2000)

Journals Cass R. Sunstein Cass R. Sunstein, Interpreting Statutes in the Regulatory State, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 405 (1989) Author Name

Interpreting Statutes in the Regulatory State Cass R. Sunstein, Interpreting Statutes in the Regulatory State, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 405 (1989) Article Title Journals

Journals Harv. L. Rev. Cass R. Sunstein, Interpreting Statutes in the Regulatory State, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 405 (1989) Journal Name – Harvard Law Review (Harv. L. Rev.)

Journals Harv. L. Rev. Cass R. Sunstein, Interpreting Statutes in the Regulatory State, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 405 (1989) Journal Name – Harvard Law Review (Harv. L. Rev.) Other Examples – Environmental Law (Envtl. L.) – Business Law Journal (Bus. L.J.)

Journals 103 Cass R. Sunstein, Interpreting Statutes in the Regulatory State, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 405 (1989) Volume number

Journals 405 Cass R. Sunstein, Interpreting Statutes in the Regulatory State, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 405 (1989) Starting page number of the article

Journals (1989) Cass R. Sunstein, Interpreting Statutes in the Regulatory State, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 405 (1989) Year