Becoming an MLA Expert: How to Cite Laws the Right Way

Review of MLA Citation Style

MLA, which stands for Modern Language Association, is a standardized method of citing sources in academic writing. At its core, MLA citation style is intended to provide a consistent framework for researchers, writers, and students to document and reference sources used in their written works, regardless of the field of study. This standardization helps to ensure academic integrity and allows readers to easily locate and verify the sources that support a writer’s claims.
In MLA citation style, a distinction is made between different types of sources, including books, journal articles, and, in our case, laws and legal documents. Each type of source has its own specific guidelines for how it should be cited within the text of an academic paper and in the bibliography or works cited list at the end of the paper. For laws and legal documents, the citation style typically includes the name of the law, the public law number, the statute number, the volume number, the source abbreviation, and the page number, all separated by commas. For example , a citation for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 would look like this in MLA: "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-336, 104 Stat. 328 (1990)."
While the exact format for citing laws may change slightly over time, it generally involves these key components. Consistently using the correct citation style provides two key benefits. First, correct citations lend credibility and authority to a written work. When a writer consistently and accurately cites their sources, it shows the reader that the writer is knowledgeable on the topic and has done their research. Additionally, it provides a thorough, professional, and respectable resource that a reader can use to independently verify the source claimed. Second, using a consistent citation style is important for academic integrity. It shows respect for the intellectual property of others by not plagiarizing, or taking the ideas of others without rendering proper credit. Proper citation style demonstrates that a writer has respect for the work of others, and understands and values the role of academic integrity in scholarship and writing.

Parts of a Law Citation in MLA

A complete citation in MLA format for a law includes the name of the law, the title number, the source, any amendment information, and the specific section you are citing. It may look confusing at first so let us break each part down step by step. The first part in your citation is the name of the law. For example, the case Gay v. Wheeler. The names in the case title give the name of the law or act you are referencing. If the law does not have a name, then use the popular name it is most commonly known as. An example of this is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which is commonly known as ADA. The second part is the title number if applicable. This is the volume or the part that the law was published in. A simple example of this is Title 21 of Federal Benefits. A more complicated example would be EVV-10, Video Dialtone Service, 47 C.F.R. § 63.601 et seq. (2011). For something like an administrative code, this will be an abbreviation of the code and the title number. It is also important to note that in some laws, this part of the citation is optional. You can opt to not include it in your citation if it is not required. The third part of your citation is the source (the name of the reporter, abbreviated along with an abbreviation for the statute if applicable, e.g. Air Pollution Control Act, 35 P.S. §§ 4001 to 4027 (2009).) This will be where you tell your reader where you found the law they are looking for. An example of this is U.S.C.A. (United States Code Annotated), 12 U.S.C.A. 1132, 1152(e), 1161(b) (2010). After this, you will put in any relevant amendment information, e.g. as amended, 12-27-2007; as added, 80-7-351; amended by Laws 1999, ch. 344, § 1, eff. July 1, 1999; 18-4406(b), amended by Laws 1982, ch. 348, § 1, eff. May 26, 1982; or effective January 2, 2013). The last part of your citation is the section you are citing; your legal citation will end here. Sometimes the case name can dominate here so it is important to list it as follows: 18 U.S.C. § 32 (1988) or in full as 17 U.S.C. § 101 (1994) or 16 U.S.C. § 131 (1994).

How to Properly Cite State Laws

The list of elements required to cite a state law will vary by state. The following are typical elements to find in each state code and the ABA Bluebook sections that define those elements. For example, if you are citing a state law for a journal article in legal writing, you will need the name of the code (i.e. CALIFORNIA CODES, referenced in Table 1 for California State Codes.) If you are not writing for a legal audience, you can leave off this information; the pub-date and section contents are usually enough.
STEPS for Finding Elements in the State Code
Find the section number(s); currently active sections can be found with the keyboard shortcut Cmd/f (Ctl/f on PC) or "Edit/Find." Section numbers are usually labeled "§," "§§" or "§§§" in the text. California’s codes have both current and prior section numbers. Older statutory codes and codes that are reformatted by a citation service may have different section formatting.
Find the title number(s); currently active titles can be found with the keyboard shortcut Cmd/f (Ctl/f on PC) or "Edit/Find." All titles must be included in the citation.
Find the publisher; usually listed at the top of the printed page as well.
Find the year of publication.: If the law you are viewing is cited to a particular year, that’s the year the publisher assigned to that volume. If not, check the publication date for the year the code is updated.
Find the specific title, section and chapter numbers (if any), and copy/paste into a text editor for later reference.
Find the name of the state code. Check other pages in the printout or copy/pasted text for the state code name.
ENDNOTE: Section References to More Than One Law
If the section number you find references multiple laws (for example, the one you’re looking at might be §1798.81, California Civil Code, the Civil Code was last published 2004), look to the top of the page for dates. If it states, "Last updated 2004," cite 2004 as the publication date. If it states, "PUBLISHED IN 2004, Cite as FULL CODE TITLE CAL. CIV. CIVIL CODE §§1798.81-1798.85," ignore it. It is just an infamous bibliographic error. Law Review students, please don’t reprint the whole reference—just cite the section.
NOTE: Bluebook rules on how to quote from or cite to the law vary depending on whether the source document is a print source or an online version.

Properly Citing Federal Laws

When it comes to citing federal laws, things aren’t quite as simple as state law. State laws not codified in state codes, ordinances, or city codes are typically cited using the title for the most similar federal code, plus a word or two to clarify, such as "Atchison Ordinance".
In fact, state codes often follow MLA guidelines, which includes treating statutes like books. Federal laws, on the other hand, are treated like articles in periodicals.
When it comes to citing federal laws, there are a few different scenarios:
For the purposes of providing you with an example, let’s say the law you want to cite is a bill that was passed and signed into law on August 3rd, 1964. It’s not codified in the United States Code, but is referenced in the Federal Register. Here’s the information you’ll want to gather:

• Name of the law
• The public law number
• The volume number of the Federal Register the law is in for the year it passed
• The page number of the volume where the law can be found
• Year signed into law

MLA uses the same format for all laws and other government documents published in the Federal Register. Under these guidelines, the citation for our Government Transportation Security Improvement Act would look something like this:
Government Transportation Security Improvement Act
Pub. L. 98-473, 1984
Federal Register 49, Volume 89, No. 208, Page 65524
Signed into law August 3, 1964

How to Cite Online Legal Resources

Your readers are modern, and so is the legal research they’re doing. Luckily MLA has made tracking down the sources a breeze, and this section is dedicated to understanding how to cite laws originating online.
This is the part that really gets crazy. While there are some clear-cut places where you can find a law, there are tons of online resources that also store the text of laws for you to peruse. The most obvious is the US Government’s website congress.gov. You can find every single federal law passed by the US Congress, dating as far back as the first congress in 1789. You can search by author, title, or date, to name a few, making it relatively easy to find the law you want. For the full information in a citation for a government-issued website, we’ll use the following format: Doe, John. "Title of Document . " (If there is no title for the document, provide basic description.) US Government Printing Office, date of electronic publication, URL of document including http or https. Doe, John. "Title of Document." Congress.gov, US Government Printing Office, date of electronic publication, URL of document including http or https. If instead you found the law in a book, in an anthology of multiple laws, you can just cite the book like you would any other book. Your citation would look something like this: Doe, John. "Title of Law" Title of Anthology, edited by Jane Doe, volume, University Publisher, Year, page(s). But if you’ve moved on to the internet, and are simply typing in the URL of a scanned law, or an excerpt from Google Scholar, you will use the basic MLA format: Author(s), "Title of Document". Title of Website, Publisher of Website, URL.

Citation Mistakes and Tips on Avoiding Them

Consequently, these quick tips can help you avoid the most common pitfalls when citing laws. State laws tend to follow a relatively standardized format that remains constant throughout the years. However, state laws collected in a uniform state code or a specific compilation can also vary widely—but it is crucial to include all the information necessary for proper identification. Even when researching the same state law over a long period of time, make sure to check for new sections or reorganization at least once a year to stay abreast of any developments. A cursory search through up-to-date ALM Research Centers will usually help you avoid most naming and ordering errors. Also, if you often face citation challenges in your court, consider keeping a style guide handy which includes acceptable citation formatting for the courts in your jurisdiction.

Key Resources and Citation Tools

In addition to the resources available at most law libraries and universities, there are several online guides and tools available for ensuring proper MLA formatting of documents. The Purdue Online Writing Lab has a good introduction to MLA legal citation, as do the Tulane Law Libraries. The Writing Center at Southern Utah University has one of the better quick reference guides regarding citation of cases and statutes. The Citations page at the Law Council of Australia, located in the Law College at the Australian National University in Canberra, contains an extensive list of citations for various sources. The Official Guide to Government Information and Services is free from the Australian Government Information Management Office (formerly the National Archives of Australia). Lancaster University in the U.K . has an excellent set of academic style guides available free of charge, including for MLA registration.
There are also many online citation services that can produce MLA footnotes and endnotes as well as bibliographic entries. Those services include EasyBib and RefMe. The APA Citation Guide at the Duke University Libraries contains a lot of useful information on legal references, even though it is, of course, APA-based. The citation tools offered by Citing Sources – University of British Columbia Library (with links to other great tools from other B.C. universities) also are useful.
Finally, most law schools provide access to strong academic citation tools, including RefWorks, EndNote, and Zotero, which are helpful for the creation of bibliographies, footnotes and endnotes, and for in-text citations.