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APA 7th Edition Style Guide

Help with using the APA 7th edition

Cases

Cases & Court Decisions 

  • Cases and court decisions generally include these elements:
  • title or name of case (e.g. Plessy v. Ferguson)
  • citation (in law, this means the volume and page in reporters, or books where case decisions are published)
  • jurisdiction of the court, in parentheses (e.g., US Supreme Court, Illinois Court of Appeals)
  • date of decision, in same parentheses as jurisdiction
  • URL (optional)
     

US SUPREME COURT

Name v. Name, Volume # U.S. Page # (Year). URL (optional)

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/551/701/ 
 

US CIRCUIT COURT

Court of Appeals

"Name v. Name, Volume # F. [or F.2d, F.3d] Page # (Court Year). URL (optional)

Board of Educ. of Fayette County, Ky. v. L.M., 478 F3.3d 307 (6th Cir. 2007). https://casetext.com/case/board-of-educ-of-fayette-county-v-lm 
 

US DISTRICT COURT 

Name v. Name, Volume # F. Supp. Page # (Court and Year). URL (optional)

E.M.J. by and through M.J. v. Garrard County Board of Education, 413 F.Supp.3d 598 (E.D. Ky. 2019). https://casetext.com/case/emj-v-garrard-cnty-bd-of-educ 
 

STATE COURT DECISIONS 

Name v. Name, Volume # Reporter Page # (Court and Year). URL (optional)

Commonwealth ex rel. Beshear v. Bevin, 575 S.W.3d 673(Ky., 2019). https://casetext.com/case/commonwealth-ex-rel-beshear-v-bevin
[This is an example of a Kentucky state Supreme Court case.]

Triplett v. Livingston County Bd. of Educ., 967 S.W.2d 25 (Ky.App., 1997). https://casetext.com/case/triplett-v-livingston-county-board-of-educ 

 

Sources:

https://www.legalbluebook.com/bluebook/v21/quick-style-guide?_ga=2.240043840.210418529.1623262582-2019626830.1615402504

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/apa_legal%20references%20.html

Federal Reporters

Abbreviation Reporter Name & Contents
U.S. United States Reports 
Supreme Court opinions (official)
S. Ct.

Supreme Court Reporter 
Supreme Court opinions (West)
L. Ed., L. Ed. 2d

Lawyers' Edition, 1st and 2d series
Supreme Court opinions (LexisNexis)
F., F.2d, F.3d Federal Reporter, 1st, 2d, and 3d series
1st: Federal district and appellate court opinions (to 1925)
2nd: Federal appellate court opinions (1925-1993)
3rd: Federal appellate court opinions (1993 - )
F. Supp.,F. Supp. 2d Federal Supplement, 1st and 2d series
1st: Federal district court opinions (1931-1998)
2d: Federal district court opinions (1998 - )
F. App. Federal Appendix 
Federal appellate court opinions (not reported in F.3d) (2001- )

Regional Reporters

Abbreviation Reporter Name & Contents
A., A.2d, A.3d Atlantic Reporter, 1st, 2d, 3d series
Opinions from CT, DC, DE, ME, MD, NH, NJ, PA, RI, VT
N.E., N.E.2d North Eastern Reporter, 1st and 2d series
Opinions from IL, IN, MA, NY, OH
NW., N.W.2d North Western Reporter, 1st and 2d series
Opinions from IA, MI, MN, NE, ND, SD, WI
P., P.2d, P.3d Pacific Reporter, 1st, 2d, and 3d series
Opinions from AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, KS, MT, NV, NM, OK, OR, UT, WA, WY
S.E., S.E.2d South Eastern Reporter, 1st and 2d series
Opinions from GA, NC, SC, VA, WV
S.W., S.W.2d, S.W.3d South Western Reporter, 1st, 2d, and 3d series
Opinions from AR, KY, MO, TN, TX
S., S.2d Southern Reporter, 1st and 2d series
Opinions from AL, FL, LA, MS