Law & Statute Citation Generator
Enter a statute's name, code, section number, and year and get a complete citation in seconds — including APA's Name of Act, Title Source § Section (Year) format, e.g. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (1990). Works with APA, MLA, Chicago, and 10,832 styles. Free, no sign-up.
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How to Cite a Law or Statute
- 1. Find the codified citation. Look up the act on uscode.house.gov or Cornell's Legal Information Institute and copy the official name, the title number, the code abbreviation (U.S.C. for federal law), the section number, and the year. Those pieces — not a webpage title — are what the citation is built from.
- 2. Pick a style. APA 7th uses the Bluebook-derived pattern Name of Act, Title Source § Section (Year), with the act name and year in-text. MLA adds where you read the statute (site and URL); Chicago cites it in a note in the same Bluebook shape.
- 3. Generate.We build the full statute citation, § symbol included. Citing a not-yet-codified law or a pending bill instead? Use the public law number, or switch the source type to "Bill (proposed legislation)". Then copy or export to BibTeX, RIS, CSV, or Word.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I generate a citation for a law or statute?
- Type the act's official name, the code it is codified in (e.g. U.S.C.), the title and section numbers, and the year into the form, pick your citation style, and click Generate Citation. The source type is already set to 'Law / statute' (CSL legislation), so the fields map to the standard statute elements.
- What is the APA format for citing a statute?
- APA 7th follows the Bluebook pattern: Name of Act, Title Source § Section (Year) — for example, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (1990). 'Title' is the numbered title of the code, 'Source' is the code abbreviation (U.S.C. for federal statutes), and § marks the section. In-text, cite the act's name and year: (Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990).
- How do I cite a statute in MLA or Chicago?
- MLA 9th lists the act name, the code (e.g. United States Code), title and section, publisher or website, and the URL where you read it. Chicago cites statutes in notes using the Bluebook form, much like APA's reference. Pick the style above and the generator applies the right format automatically.
- What if the law isn't codified yet, or I'm citing a bill?
- A statute not yet in a code is cited by its public law number and the Statutes at Large (e.g. Pub. L. No. 116-136, 134 Stat. 281). A bill that has not passed is a different source type — cite it by chamber and bill number (e.g. H.R. 1, 117th Cong.); switch the source type to 'Bill (proposed legislation)' in the form for that.
- Where do I find a statute's title, code, and section numbers?
- For US federal law, the Office of the Law Revision Counsel's uscode.house.gov and Cornell's Legal Information Institute show the codified citation at the top of every section. State codes are on each legislature's site. Copy the title number, code abbreviation, and section exactly — those three pieces are the heart of the citation.
- Is the law citation generator free?
- Yes. It is 100% free with no sign-up, no ads, and no limits. Your citations are saved locally in your browser and can be exported to BibTeX, RIS, CSV, or Word.