1. Anatomy of a Citation

2. 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)

3. 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

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

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

6. 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

7. 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

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

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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)

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

18. 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

19. Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000).

20. 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).

21. Section Numbers 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000) 12 U.S.C. § 1455 Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 5.01 S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-220 Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 5, § 37

22. 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. § 26-1-10 (West 2000)

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

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

25. 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.)

26. 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.)

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

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

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