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Citation Guides

Information on properly formatting papers and citing sources in several different styles.

Lower Federal Courts

REFERENCE LIST ENTRY

Basic Format
Name v. Name, Volume Reporter abbreviation Page (Court Name).

Reporter Abbreviations
F., F.2d or F.3d for Federal Reporter (Circuit Courts)
F. Supp. or F.Supp.2d for Federal Supplement (District Courts).

Examples
Flibotte v. Pennsylvania Truck Lines, Inc., 131 F. 3d 21 (1st Cir. 1997).
SBC Communications, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, 981 F. Supp. 996 (N.D. Texas 1997).

TEXT CITATION

Basic Form
Name v. Name (year )
(Name v. Name, year)

Examples

In Flibotte v. Pennsylvania Truck Lines, Inc. (1997), the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that it is appropriate for a judge to refuse to direct the verdict.

The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has held that it is appropriate for a judge to refuse to direct the verdict (Flibotte v. Pennsylvania Truck Lines, Inc., 1997).