How to Cite Government Reports, Laws, and Court Cases | CiteTools

Government reports, legislation, court decisions, and executive orders are essential sources in political science, public policy, law, history, and many other disciplines. They're also some of the trickiest sources to cite, because each document type has its own conventions -- and legal citations often follow an entirely separate system from APA, MLA, or Chicago.

This guide covers the most common government and legal source types across the three major academic citation styles, with notes on when Bluebook format applies.

A Note on Bluebook Style

If you're writing for a law school class, a law review, or any legal publication, you'll almost certainly need to use Bluebook citation format (formally, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation). Bluebook is the standard legal citation system in the United States and has its own detailed rules for statutes, cases, regulations, and legislative materials.

APA, MLA, and Chicago each have their own approaches to legal sources, but they're simplified versions compared to Bluebook. If your professor or publication requires Bluebook, the formats below won't be sufficient -- you'll need to consult Bluebook directly.

For most undergraduate and graduate work outside of law school, APA, MLA, or Chicago will be what's expected.

Government Reports

Government reports are issued by agencies, departments, commissions, and other official bodies. They include things like CDC health reports, Census Bureau data, congressional research reports, and EPA studies.

APA 7th Edition

U.S. Department of Education. (2025). The condition of education 2025 (NCES 2025-144). National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2025/2025144.pdf

Key elements:

The agency is the author (use the full name, not an abbreviation, the first time)
Report number in parentheses after the title, if available
The sub-agency or publisher follows
Include the URL or DOI

If the same organization is both author and publisher, omit the publisher to avoid repetition:

World Health Organization. (2025). Global tuberculosis report 2025. https://www.who.int/publications/example

MLA 9th Edition

United States, Department of Education. The Condition of Education 2025. National Center for Education Statistics, 2025, https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2025/2025144.pdf.

Key elements:

Government as author, formatted as: Country, Department/Agency
Title in italics, title case
Publisher (sub-agency), year, URL

Chicago (Notes-Bibliography)

Footnote:

U.S. Department of Education, The Condition of Education 2025, NCES 2025-144 (Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, 2025), 42, https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2025/2025144.pdf.

Bibliography:

U.S. Department of Education. The Condition of Education 2025. NCES 2025-144. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, 2025. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2025/2025144.pdf.

Chicago includes the city of publication and treats government reports similarly to institutional publications.

Federal Laws and Statutes

Citing a law means citing the statute as codified -- not the bill that was passed by Congress. The codified version is the authoritative text.

APA 7th Edition

APA follows a simplified legal citation format:

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990). https://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm

Key elements:

Name of the act (italicized in APA)
Title number, code abbreviation, section symbol, and section number
Year of the statute
URL if accessed online

For a more recent example:

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Pub. L. No. 117-169, 136 Stat. 1818 (2022).

MLA 9th Edition

MLA generally recommends citing laws by their common name and providing enough information to locate the text:

United States, Congress. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. U.S. Government Publishing Office, 1990. United States Code, title 42, sec. 12101 et seq.

Chicago (Notes-Bibliography)

Footnote:

3. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Public Law 101-336, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.

Bibliography: Chicago often recommends citing statutes in footnotes only, not in the bibliography. If your instructor requires a bibliography entry:

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Public Law 101-336. 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.

Legal citations in Chicago lean heavily on Bluebook conventions, especially for statutes and case law.

Court Cases

Court case citations are where academic styles diverge most from Bluebook. If you're in a non-law discipline, your style guide will have simplified rules.

APA 7th Edition

APA italicizes case names in both in-text citations and reference entries:

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/

Key elements:

Case name in italics
Volume number, reporter abbreviation, and first page
Year in parentheses
URL if accessed online

For a modern example:

Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023).

MLA 9th Edition

MLA italicizes case names as well:

Brown v. Board of Education. 347 U.S. 483. Supreme Court of the United States. 1954. Justia, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/.

MLA treats the court decision as a work within a container (the reporter or database).

Chicago (Notes-Bibliography)

Footnote:

4. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

Bibliography: Chicago, like with statutes, generally recommends citing cases in footnotes rather than the bibliography. If a bibliography entry is required:

Brown v. Board of Education. 347 U.S. 483. Supreme Court of the United States. 1954.

For lower courts, include the court name in the parenthetical:

Smith v. Jones, 123 F.3d 456 (7th Cir. 2020).

Executive Orders

Executive orders are issued by the president and published in the Federal Register.

APA 7th Edition

Exec. Order No. 14028, 86 Fed. Reg. 26633 (2021). https://www.federalregister.gov/example

Key elements:

"Exec. Order No." followed by the number
Volume and page number from the Federal Register
Year in parentheses

MLA 9th Edition

United States, President. "Executive Order 14028: Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity." Federal Register, vol. 86, no. 93, 2021, pp. 26633--26647.

MLA treats executive orders as authored by the president and published in the Federal Register.

Chicago (Notes-Bibliography)

Footnote:

5. Executive Order 14028, "Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity," Federal Register 86, no. 93 (May 17, 2021): 26633.

Bibliography:

Executive Order 14028. "Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity." Federal Register 86, no. 93 (May 17, 2021): 26633--26647.

International Government Documents

For documents from non-U.S. governments or international bodies, the same principles apply -- identify the authoring body, the document title, and the publication details:

APA:

European Commission. (2025). Artificial intelligence act: Implementation report (COM/2025/123). https://ec.europa.eu/example

MLA:

European Commission. Artificial Intelligence Act: Implementation Report. European Commission, 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/example.

Chicago bibliography:

European Commission. Artificial Intelligence Act: Implementation Report. COM/2025/123. Brussels: European Commission, 2025.

Use the issuing body as the author and include any official document or report numbers.

Common Mistakes

Abbreviating the agency name without introduction -- APA requires the full agency name on first use. You can abbreviate in subsequent citations (e.g., WHO), but the reference entry always uses the full name.
Citing a bill instead of the enacted law -- Bills (e.g., H.R. 3076) are proposed legislation. If the law passed, cite the statute (the codified version in U.S.C.), not the bill.
Omitting the code and section number for statutes -- The title, code abbreviation, and section number are essential. "The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)" isn't a complete citation.
Formatting case names incorrectly -- Case names should be italicized in APA and MLA. In Bluebook, case names are italicized in law review text but not in court documents. Know which convention your assignment requires.
Using Bluebook format in a non-law paper -- Unless your professor specifically requests Bluebook, use the legal citation format prescribed by your style guide (APA, MLA, or Chicago). Mixing systems confuses readers.
Missing URLs for online sources -- If you accessed a government report or court decision online, include the URL. APA and MLA both expect it.

For more citation formatting pitfalls, see our guide to common citation mistakes.

Finding Government and Legal Sources

When you need to locate primary government documents:

Congress.gov -- Bills, laws, congressional records
Federal Register (federalregister.gov) -- Executive orders, agency rules
U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov) -- Reports, hearings, statutes
Justia or Google Scholar (Case Law) -- Court decisions
World Legal Information Institute (worldlii.org) -- International legal sources

Many of these sources provide citation information directly on the page, which can serve as a starting point for formatting in your required style.

For an overview of how APA, MLA, and Chicago compare across all source types, see APA vs MLA vs Chicago.

Try It with CiteTools

Government and legal documents have unique citation structures that don't fit neatly into standard source types. If you have a DOI, URL, or title for a government report, paste it into CiteTools.io and we'll format the citation in your required style. For statutes and case law, CiteTools can help with the standard bibliographic elements -- though you should always double-check legal citations against your style guide's specific requirements.