The source.
The rule.
The supported sentence.
Handbook / Workbook / Reference
A legal citation handbook you can actually practice with.
23 teaching chapters, 207 exercises with explained answers, quick-reference tables and a 50-state official-source directory. Searchable, pinnable, mobile-ready, and free to read online.
- 23
- Chapters
- 207
- Exercises, each with an explained answer
- 781
- Reference-table entries
A citation becomes easier to build when each component has a job.
Follow a source from the first full citation through pinpoints, quotations, signals, short forms, and a final document audit. Learn to distinguish what a source says from what a writer wants it to establish.
A volume selects a publication sequence. A first page identifies a report. A pinpoint locates the passage that supports the sentence. A signal explains how the passage relates to the claim. Once those jobs are clear, unfamiliar citations become problems you can reason through.
The Citation Code starts with one case and one sentence, then adds placement, signals, quotations, short forms, and source-specific conventions. Editing chapters bring those decisions together in a document. A capstone supplies an entire fictional source packet so you can check the work yourself.
- Every chapter opens with a real problem and ends with nine exercises and explained answers
- Annotated model citations break each component into what it means and what to check
- Worked editing sessions show the decisions, not just the finished citation
- Reference tables, a 50-state official-source directory, glossary and subject index
- Advanced chapters on academic editing, foreign, international, Tribal and archival sources
A formatted citation identifies a source. The source's text must also support the proposition, and its legal force must fit the argument. The book keeps those checks separate, and so does this site.
Table of contents
Six parts, 23 chapters, 207 exercises. Every chapter is readable online now.
Each chapter follows the same shape: an opening problem, learning objectives, an annotated model, worked decisions, common mistakes, a compact reference, practice, a takeaway, and a source note that says exactly what was checked.
Part IUnderstanding Citations
Part IICases and Court Materials
Inside the reader
Everything a good online citation manual does, plus the workbook.
Browse the table of contents on the left or search as you type. Switch between chapters, answers and reference in one click.
Check your work, in place
Every exercise card has a Check your work button that reveals the explained answer right under the question. No flipping to the back of the book.
Search as you type
One search box covers every chapter section, exercise, answer, abbreviation row, glossary term, index entry and state record, with facets and highlighted terms.
Pin and manage
Pin a chapter, an exercise, a table or a state for repeated reference. Your pins live on your dashboard and can be exported or shared as a link.
Reference you can filter
Twelve abbreviation tables adapted from The Indigo Book, a 50-state official-source directory with seven bounded profiles, and an Indigo coverage crosswalk.
Built for the phone in your hand
Single-column reading, thumb-friendly navigation, light and dark themes, and keyboard shortcuts on the desktop.
Honest about what was checked
Fiction labels are visible badges. Chapter source notes record the real authorities inspected and the limits of each check.
The whole book is free to read online.
Every chapter, every exercise, every answer, every table. Start with Chapter 1 or open the dashboard and pick up where you left off.
Prefer paper? A 7 × 10-inch print edition is in production.
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