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Reference

Find the Source in Front of You

Start with the item you have, not the citation shape you remember. Choose the question below that describes your research task. Each entry names the information that distinguishes the source, the locator that reaches the relied-on part, and a real section of this book.

This finder contains 88 source forms and source-selection contexts. Worked instruction means a model, supplied packet, or worked decision demonstrates the stated task; some models are expressly fictional. Orientation means the chapter explains the source and fields without a complete construction model. Research needed means the treatment supplies only a starting distinction. These labels describe the book’s coverage, not the source’s legal weight.

The same item can require more than one route. A motion attached to an appellate appendix remains a motion; the appendix changes its address. A treaty delivered through a webpage remains a treaty. Use the entry for the underlying item, then apply the relevant access, version, or record instructions.

For work shared across source types, use Chapter 2 for placement, Chapter 3 for signals and parentheticals, Chapter 4 for quotations and pinpoints, Chapter 6 for short forms, Chapter 16 for typography, and Chapter 17 for the final audit. Chapter 18 combines the decisions in one supplied source packet.

A court produced the item: which document is it?

Reported U.S. judicial opinion

Collect: Case name; reporter volume, abbreviation and series; first page; court and year. Locate: Supporting reporter page.

Worked instruction. The worked form separates the opinion’s first page from the passage pinpoint. Chapter 5 — Annotated model.

State opinion with a neutral citation

Collect: Court-assigned year, court code and decision identifier; complete case name. Locate: Numbered paragraph where supplied.

Worked instruction. Illinois supplies a bounded example; another jurisdiction needs its own applicable instruction. Chapter 7 — Annotated Illinois model.

State opinion cited through a reporter

Collect: Case name; state or regional reporter; deciding court; year. Locate: Actual reporter page; verified parallel locator if required.

Orientation. Source choice and local variation are explained; state-by-state filing compliance is not established. Chapter 7 — One country, several systems.

Unreported decision in an electronic database

Collect: Case name; docket; database identifier; court; full decision date. Locate: Database star page or actual numbered paragraph.

Worked instruction. A supplied training record demonstrates the fields without inventing real database metadata. Chapter 7 — Database decisions.

Slip opinion

Collect: Case name; docket; court; decision date; slip-opinion status. Locate: Printed slip page or numbered paragraph.

Orientation. The fields and later-publication problem are explained; obtain the actual opinion and its status. Chapter 7 — Slip opinions.

Concurrence, dissent, or other separately authored opinion

Collect: Case identity plus the particular judge and opinion designation. Locate: Passage in the identified separate opinion.

Worked instruction. Attribution distinguishes a separate opinion from the court’s disposition; the capstone supplies a complete dissent packet. Chapter 8 — Characterize the source's voice.

Later disposition, denial order, or decision affecting history

Collect: Later case identity; disposition; date; relationship to earlier proceeding. Locate: Passage establishing what was affirmed, denied, reversed or vacated.

Worked instruction. The real comparisons test the scope of denial and limited vacatur, without claiming a completed citator survey. Chapter 8 — Source laboratory: denial, explanation, and limited vacatur.

Syllabus, headnote, or editorial case summary

Collect: Summary creator; source; relation to the actual opinion. Locate: Summary passage, then the underlying opinion passage.

Worked instruction. The lesson tests a summary against the opinion; it does not treat publisher additions as judicial holdings. Chapter 1 — Source laboratory: when the summary changes the rule.

The item belongs to a case file: who said or filed it?

Complaint or amended pleading

Collect: Document title and version; party; docket entry; proceeding. Locate: Numbered allegation paragraph.

Worked instruction. The amended-complaint exercise requires changing both the source and the attributed allegation. Chapter 9 — Use the document title to distinguish the source.

Motion or litigation brief

Collect: Filing title; advocate; proceeding; filing identifier and date. Locate: Page or named argument section.

Orientation. The chapter distinguishes advocacy from judicial action; it does not supply every filing-title abbreviation. Chapter 9 — Same litigation and another litigation.

Declaration or affidavit

Collect: Declarant; document type; signature or filing date; docket identifier. Locate: Numbered paragraph.

Worked instruction. The model attributes the statement to its declarant and preserves its filed location. Chapter 9 — Annotated training model.

Exhibit or docket attachment

Collect: Exhibit label; parent filing; attachment identifier; chosen pagination. Locate: Required original, ECF, Bates or record coordinate.

Worked instruction. The supplied instruction selects ECF pagination and the worked repair identifies the parent exhibit. Chapter 9 — Worked revision.

Hearing or trial transcript

Collect: Hearing identity and date; witness or speaker when material; volume. Locate: Printed page and line range.

Worked instruction. The supplied exchange shows why a range must stop before the next speaker’s words. Chapter 9 — Transcripts: preserve page and line.

Deposition transcript

Collect: Deponent; deposition date; volume; filed copy when applicable. Locate: Transcript page and lines.

Orientation. The chapter explains distinguishing multiple depositions; a complete deposition citation requires the actual packet and receiving rule. Chapter 9 — Use the document title to distinguish the source.

Appellate record or appendix

Collect: Record or appendix designation; volume if needed; applicable procedural route. Locate: Appendix or authorized record page.

Worked instruction. Rule 28(e) and a supplied mapping show why appellate pagination can differ from district-court pagination. Chapter 9 — Source laboratory: the record changes address on appeal.

Oral-argument recording

Collect: Court or proceeding; argument date; recording identity; access route. Locate: Elapsed time in the inspected recording.

Orientation. Time locators and speaker roles are introduced; recording metadata and local practice require source-specific checking. Chapter 9 — Appellate records, audio, and external litigation.

Filing from another case

Collect: Document title; external case name; docket; court; filing date and entry. Locate: Document’s own page or paragraph.

Worked instruction. A complete fictional complaint citation preserves the external proceeding and the allegation’s locator. Chapter 9 — Appellate records, audio, and external litigation.

The item states or proposes legislation: which stage and version?

United States constitutional provision

Collect: U.S. Constitution; article or amendment; actual subdivisions. Locate: Article, section and clause as supplied.

Worked instruction. Article III, section 1 supplies the real locator model. Chapter 10 — Annotated constitutional model.

State constitutional provision

Collect: State; constitutional text and relevant version; subdivision structure. Locate: Actual article, section or other division.

Orientation. The chapter explains source-specific subdivisions and historical status; it does not work every state constitution. Chapter 10 — Annotated constitutional model.

Federal codified statute

Collect: Title number; code; section; relevant version. Locate: Section and nested subdivisions.

Worked instruction. The inspected § 107 example distinguishes a statutory factor from a conclusion about a particular use. Chapter 10 — Statutes: title, code, and section.

State codified statute

Collect: Jurisdiction; code title; title or chapter where required; version. Locate: Actual section and subdivision hierarchy.

Worked instruction. A supplied Harbor provision teaches construction and claim matching; local real-code naming remains jurisdiction specific. Chapter 10 — Worked repair.

Annotated code text or publisher annotation

Collect: Exact code publication; publisher or service where required; edition or supplement; type of material. Locate: Statutory subdivision or the annotation’s own locator.

Orientation. The statutory text and publisher additions are distinguished; identify which one supports the sentence. Chapter 10 — Official and annotated codes.

Enacted public law or session law

Collect: Enactment number; session-law publication, volume and first page; year. Locate: Enactment section plus relevant publication page.

Worked instruction. The historical federal enactment separates approval, effectiveness and later codification. Chapter 13 — A verified enactment: read the session law itself.

Legislative bill

Collect: Chamber and measure type; number; Congress or session; text version and date. Locate: Section in that version.

Worked instruction. The bill packet supplies a complete form; later revisions may renumber the relevant provision. Chapter 13 — Annotated training model.

Legislative resolution

Collect: Actual measure type; chamber; number; Congress or session; status. Locate: Provision in the inspected resolution.

Orientation. Official measure prefixes are distinguished; passage does not by itself establish a statute’s enactment. Chapter 13 — Bills and enactments.

Committee or conference report

Collect: Chamber; report number including Congress; year; conference status if relevant. Locate: Printed report page.

Worked instruction. The training report model attributes the explanation to the committee rather than to enacted law. Chapter 13 — Reports and hearings.

Legislative hearing or witness statement

Collect: Title; committee or subcommittee; legislative body; year; speaker; actual publication form. Locate: Printed hearing page or separately issued statement locator.

Worked instruction. The worked comparison distinguishes prepared testimony, questioning and committee action; a separate statement is not a paginated hearing volume. Chapter 13 — Advanced workshop: compare legislative versions and speakers.

Municipal code or local enactment

Collect: City and jurisdiction; actual code or enactment name; section; version and currency information. Locate: Provision in the chosen code or enacted instrument.

Worked instruction. New York City’s code short-title provision is worked in a stated reporting style; a separately enacted ordinance requires its own identifiers and version research. Unfamiliar sources appendix — Municipal codes: identify the government and the actual enactment.

The item gives a rule or model: who adopted it?

Procedural or evidentiary court rule

Collect: Actual rule-set name; current or historical status. Locate: Rule number and subdivision.

Worked instruction. Federal Rule 32.1(b) supplies a real source model without a statutory section symbol. Chapter 11 — Court rules.

Local rule, standing order, or citation instruction

Collect: Issuing court; rule or order identifier; scope; effective version. Locate: Relevant numbered provision or instruction heading.

Orientation. The audit identifies the instruction to obtain; Chapters 7, 9 and 22 work bounded examples for particular systems. Chapter 17 — Receiving-document instructions.

Advisory or explanatory note to a rule

Collect: Rule set; associated rule; committee or author; amendment or note date. Locate: Note passage tied to the correct amendment.

Worked instruction. The supplied packet separates the operative command from an explanation of its adoption. Chapter 11 — Advanced workshop: rule text, explanatory notes, and model instruments.

Proposed rule amendment

Collect: Proposing body; rule affected; proposal document; date; unadopted status. Locate: Proposed provision.

Worked instruction. A complete fictional comparison prevents proposed text from becoming the operative rule. Chapter 11 — Advanced workshop: rule text, explanatory notes, and model instruments.

Restatement section, comment, or illustration

Collect: Full title and ordinal edition; institution; year; draft status if applicable. Locate: Section, comment letter and illustration number.

Worked instruction. Models distinguish a Restatement’s statement from a court’s adoption and keep comment locators intact. Chapter 11 — Restatements.

Uniform act or model rule

Collect: Instrument title; drafting institution; edition or year; adoption status. Locate: Model section and the separately verified adopted provision.

Worked instruction. Supplied model-versus-enactment comparisons teach provision-level differences, not automatic statewide adoption. Chapter 11 — Model rules and uniform acts.

An agency produced or collected it: what action does it record?

Codified federal regulation

Collect: C.F.R. title; section; inspected edition or electronic version. Locate: Nested regulatory subdivision.

Worked instruction. The historical 2024 text supplies a complete citation and demonstrates a material exception. Chapter 12 — A verified federal-regulation model.

State administrative-code provision

Collect: Jurisdiction; compilation title; title or chapter; version. Locate: Section and subdivision.

Worked instruction. A complete fictional compilation model teaches construction; a real state’s code structure must be obtained. Chapter 12 — Annotated training model.

Proposed rule in the Federal Register

Collect: Document title; volume and first page; proposed status; publication date; intended codification. Locate: Relevant Register page.

Worked instruction. The real proposal/final comparison gives each document its own publication identity and dates. Chapter 12 — Source laboratory: same title, different regulatory events.

Final rule publication in the Federal Register

Collect: Document title; volume and first page; publication date; codification destination. Locate: Register page containing the relied-on text or dates.

Worked instruction. The model distinguishes publication, effectiveness and compliance dates in the inspected historical item. Chapter 12 — A verified federal-regulation model.

Rulemaking preamble or agency explanation

Collect: Rulemaking document; agency; publication identity; explanatory component. Locate: Page of the actual explanation.

Worked instruction. Worked decisions separate explanatory prose from adopted regulatory text; do not invent a locator from the code section. Chapter 12 — Worked editing session: follow a rulemaking through its forms.

Public comment submitted to an agency

Collect: Actual commenter; proceeding or proposal; submission date; comment identifier. Locate: Comment page or paragraph.

Orientation. The chapter distinguishes a commenter’s prediction from an agency’s own estimate. It explains attribution without supplying a complete public-comment citation model. Chapter 12 — Advanced workshop: a complete administrative source record.

Administrative adjudication, order, or release

Collect: Proceeding name; deciding level; decision, release or docket number; date; publication. Locate: Agency reporter page, numbered paragraph or document page.

Orientation. Metadata and decision status are taught; no complete real unreported agency-decision model is supplied. Chapter 12 — Agency adjudications and orders.

Agency guidance, FAQ, or policy webpage

Collect: Issuing office; item title; date or version; stated role; direct URL. Locate: Actual heading or stable paragraph.

Orientation. Attribution and source selection are explained; the electronic-source chapter supplies the webpage construction route. Chapter 12 — Guidance and online materials.

Arbitration award

Collect: Party structure; arbitrator; award date; administering institution and publication if supplied. Locate: Award page or paragraph.

Research needed. Only party structure and arbitrator-role orientation appear here. Obtain the award and applicable source-specific convention before constructing a full citation. Chapter 12 — Advanced workshop: a complete administrative source record.

Treasury regulation

Collect: Regulation type, including temporary status; actual section; version. Locate: Treasury-regulation subdivision.

Orientation. The source family and locator needs are introduced; there is no complete worked Treasury-regulation citation. Chapter 13 — Tax-source orientation.

Revenue ruling

Collect: Ruling number; issuance information; actual official bulletin publication. Locate: Bulletin page or instrument subdivision.

Research needed. The category is distinguished, but a complete model and instrument-specific reliance research are still needed. Chapter 13 — Tax-source orientation.

Revenue procedure

Collect: Procedure number; actual official bulletin publication; date. Locate: Bulletin page or procedure section.

Research needed. The chapter identifies the source family; it does not supply a complete revenue-procedure construction example. Chapter 13 — Tax-source orientation.

Private letter ruling or other written determination

Collect: Document type; ruling identifier; date; relevant reliance limitation. Locate: Passage in the actual determination.

Orientation. The historical statutory limit is worked; citation construction and permissible use of a particular determination remain separate research tasks. Chapter 13 — A verified tax-source limitation.

Treasury decision

Collect: Decision identifier; actual publication; date; relationship to regulatory text. Locate: Publication page or decision provision.

Research needed. The chapter identifies historical publication issues, without supplying a complete Treasury-decision model. Chapter 13 — A verified tax-source limitation.

Executive order

Collect: Issuing jurisdiction; instrument number; order date; inspected publication and publication date. Locate: Actual section and publication page where needed.

Worked instruction. Executive Order 14028 supplies a historical Federal Register model; the example does not establish later treatment or current obligations. Unfamiliar sources appendix — Executive orders: separate the instrument from its publication.

Collect: Incorporating provision and version; standard issuer, designation, title and exact edition. Locate: Regulatory provision plus the standard’s clause, table or figure when actually obtained.

Worked instruction. Worked instruction covers the regulatory incorporation example. Citation to the private standard itself remains orientation: its text was not obtained. Unfamiliar sources appendix — Incorporated standards: cite both the rule and the material it adopts.

A writer or publisher produced it: which work and edition?

Authored book or institutional manual

Collect: Author; title; edition; contributor roles; publication year. Locate: Printed page.

Worked instruction. Real government publications separate edition information from retrieval year and PDF sheet count. Chapter 14 — Annotated real source model.

Multivolume or section-organized treatise

Collect: Set volume; author; title; edition or release. Locate: Section, paragraph or prefixed page as printed.

Orientation. Locator structure is explained; the reader must obtain the actual volume and release metadata. Chapter 14 — Pinpoints in multi-volume and sectional works.

Chapter in an edited collection

Collect: Chapter author and title; collection title; editors; edition; year. Locate: Chapter first page and passage page.

Worked instruction. A complete supplied model preserves the chapter author’s role separately from the editors. Chapter 14 — Advanced workshop: chapters, translations, and changing publications.

Translated book

Collect: Original author; translated title; translator; inspected edition and publication. Locate: Page in the translation actually read.

Orientation. The chapter explains contributor roles and version selection; a complete real translation model is not supplied. Chapter 14 — Advanced workshop: chapters, translations, and changing publications.

Treatise supplement or replacement-page release

Collect: Underlying work; supplement or release identity; date; updated portion. Locate: Actual supplement page or replacement section.

Orientation. A supplied contrast teaches version choice; publication-specific full citation details still come from the work. Chapter 14 — Advanced workshop: chapters, translations, and changing publications.

Continuously paginated journal article

Collect: Author; article title; journal volume and name; first page; year. Locate: Passage page.

Worked instruction. The article model separates its first page from its pinpoint; Chapter 19 adds academic typography. Chapter 14 — Journals and other periodicals.

Issue-paginated magazine or newspaper item

Collect: Author; title; publication; actual issue or date; edition if relevant. Locate: Article first page and passage page or electronic locator.

Worked instruction. A supplied magazine model uses the issue date because pagination restarts; newspaper-specific details still require the item. Chapter 14 — Advanced workshop: chapters, translations, and changing publications.

Working paper, preprint, or accepted manuscript

Collect: Author; title; repository or series; version; publication status. Locate: Page in the inspected manuscript.

Orientation. The version-substitution exercise forbids inventing final pagination from an abstract. Chapter 19 — Journal articles, versions, and publication status.

Correction, retraction, or update notice

Collect: Notice identity; affected work and version; issuer; date; identifier. Locate: Correction passage and affected table or text.

Worked instruction. The correction packet distinguishes original report, revised result and the notice explaining the change. Chapter 19 — Follow a correction into the argument.

A Tribal Nation produced it: which sovereign and local instruction?

Tribal constitution

Collect: Nation; constitutional text; drafting, adoption or ratification information where relevant. Locate: Actual article and section.

Worked instruction. The Cherokee example identifies its judicial provision and distinguishes drafting from ratification. Chapter 22 — Constitutions, codes, ordinances, and resolutions.

Tribal court opinion

Collect: Nation and deciding court; case name; local identifier; date; applicable local form. Locate: Reported page, slip page or numbered paragraph.

Worked instruction. The supplied Cedar Bay model preserves sovereign identity; the separate Navajo order demonstrates local-source selection. Chapter 22 — Worked editing session: preserve sovereign identity.

Tribal code provision

Collect: Nation; actual code name and hierarchy; applicable version. Locate: Title, chapter, section and nested subdivisions as supplied.

Orientation. The fields and source distinction are explained; the book does not verify a code directory for every Nation. Chapter 22 — Constitutions, codes, ordinances, and resolutions.

Tribal ordinance or council resolution

Collect: Issuing body; instrument number; title; adoption date. Locate: Relevant section or provision.

Worked instruction. The supplied Resolution 7 exercise gives a complete descriptive model; ordinance-specific publication may differ. Chapter 22 — Constitutions, codes, ordinances, and resolutions.

Tribal court rule or local record instruction

Collect: Nation and rule set; rule’s own abbreviation; version; applicable proceeding. Locate: Rule and subdivision.

Worked instruction. Posted Navajo rules supply named examples; another Nation requires its own source investigation. Chapter 22 — Annotated model: a rule's own citation instruction.

Account of custom, oral tradition, or community practice

Collect: Specific source creator; community and context; language and translation provenance. Locate: Actual opinion passage, interview location or record item.

Orientation. The chapter teaches limited attribution and access context; it does not supply a universal customary-law citation formula. Chapter 22 — Customary law and culturally grounded material.

The usual citation fields are missing: what retrieves this exact item?

Standalone webpage, blog item, or institutional policy page

Collect: Creator if supplied; item title; site; publication or update information; direct URL. Locate: Stable heading or other actual locator.

Worked instruction. The web packet and Chapter 19 policy-page model show how to handle available fields without inventing pages. Chapter 15 — A web source card.

Archived capture of changing online material

Collect: Original item identity; original URL; specific capture URL and date. Locate: Passage preserved in that capture.

Orientation. Capture and content dates are distinguished; a saved homepage does not preserve every linked attachment. Chapter 15 — Stable links and archived copies.

Archival letter or correspondence

Collect: Author and recipient; date; collection hierarchy; repository; item identifier. Locate: Letter page or folio.

Worked instruction. The complete letter packet supplies both a retrievable citation and the limit of its no-reply statement. Chapter 23 — Worked editing session: rebuild the missing path.

Unpublished manuscript in a repository

Collect: Author; title; manuscript status; version/date; repository and item identifier. Locate: Manuscript page or section.

Worked instruction. The supplied manuscript exercise builds a full descriptive reference without inventing a publisher or acceptance agreement. Chapter 23 — Unpublished manuscripts and working documents.

Archival photograph or physical object

Collect: Known creator; actual title or description; date; collection; catalog and local identifiers; custodian. Locate: Specific item, view or image.

Worked instruction. The photograph packet separates the object, catalog description and unsupported claim about an event. Chapter 23 — Reconstruct the reader’s retrieval path.

Interview or personal communication

Collect: Participants; date; form of record; actual custody and access. Locate: Transcript page or recording time where available.

Orientation. The chapter explains fields and provenance; no private real interview or universal confidentiality rule is supplied. Chapter 23 — Correspondence, interviews, and personal communications.

Audio or video publication

Collect: Creator or speaker; title; platform or publisher; date; exact recording version; URL. Locate: Timestamp or time range in that version.

Worked instruction. The complete video packet and clip-versus-full-recording exercise prevent locator transfer between versions. Chapter 23 — Audio, video, and transcripts.

Social post, reply, or message thread

Collect: Display name; handle; platform; item text or title; date/time; permanent item URL. Locate: Specific post or message in its thread.

Orientation. The chapter teaches provenance and context; a complete platform-specific worked citation is not supplied. Chapter 23 — Social posts, messages, and changing pages.

Dataset or data release

Collect: Creator; title; release/version; date; repository; persistent identifier if supplied. Locate: Table, variable, row selection or query supporting the result.

Worked instruction. The dataset exercise supplies a release and selection method; a homepage alone cannot identify the computed count. Chapter 23 — Data, software, and generated records.

Software release or code revision

Collect: Program; credited creator; version or revision; repository or publication identifier. Locate: Relevant revision and component.

Orientation. Version and reproducibility fields are explained; no complete legal-software citation convention is claimed. Chapter 23 — Data, software, and generated records.

Generated report or computational output

Collect: Output identity; input sources; settings; code/version; execution date. Locate: Output passage plus reproducible input or method location.

Orientation. The output and its underlying authorities remain distinct; the chapter does not certify a tool’s results. Chapter 23 — Data, software, and generated records.

Issued patent or published patent application

Collect: National publication system; grant or publication number; kind code; date describing the correct event. Locate: Claim, figure, or printed column and line as appropriate.

Worked instruction. The issued-patent model is worked. Earlier application publication is distinguished, but its substantive claim text was not independently inspected. Unfamiliar sources appendix — Patent documents: keep the grant, application, and claim distinct.

When your source has no worked route

Treat an absent entry as a research task. Establish who created the document, what it is, which version matters, and what receiving instruction governs it. Preserve the source’s own identifiers before adapting its display. This edition does not provide complete worked treatments of every agency, arbitration, tax, or international publication. Its incorporated-standard example works the regulatory side; a proposition drawn from the private standard requires obtaining that standard. The absence of a template does not justify inventing metadata or borrowing an unrelated source’s form.