Citing Federal Statutes in APA

Overview

This lecture explains how to cite federal statutes in APA format, including formatting reference list entries and in-text citations.

A statute is a law enacted by a legislative body.
Statutes exist at both federal (passed by Congress) and state levels.
Federal statutes are published in the United States Code (USC).
The USC is divided into titles by subject matter, further subdivided into chapters and sections.
Full texts of federal statutes can be found at https://uscode.house.gov/.

APA references for federal/state statutes must include: name of act, title/source, section symbol and number, year, and URL (optional).
Use the following template: Name of Act, Title Source § Section Number, (Year). URL
Example: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 USC § 12101 et seq. (1990). https://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm
"Et seq." means "and what follows," indicating multiple sections are covered.
Include the public law number only if the act is codified in scattered sections or before codification.
Example for scattered sections: Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241 (1964). URL

Two types: parenthetical and narrative.
Parenthetical citation: (Name of Act, Year)
Narrative citation: Name of Act (Year)
Use the year from the publication of the statute in the source cited, not necessarily the year in the act’s name.

Statute — A law passed by a legislative body.
USC (United States Code) — The official compilation of federal statutes organized by titles.
Public Law Number — An identifier for laws before or during codification, or when scattered across sections.
Et seq. — Latin for "and what follows," used to indicate multiple consecutive sections.