Go to Library Homepage LAW: SELECTED SOURCES AND
RESEARCH GUIDES

Compiled by Sheila S. Lai

HOW TO READ A LEGAL CITATION AND STANDARD ABBREVIATIONS

Legal citations generally follow a standard format:
Code
example: 18 USCA 2251
explanation: vol.18 of the United States Code Annotated, in section 2251
Statute
example: 72 Stat.311
explanation: vol.72 of the United States Statutes at Large, on page 311
Court Case
example: 216 F.2d 197
explanation: vol.216 of the Federal Reporter, 2nd Series, on page 197
Am.Jur.
C.
C.A.
Cal.Jur.
Cal.Rptr.
C.J.S.
F.
F.Supp.
L. Ed.
American Jurisprudence
California Reports
California Appellate Reports
California Jurisprudence
California Reporter
Corpus Juris Secundum
Federal Reporter
Federal Supplement
U.S. Supreme Court Reports,
Lawyers' Edition
P.
U.S.
S.Ct.
Stat.
Stats.

U.S.
USC
USCA

Pacific Reporter
United States Reports
Supreme Court Reporter
United Statutes at Large
California Statutes and
Amendments to the Codes
United States Reports
United States Code
United States Code Annotated
UNITED STATES LAWS AND REGULATIONS

* United States Code Annotated.    ref KF 62 .A3
United States Code Congressional and Administrative News.    ref KF 48 .U5
* United States Code. GovtDoc GP3.22/2 :197/. Cited as "USC"
United States Statutes at Large.    ref KF 50 .U52
* United States Constitution. (In United States Code Annotated) .   ref KF 62 .A3
* Code of Federal Regulations.    ref KF 70 .A3. Cited as "CFR"
Federal Register.    Gov Docs Fiche AE 2.106 Cited as "FR"
   * Also available in Lexis-Nexis: Academic Universe

   
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT CASES AND DIGEST
    Supreme Court Cases available in Lexis-Nexis: Academic Universe

Supreme Court Reporter.    ref KF 101 .A322
United States Reports.    ref KF 101 .U58
United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer’s Edition. 1790-1881.   ref KF 101 .U584
United States Supreme Court Digest.    ref KF 8741 .A53 U5
United States Supreme Court Decisions: an Index.    ref KF 101.6 .G83 1983
Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Covers 1963-current.    ref KF 101.1 .L38
Law Reprints. Criminal Law Series: the Supreme Court of the United States
   Petitions and Brief.
   LOWER LEVEL    KF 101.9 .L3 1969-1986
Index to Briefs of the US Supreme Court.    ref KF 101.9 .L33 1970-1987

   
UNITED STATES COURT CASES AND DIGESTS
    Federal Cases available in Lexis-Nexis: Academic Universe

Federal Reporter. LOWER LEVEL    KF 105 .F42. Cited as "F." or "F.2d." or "F.3rd"
Federal Supplement. LOWER LEVEL    KF 105.2 .F43. Cited as "F.Supp."
Federal Digest.    ref KF 127 .F4. Covers 1754-1938
Modern Federal Practice Digest.    ref KF 127 .M63. Covers 1939-1961
West’s Federal Practice Digest. 2nd.    ref KF 127 .W48. Covers 1961-1975
West’s Federal Practice Digest. 3rd.    ref KF 127 .W482. Covers 1975-1990
West’s Federal Practice Digest. 4th.    ref KF 127 .W482. Covers 1990-current.

   
CALIFORNIA LAWS AND REGULATIONS
   State Case Law from State high courts and appellate decisions available
    in Lexis-Nexis: Academic Universe

West’s Annotated California Codes.    ref KFC 30.5 .W4
West’s California Legislative Service.    ref KFC 25 .W53
Larmac Consolidated Index to the Constitution and Laws of California. ref KFC 40 .L3
Statutes of California: Passed at the ... Session of the Legislature, begun on....
    ref KFC 25. Cited as "Stats."
Summary Digest of Statutes Enacted and Resolutions Adopted.    ref KFC 38
The California State Constitution: a Reference Guide. ref JK 8705 .A2 1993
Barclays Official Code of Regulations. Available on the Government Documents workstation,
    2 South Computer Reference Area.
    Also available California Code of Regulations http://www.calregs.com/
Opinions of The Attorney General of California.    ref KFC 780 .A72

   
CALIFORNIA COURT CASES AND DIGESTS
   State Case Law from State high courts and appellate decisions available
    in Lexis-Nexis: Academic Universe.

West’s California Reporter.    ref KFC 47 .W4. Cited as "Cal.Rptr."
California Reports. 3rd-4th Series.   LOWER LEVEL    KFC 45 .A22 1969-1995
    Covers 1969-1995
California Appellate Reports. 3rd-4th Series.LOWER LEVEL    KFC 48 .A212
    Covers 1969-1995.
Pacific Reporter. (Spine title reads California Reporter).
    LOWER LEVEL    KFC 47 .P36.1883-1959.
    Contains California Appellate Reports and California Reports.
West’s California Digest.    ref KFC 57 .W53. Covers 1850-1950
West’s California Digest 2nd.    ref KFC 57 .W53. Covers 1981-present
California Blue and White Book.    ref KFC 47.4 .C35

   
DICTIONARIES

Black’s Law Dictionary.    ref KF 156 .B53 1999
Burton's Legal Thesaurus.    ref KF 156 .B856 1998
Bieber’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations.    ref KF 246 .B46 1993
Words and Phrases: All Judicial Constructions and Definitions of Words and Phrases
    by the States and Federal Courts... .
LOWER LEVEL    KF 156 W6712 1964.
    Covers 1964-1994.

   
ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND SUMMARIES

West's Encyclopedia of American Law.    ref KF 154 .W47 1998
Corpus Juris Secundum.    LOWER LEVEL    KF 154 .C6. Library has through 1996
American Jurisprudence.    LOWER LEVEL    KF 154 .A51. Library has through 1991
Cal Jur.   ref KFC 80 .C285
Summary of California Law.    ref KFC 80 .W8. Library has through 1997
California Evidence.   ref KFC 1030 .W5 1986. Library has through 1995
California Procedure. ref KFC 995 .W52 1985. Library has through 1995
California Criminal Law.    ref KFC 1100 .K3 1994. Library has through 1995

   
CITATORS

Shepard’s Acts and Cases by Popular Names, Federal and State.    ref KF 80 .S5 1999
Shepard’s United States Citations.    ref KF 101.2 .S54. Library has through 1990
Shepard’s Federal Citations.    ref KF 105.2 S42. Library has through 1991
Shepard’s United States Administrative Citations.    ref KF 153 .2 S5. Covers 1989-1992
Shepard’s California Case Name Citator.    ref KFC 59 .S433
Shepard’s California Citations.    ref KFC 59 .S44. Library has through 1993
Shepard's citations of U.S. Supreme Court cases available in Lexis-Nexis: Academic Universe

   
LEGAL FORM BOOKS

Legal forms for starting & running a small business.   ref KF 1659 .A65 S74 2001
101 Law Forms for Personal Use.   ref KF 170 .L46 1998
American Jurisprudence Legal Forms.   ref KF 170 .A542. Library has through 1995
More Everyday Legal Forms.    ref KF 170 .J31 1996

   
PERIODICAL INDEXES

Printed Indexes
Current Law Index. ref K 33 .C87 1980-1999
   Lower Level 1980-1990; 2nd Floor North Index Area 1991-1999
Index to Legal Periodicals. ref K 33 .I4 1928-1994
   Lower Level 1928-1986; 2nd Floor North Index Area 1987-1994
   Continued in 1994 by Index to Legal Periodicals & Books.   ref K 33 .I4 1994-1999
   2nd Floor North
Electronic Indexes and Databases
Lexis-Nexis: Academic Universe   Contains full-text articles.
CJPI: Criminal Justic Periodical Index  Contains full-text articles.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service  Free to the public. (http://abstractsdb.ncjrs.org/)
Criminal Justice Abstracts 
   
DIRECTORIES

Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.    ref KF 190 .M37
    Also available in Lexis-Nexis: Academic Universe
   Lists attorneys and digests of state and foreign laws.

   
LEGAL RESEARCH HANDBOOK

Legal information : how to find it, how to use it.   ref KF 240 .O365 1999
Legal research : how to find & understand the law.   ref KF 240 .E35 1999
Legal research in California.   ref KFC 74 .H36 1999.
   Accompanying CD-ROM housed in Library Media Center
Legal Research and Writing.   ref KF 240 .S6 1996
The Bluebook, a Uniform System of Citation.   ref KF 245 .U55 1996

   
INTERNET RESOURCES

FindLaw http://www.findlaw.com/
Cornell Law School: Legal Information Institute http://www.law.cornell.edu/
CataLaw: Metaindex of Law http://www.CataLaw.com/
GSU College of Law: Meta Index for Legal Research http://gsulaw.gsu.edu/metaindex/
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law http://www.law.upenn.edu/conlaw//
Surpreme Court of the United States http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Department of Justice http://www.usdoj.gov/
National Association of Attorneys General http://www.naag.org/
California Code of Regulations http://www.calregs.com/
Official California Legislative Information http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/
Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov/
NOLO: Law for All http://www.nolo.com/index.cfm
American Bar Association http://www.abanet.org/
Supreme Court of California http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/

 
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Questions/comments to: bamata@csus.edu  Ben Amata, Social Science Reference Librarian
California State University, Sacramento
Last updated 8/2001