Legal citations indicate where something is published and typically will include the following elements:
1. Volume or Title number
2. Publication (usually abbreviated). This may be followed by a series designation.
3. First page or section number Note: the symbol § means section.
Citations for Case Reporters will normally be in the following form:
359 S.W.2d 851 refers to Volume 359 of the Southwest Reporter, Second Series page 851.
533 U.S. 483 refers to Volume 533 of the Supreme Court Reporter, page 483
Citations for Statutes may take one of two general formats:
Federal
44 U.S.C. § 1901 refers to Title 44 of the United States Code, Section 1901. 42 U.S.C.A. § 816 refers to Title 42 of the United States Code Annotated, Section 816. State V.A.M.S. § 558.040 refers to Section 558.040 of Vernon's Annotated Missouri Statutes R.S.Mo. § 261.010 refers to Section 261.010 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri.
Common legal abbreviations are listed on this page. For proper citation in scholarly works please consult ALWD or The Bluebook Uniform System of Citation.
| Abbreviation | Title |
| A, A2d | Atlantic Reporter |
| Cal. Rptr., Cal. Rptr.2d, Cal. Rptr.3d | California Reporter |
| F.Supp., F.Supp. 2d |
Federal Supplement |
| F.2d, F.3d | Federal Reporter |
| L.Ed | Lawyer's Edition |
| Mo. | Missouri Supreme Court |
| Mo. App. | Missouri Appellate Courts |
| N.E., N.E.2d | North Eastern Reporter |
| N.W., N.W.2d | North Western Reporter |
| N.Y.S., N.Y.S.2d | New York Supplement |
| P., P.2d, P.3d | Pacific Reporter |
| S.Ct. | U.S. Supreme Court |
| S.E., S.E.2d | South Eastern Reporter |
| S.W., S.W.2d, S.W.3d | South Western Reporter |
| So., So.2d, So.3d (or S.) | Southern Reporter |
| U.S. | U.S. Supreme Court |
