Como citar Leis

Researching and writing may be stressful, but with the right resources, creating references can be
relatively easy. Relax, put down the oversized coffee cup (or chewed up pencil), and look at this
simple template for creating APA Style references for federal statutes:

Name of the Statute, Title number Source Section number(s) (Year).

Parts of the Reference

There are just five pieces of information that you need when creating an APA Style reference for a
basic federal statute: the name of the statute, the title number, the name of the source in which
you found the statute, the section number(s) of the statute, and the year of the source in which
you found the statute.

This blog post defines each of these elements and shows you how to put them together to create a
reference and an in-text citation. A subsequent blog post will provide more information on how to
find this information in official and authoritative sources.

1. Name of the Statute. If a statute has a common name, this is the first element of the APA
Style reference. The name of the statute is followed by a comma. If a statute doesnt have a name,
omit this element, and start with the title number.

Note that the terms statute and act refer to the same thing; you will see them used
interchangeably if you regularly work with legal materials.

The name of one statute is the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

2. Title Number. The title number is the second element that appears in APA Style references for
a named statute. If a statute does not have a name, the title number is the first element. Note that
in the Publication Manual, the title number is referred to as the volume number.

Title numbers identify the subject matter group to which a statute belongs. For instance, in the
collection of statutes known as the United States Code, education statutes are grouped in Title 20,
public health and welfare statutes are grouped in Title 42, and labor statutes

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is in Title 29 of the United States
Code.

3. Source. The official source for federal statutes is the United States Code. In the reference, use
an abbreviated version of this title: U.S.C.

Although statutes can be found in other places, use the official code unless it is not available (e.g.,
a recently passed statute usually cannot be found in the United States Code; therefore, it would be
appropriate to cite another source).

4. Section number(s). A statute is usually divided into several numbered sections and
subsections. In a reference for a statute, a section symbol () should be listed before the section
number. If your reference includes more than one section, provide the first and last section
numbers, preceded by a double section symbol (), and separate

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 runs from section 2601 to
section 2654, formatted as 26012654.

5. Year. Finish the reference with the edition year of the United States Code (not the year that the
statute was enacted). Set the year in parentheses, and end the reference with a period.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 can be found in the last
printing of the full United States Code, which has an edition year of 2006.

Reference Example
A reference list entry for a federal statute looks like this:

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 26012654 (2006).

In-Text Citation Example

The in-text citation format for a federal statute is similar to that for other APA Style references.
Cite the name of the statute and the year:

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (2006)

(Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 2006)

Bluebook
If your work includes statutes that differ from the basic format shown above, requiring you to go
beyond the scope of Appendix 7.1, be sure to consult The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.