Cite a court case in APA 7
Court cases are the source type where APA 7 (2020) diverges most from ordinary author-date patterns. Legal citations privilege the case name, reporter volume, reporter abbreviation, first page, court, and year. Some styles keep legal punctuation almost intact, while others adapt cases into reference-list entries, so every locator must be copied exactly.
APA 7 rules for a court case
- Case name is italicized in APA and Harvard, but plain in MLA and Chicago author-date.
- Include the reporter volume number.
- Copy the reporter abbreviation exactly, such as U.S. or F. Supp.
- Include the first page of the reported decision.
- Add the court abbreviation when it is not clear from the reporter.
- End with the decision year and URL when citing an online copy.
- Italicize the case name and keep the official U.S. reporter citation.
- Use the court and year in parentheses after the reporter page.
Worked example
APA 7 · court caseA real court case formatted using the APA 7 rules above.
Court, U. S. S. (1954). Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483. *Legal Information Institute*. https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483
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