Political Science

Using either APA or Chicago Style (Author/Date), it is crucial to be citing your sources! It’s not enough to mention that Congress passed an act, you need to be able to provide enough information so your reader can track down the specific report, law or policy.

Government Report

• Citing a government report is similar to citing a book. Often the author will be the government agency. If there is a specific report number available reference, include it in parentheses after the title. 
• Example: National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). U.S. Government Printing Office.

Federal Statute

• APA citation style for statutes is constructed with the following elements:

  • Name of Statute
  • Title Number
  • Source (e.g. United States Code or U.S.C. for short)
  • Section Number(s)
  • Year
  • URL
• Example: 

State Statute

• Example of a state law citation from the Purdue OWL website: Mental Care and Treatment Act, 4 Kan. Stat. Ann.§§ 59-2901-2941 (1983 & Supp. 1992).

• Explanation: This Kansas act can be found in codified version between sections 2901 and 2941 in Chapter 59 of volume 4 of the 1983 edition of Kansas Statutes Annotated. Two amendments to the act and additional references are provided in the 1992 supplement for the Kansas Statutes Annotated.

Federal or State Bills

• For unenacted bills, gather the following information:

  • Name of Bill
  • Senate or House bill number. Use S. for Senate, H. for House
  • Congressional session number
  • Year
  • URL of page you found the bill
• Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act of 2009, S. 684, 111th Cong. (2009). https://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.684

Examples borrowed from the Portland State University Policy Resources Guide.