History 369: Race and the Law in American History

In academic writing it is important to cite resources you consult. The Citation Research Guide will overview the process for various types of resources and introduce you to software programs that can help with the process.

The default citation style in History is Chicago. Consult the Chicago Manual of Style for proper formatting and guidelines. You should also get familiar with Zotero as soon as possible. Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share research. The Zotero Research Guide has comprehensive instructions on installation and use. 

When citing a U.S. Supreme Court case, you must cite to the official reporter, the United States Reports.

A citation to a case in the United States Reports includes the following five elements: 

1. Name of the case (underlined or italicized)
2. Volume of the United States Reports
3. Reporter abbreviation (Should always be U.S.)
4. First page of the case
5. Year the case was decided (in parentheses)

For example:

1. Name of the case: New York Times Co. v. Tasini,
2. Volume of the Reporter: 533
3. Reporter abbreviation: U.S.
4. First page of case: 483
5. Year of decision: (2001)

You may need to include a "pinpoint" citation, which is a citation to the page(s) on which the specific material referenced appears. If you need to include a pinpoint citation to, for example, a quotation or the holding of a case, add the page number after the first page.

New York Times Co. v. Tasini, 533 U.S. 483, 491 (2001)

(This information adapted from Georgetown Law Library Guide to Citing Cases)