Bluebook Guide for Law Students

Direct Citations to Internet Sources

Cite directly to an internet source that cannot be cited according to another Bluebook rule. The citation should include the title, pagination, publication date, and the URL.

N.B.: Former versions of the Bluebook required that URLs be preceded with “available at”—that is no longer the case. The URL simply follows a comma at the end of the citation.

Model

         Author, Title, Main Page Title, (Date or Date and Time), URL.

Example

         Elizabeth Yuko, How to Change Someone’s Mind, Lifehacker (Aug. 6, 2020, 2:00PM), https://lifehacker.com/how-         

         to-change-someones-mind-1844634727.

(1) Typeface the title or party name as you would for a normal citation. Do not underline the URL.

(2) If an author is unclear, a title alone may be used, unless there is a clear institutional author [rule 18.2.2(b)].

(3) Only pinpoint cite, if a page number appears in the document itself, e.g. PDFs, and not screen numbers [rule 18.2.2(g)].

(4) Dates. Indicate a year if the date clearly refers to the material cited, else use "last visited X date " in the parenthetical [rule 18.2.2(c)].

(5) URLs. The URL should take the reader directly to the page, with no intervening links in between. If the URL is long and unwieldy, then indicate the root URL with a parenthetical explaining how to access the information [Rule 18.2.2(d)].

A digital copy of a printed source may be cited, so long as it is authenticated, official, or an exact copy of the printed source; otherwise, the printed source must be cited [Rules 18.2 & 18.2.1].

These citations do not need to include a URL unless: they are obscure; citation to a URL will improve access to the cited source; or if the online source shares enough characteristics of the print source that it could be fully cited according to another rule, in which case the URL can be added to the end of the citation [Rule 18.2.1(b)].

         Human Rights Watch, World Report          (2020),https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/world_report_download/hrw_world_report_2020_0.pdf.

• Cases, rule 10.8.1
  • For cases that are unreported but available on a widely used electronic database, the case may be cited to that database. 
• Constitutions, rule 11
  • Indicate parenthetically the name of the publisher, editor, or compiler unless it is an official edition. Indicate the name of the database and information about its currentness as provided by the database itself. 
• Statutes, rule 12.5
  • Give parenthetically the name of the database and information regarding the currency of the database as provided by the database itself (instead of the code year). 
• Legislative Materials, rule 13.7
  • Give the name of the database and any identifying codes or numbers that uniquely identify the material. 
• Regulations, rule 14.4
  • Give the name of the database and any identifying codes or numbers that uniquely identify the material. 
• Books, Reports, and Other Nonperiodic Materials, rule 15.9
  • Provide a complete citation to the document according to rule 15 as well as a citation to the database. If the database assigns a unique identifier or code to the document, include that identifier or code in your citation. 
  • Do not treat online and print versions of a book interchangeable unless the online source is an exact copy of the original as dictated by rule 18.2.1(a). 
• Periodical Materials, rule 16.8
  • Provide a complete citation to the database according to Rule 16, as well as a citation to the database, including a unique identifier or code if one has been assigned.