LibGuides: Bluebook Guide: Overview

Twenty-second Edition

Image of the front cover of The Bluebook - 22nd Edition.

Introduction

For legal professionals and students alike, The Bluebook is the go-to style guide for legal citation. Its full title, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia L. Rev. Ass’n et al. eds., 22d ed. 2025), speaks to its authority in the field.

If you need to access The Bluebook, you can find it on reserve at the UIC Law Library's Circulation Desk or the Academic Success section on the sixth floor. It is also available for purchase in print or online.

The Bluebook website also advises: "Gift subscriptions also available."

Getting Started

This research guide provides guidance on academic rules (Whitepages) that are particularly relevant to law review students, as well as practitioner rules (Bluepages). Throughout the guide, you will come across references to Bluepage rules (B), Bluepage tables (BT), Whitepage rules (R), and Whitepage tables (T) from The Bluebook. This guide looks to simplify the navigation of The Bluebook and prove to be an invaluable resource for all UIC law students.

Organization of The Bluebook

The inside front cover and subsequent page provide examples of commonly used citation forms in the typefaces used in law review footnotes as set forth in Rule 2 (Typefaces for Law Reviews), otherwise referred to as the Whitepages.

The Preface to the Twenty-First Edition explains changes made between the present edition and its predecessors. (p. VII)
The Contents navigate the structure of the entire book. (pp. IX-XVI)
The Introduction provides a brief overview of the structure of the book and general principles of citation. (p. 1)
The Bluepages are a how-to guide for basic legal citation. The Bluepages provide an easy-to-comprehend guide for quotidian citation needs of practitioners, law students, and other legal professionals. The Bluepages are accompanied with tables, providing information on (1) court documents and (2) jurisdiction-specific citation rules and style guides. (pp. 3-64)
The Whitepages contain the rules of citation and style. These rules are geared toward academic legal writing. (pp. 65-256)
The Whitepages have corresponding tables, which contain information on (1) U.S. jurisdictions, (2) foreign jurisdictions, (3) intergovernmental organizations, (4) treaty sources, arbitral reporters, (6) common words, (7) court names, (8) explanatory phases, (9) legislative documents, (10) geographical terms, (11) judges and officials, (12) months, (13) institutional names in periodical titles, (14) publishing terms, (15) services, and (16) subdivisions. (pp. 257-354)
The Index covers particular rules, referring to page numbers, not rule numbers. (pp. 355-90)
The inside back cover and preceding page present examples of commonly used citation forms in the typefaces used in court documents and legal memoranda (corresponding with the Bluepages).

UIC Law Library

We are pleased to offer personalized research support to our esteemed law students through one-on-one consultations or small group meetings with our knowledgeable librarians. Our team is eager to discuss research methodologies, recommend pertinent resources, and assist with specific legal research areas, such as legislative history or administrative law. We encourage you to reach out to us with confidence and enthusiasm for a successful research experience.

Contact Info:
(312) 427-2737 ext. 729 (Reference)
(312) 427-2737 ext. 710 (Circulation)

Email: law-library@uic.edu

Comments & Questions

If you have any comments or questions about legal citation standards and practices, please contact the Louis L. Biro Law Library's Frank Young.

Citation Examples

If you find any interesting citation examples, please forward them via email!

Disclaimer

UIC Law Library Libguides are created to assist patrons and researchers. These research guides are not intended as legal advice.

Updates

The twenty-second edition retains the same basic approach to legal citation established by its predecessors. Some citation forms have been expanded, reduced, or modified from previous editions.

In this edition, the editors focused on making The Bluebook more practical for modern legal practice. The editors made several edits. Here are some of the most noteworthy changes, in order of appearance.

Bluepages

Mirroring the change to rule 1.2, B1.2 now contains the “contrast” signal.
B5.3 now permits the use of the parenthetical “(citation modified)” when a quotation has been stripped of internal quotation marks, brackets, ellipses, internal citations, and footnote reference numbers, and capitalization has been modified without brackets.
Additionally, B22 and B23 have been added to reflect the additions of rules 22 and 23. Bluepages table BT2 has been updated to reflect current local citation rules and include more jurisdictions.

Whitepages

Rule 1.2 introduces a new signal, “contrast,” for situations in which the contrast between authorities rather than a comparison between them will offer support for the proposition.
The language in rule 10.8.3 has been modified to provide greater clarity and address situations like multi-district litigation. Codification information may now be omitted depending on context pursuant to rule 12.4(f).
Rule 14.4 has been added to illustrate how to cite state administrative materials.
Guidance on citing pen names is provided in rule 15.1(d), and rule 15.8 has been expanded to include more special citation forms.
Rule 18 has been substantially rewritten both to provide greater clarity surrounding existing rules and to add new rules to cover a greater number of sources, including AI-generated content. Rule 20.2.4 has been revised to include new guidance on citing to sources in languages that do not employ the Roman alphabet.
Finally, rules 22 and 23 have been added. Rule 22 provides comprehensive guidance on citing materials from Tribal Nations.
Rule 23 provides comprehensive guidance on citing archival sources. The tables have also been updated.
Table T1.3 has been updated to reflect developments in state legal systems.
Table T1.5 has been added to the Bluebook Online and is available exclusively online, free of charge, listing all federally recognized Tribal Nations.
Table T2 has been revised, and three new jurisdictions have been added. New guidance on citations for medical journals is now provided in table T6.
Finally, the Twenty-Second Edition has substantially modified table T10 in order to streamline it and provide more useful abbreviations.

Navigating The Bluebook becomes easier when you learn to find the relevant information. The following table provides a quick breakdown of the current edition of The Bluebook.

The first section contains the “Bluepages,” providing information on basic legal citations generally used by practitioners for briefs and legal memoranda. The Bluepages present condensed versions of the full rules, providing easy-to-comprehend directions for general citation needs.

The second section, also known as the "Whitepages," provides the full rules on citation and style. These rules present standard conventions for law journal footnotes.

The third section contains 16 Whitepages tables, providing information on the proper citation authorities and several lists of abbreviations. Table 1.5 (Tribal Nations) and Table 2 (Foreign Jurisdictions) are provided online.

Finally, The Bluebook's table of contents (pp. IX – XVI) and index (pp. 355 – 90) help locate the applicable rules and pertinent tables.

Bluepage Rule	Pages	Topic
B1	3-6	Structure of Legal Citations
B2	6-7	Typeface for Court Documents
B3	7	Subdivision
B4	8	Short Citation Forms
B5	8-9	Quotations
B6	9-10	Abbreviations, Numbers & Symbols
B7	10	Italicization for Style and in Unique Circumstances
B8	10-11	Capitalization
B9	11	Titles of Judges
B10	11-18	Cases
B11	18	Constitutions
B12	19-21	Statutes, Rules & Restatements
B13	22-23	Legislative Materials
B14	23	Administrative & Executive Materials
B15	23-24	Books & Other Nonperiodic Materials
B16	24-25	Periodical Materials
B17	25-27	Court & Litigation Materials
B18	28	The Internet
B19	29	Services
B20	29	Foreign Materials
B21	29-30	International Materials
B22	30-31	Tribal Nations
B23	31	Archival Sources
BT1	32-33	Court Documents
BT2	33-64	Jurisdiction-Specific Citation Rules & Style Guides
For a summary of the Bluepages, see the last page and inside back cover of The Bluebook.
Whitepage Rule	Pages	Topic
R1	65-72	Structure & Use of Citations
R2	72-76	Typeface for Law Reviews
R3	76-83	Subdivisions
R4	83-87	Short Citation Forms
R5	87-92	Quotations
R6	92-94	Abbreviations, Numerals & Symbols
R7	95-96	Italicization for Style & in Unique Circumstances
R8	96-99	Capitalization
R9	99	Titles of Judges, Officials & Terms of Court
R10	100-24	Case Citation
R11	124-25	Constitutions
R12	126-40	Statutes
R13	140-47	Legislative Materials
R14	147-53	Administrative & Executive Materials (Regulatory Materials)
R15	154-64	Books, Reports, & Other Nonperiodic Materials
R16	164-76	Periodicals
R17	176-81	Unpublished & Forthcoming Sources
R18	181-204	Citation for Internet & Electronic Resources
R19	205-07	Services
R20	207-13	Foreign Materials
R21	213-44	International Materials
R22	245-49	Tribal Nations
R23	249-56	Archival Sources
For a summary of the Whitepages, see the inside front cover and initial page of The Bluebook.
Table	Pages	Topic
T1	257-328	United States Jurisdictions (Federal & State Sources & Abbreviations, T1.1-T1.4)
T1.5	Online	Tribal Nations
T2	Online	Foreign Jurisdictions
T3	329-32	Intergovernmental Organizations
T4	332	Treaty Sources
T5	333	Arbitral Reporters
T6	333-36	Case Names & Institutional Authors in Citations (The Long List of Abbreviations)
T7	337-39	Court Names
T8	339	Explanatory Phrases
T9	339-40	Legislative Documents
T10	340-45	Geographical Terms
T11	345-46	Judges & Officials
T12	346	Months
T13	346-48	Institutional Names in Periodical Titles
T14	349	Publishing Terms
T15	349-53	Services
T16	353-54	Subdivisions
The Index follows from pp. 355-90.

Key Distinctions

The Bluebook is primarily written for two types of users: academics and practitioners.
The Whitepages provide rules for academic publications such as law review articles and research papers.
The Bluepages set forth permissible deviations from the Whitepages that are designed to accommodate the needs of lawyers and law clerks.
The Bluepages are used primarily for briefs, motions, memoranda, and opinions.
For the most part, the Bluepages only provide examples of how a citation should look.
For comprehensive discussions of the elements of a citation, you should refer to the corresponding Whitepages as cross-referenced in the Bluepages.
Local Rules: Many courts have jurisdiction-specific requirements for court documents, and an index of jurisdiction-specific citation rules is contained in the Bluepages table BT2.

Rule 17

The Bluebook throws a curve at us concerning Rule 17, where the Bluepages and Whitepages address different subjects. Here, there is a slight deviation in materials on court and litigation documents. The Bluepages cover this topic in B17, pp. 25-27. This section will highlight the materials covered by the Bluepages. To cite court and litigation documents for legal academic writing, a review of R10.8, pp. 117-21, will provide helpful guidance. Also, recall that case names are not italicized or underscored in legal academic writing.

Rule 17 in the Whitepages presents guidance on citing materials on unpublished and forthcoming sources. R17, pp. 176-81. There is no corresponding rule in the Bluepages for this material. If the need for citation arises for a practitioner in a court document, the Whitepages will certainly bridge any citation gaps, as the Whitepages enlarges and expands the Bluepages.