How to cite a committee print
Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B13 / R13.4(c) · Statutes & legislation
Example
Staff of S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 81st Cong., Report on Anti-trust Law 17 (Comm. Print 1950).
More examples
Each of these is checked against the rules on every change to the tool.
- Louis Fisher, Cong. Rsch. Serv., RL31340, Military Tribunals: The Quirin Precedent 30 (2002).
What the citation needs
Required
- Author (staff or committee) — The author’s full name as it appears on the publication (R15.1; R16.2).
- Title — The title as it appears on the source. R8(a): capitalize every word except articles, conjunctions and prepositions of four or fewer letters, unless they begin the title or follow a colon.
- Year — The year that goes in the date parenthetical at the end of the citation.
When they apply
- Congress — The number of the Congress (“104th”).
- Page — The page the source begins on. The page you are citing goes in the pincite.
- Report number — The report’s number, such as a Congressional Research Service report’s “RL31340”.
In a brief and in a law review
The Bluebook sets citations two ways: the Bluepages for court documents and legal memoranda, the Whitepages for law review footnotes. Here is the first example above as each one prints it, in its typeface.
Court documents (Bluepages)
Staff of S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 81st Cong., Report on Anti-trust Law 17 (Comm. Print 1950).
Law review footnotes (Whitepages)
Staff of S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 81st Cong., Report on Anti-trust Law 17 (Comm. Print 1950).
The words are the same in both; only the typeface changes.
Common mistakes
Each of these is a citation the checker refuses, with what it says is wrong and the corrected form.
Wrong
Staff of S. Committee on the Judiciary, 81st Cong., Report on Anti-trust Law 17 (Comm. Print 1950).
Why
Abbreviate “Committee” to “Comm.” (T9).
Right
Staff of S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 81st Cong., Report on Anti-trust Law 17 (Comm. Print 1950).
Wrong
Louis Fisher, Cong. Rsch. Serv., Military Tribunals: The Quirin Precedent 30 (2002).
Why
A legislative agency report includes the agency's own report number as part of the title, e.g. “RL31340” or “GAO-08-751” (R13.4(d)).
Right
Louis Fisher, Cong. Rsch. Serv., RL31340, Military Tribunals: The Quirin Precedent 30 (2002).
Governing rules
B13 / R13.4(c)
- 13 — legislative materials.
- 13.4(c) — committee prints and unnumbered documents (institutional author).
- T9 — legislative-document abbreviations.
- 15.1 — book author/editor.
Build this citation with the generator, check one you have already written, or paste a whole list of footnotes to check them in order.
Related source types
Statutes & legislation: