How to cite hardware

Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B18 / R18.11.1 · Internet & electronic

Example

Nvidia, Geforce RTX 4090 Founders Edition, 900-1G136-2530-000 (6521430).

What the citation needs

Required

Manufacturer — The manufacturer, as it appears on the source.
Model — The model, as it appears on the source.
Part number — The part number, as it appears on the source.

When they apply

SKU — The sku, as it appears on the source.

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)

Nvidia, Geforce RTX 4090 Founders Edition, 900-1G136-2530-000 (6521430).

Law review footnotes (Whitepages)

Nvidia, Geforce RTX 4090 Founders Edition, 900-1G136-2530-000 (6521430).

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

Nvidia, Geforce RTX 4090 24Gb GDDR6x Founders Edition Graphics Card, 900-1G136-2530-000 (6521430).

Why

Omit hardware features and product-category terms from the model name — drop “24Gb”, “GDDR6x”, “Graphics Card” (R18.11.1).

Right

Nvidia, Geforce RTX 4090 Founders Edition, 900-1G136-2530-000 (6521430).

Governing rules

B18 / R18.11.1

18 — the internet, electronic media & other nonprint resources.
18.11.1 — hardware; omit model feature terms.

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

Internet & electronic: