How to cite an SEC filing
Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B14 / T1.2 · Regulations & agencies
Annual reports, proxy statements and other filings required under the federal securities laws. The form type is part of the citation.
Example
Coca-Cola Co., Annual Report (Form 10-K) (Feb. 27, 2004).
What the citation needs
Required
- Company — Abbreviated according to R15.1(e).
- Title as given in the document — 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.
- Form type — Printed in parentheses: “(Form 10-K)”.
- Date of filing — The date the rule for this source calls for, with the month abbreviated per T12 (“Nov. 24, 1978”).
When they apply
- Page — The page the source begins on. The page you are citing goes in the pincite.
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)
Coca-Cola Co., Annual Report (Form 10-K) (Feb. 27, 2004).
Law review footnotes (Whitepages)
Coca-Cola Co., Annual Report (Form 10-K) (Feb. 27, 2004).
For this source the two are set the same way.
Common mistakes
Each of these is a citation the checker refuses, with what it says is wrong and the corrected form.
Wrong
Coca-Cola Co., Annual Report (Form 10-K) (2004).
Why
An SEC filing takes the full date of filing, not just the year (T1.2).
Right
Coca-Cola Co., Annual Report (Form 10-K) (Feb. 27, 2004).
Governing rules
B14 / T1.2
- 15.1 — book author/editor.
- T1.2 — federal administrative and executive materials; the agency's own citation form governs where the table gives one.
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
Regulations & agencies: