How to cite a U.N. document

Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B21 / R21.7 · Foreign, international, tribal & archival

Example

U.N. Dep’t of Int’l Econ. & Soc. Affs., World Economic Survey 1977, at I-19, U.N. Doc. ST/ESA/82, U.N. Sales No. E.78.II.C.1 (1977).

More examples

Each of these is checked against the rules on every change to the tool.

Human Rights in the Union of Burma in 1953, 1953 Y.B. on H.R. 31, U.N. Sales No. 1955.XIV.1.
G.A. Res. 47/163, ¶ 5 (Dec. 18, 1992).
Rep. of the S.C., at 16–17, U.N. Doc. A/63/2 (2008).

What the citation needs

Required

None.

When they apply

Kind — Which form of this source you are citing. The fields that matter change with it.
U.N. body / designation — The body that issued the document.
Resolution number — The number that identifies the document in its series.
U.N. document symbol — R21.7.3: required for a report.
Author — 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.
Annex — The annex, as it appears on the source.
Supplement — The supplement, where the material is in one.
Pincite — The exact page (or section, or paragraph) your point is on — not the first page. R1.2(f): pincites are required except after “see generally”.
Date — The date the rule for this source calls for, with the month abbreviated per T12 (“Nov. 24, 1978”).
Year — The year that goes in the date parenthetical at the end of the citation.
U.N. sales number — R21.7.7(d); R21.7.8 when there is no document symbol.
Yearbook citation — R21.7.8: year or volume, yearbook, page.
URL — The web address, where you cite the source online (R18.2).
On file with — Where a reader can get an unpublished or hard-to-find source: what follows “on file with” — “author”, or the library or journal holding it (R17.1).

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)

U.N. Dep’t of Int’l Econ. & Soc. Affs., World Economic Survey 1977, at I-19, U.N. Doc. ST/ESA/82, U.N. Sales No. E.78.II.C.1 (1977).

Law review footnotes (Whitepages)

U.N. Dep’t of Int’l Econ. & Soc. Affs., World Economic Survey 1977, at I-19, U.N. Doc. ST/ESA/82, U.N. Sales No. E.78.II.C.1 (1977).

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

U.N. Dep’t of Int’l Econ. & Soc. Affs., World Economic Survey 1977, at I-19, U.N. Doc. ST/ESA/82, U.N. Sales No. E.78.II.C.1.

Why

Date is required (R21.7).

Right

U.N. Dep’t of Int’l Econ. & Soc. Affs., World Economic Survey 1977, at I-19, U.N. Doc. ST/ESA/82, U.N. Sales No. E.78.II.C.1 (1977).

Wrong

Human Rights in the Union of Burma in 1953, 1953 Y.B. on H.R. 31, Sales No. 1955.XIV.1.

Why

R21.7.8: write “U.N. Sales No.”.

Right

Human Rights in the Union of Burma in 1953, 1953 Y.B. on H.R. 31, U.N. Sales No. 1955.XIV.1.

Wrong

G.A. Res., ¶ 5 (Dec. 18, 1992).

Why

A resolution is cited by resolution number and date (R21.7.2).

Right

G.A. Res. 47/163, ¶ 5 (Dec. 18, 1992).

Wrong

Rep. of the S.C., at 16–17 (2008).

Why

Give the author, or the editor/translator, or the publisher (R15.1; R15.2(d)).

Right

Rep. of the S.C., at 16–17, U.N. Doc. A/63/2 (2008).

Governing rules

B21 / R21.7

21 — international materials.
21.7.7 — U.N. sales publications.
21.7 — United Nations sources.

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

Foreign, international, tribal & archival: