Legal Research Guides — Common Abbreviations Used in Legal Citations
Case Reporters
I. Citations for case reporters will normally be in the following form:
| volume |
page |
| | |
| |
| 359 SW2d 851 |
| | |
| abbreviation for reporter |
II. The following are some of the most common abbreviations, which reporters they refer to, and the location(s) where each begins:
| Abbreviation |
Reporter |
Courts |
1st Floor Location |
| U.S. |
United States Reports |
U.S Supreme Court |
Bank 4 |
| SCT |
Supreme Ct Reporter |
same |
Bank 4 |
| L.Ed |
Lawyer's Edition |
same |
Bank 4 |
| F2d |
Federal Reporter (F3d, etc.) |
U.S. Ct of Appeals |
Bank 4 |
| F.Supp |
Federal Supplement |
U.S. District Court |
Bank 4 |
| A2d |
Atlantic Reporter, second series |
regional compilation of state reports |
Bank 3 |
| NE2d |
Northeastern Reporter, second series |
same as above |
Bank 3 |
| NW2d |
Northwestern Reporter, second series |
same as above |
Bank 3 |
| P2d |
Pacific Reporter, second series |
same as above |
Bank 3 |
| SE2d |
Southeastern Reporter, second series |
same as above |
Bank 3 |
| SO2d |
Southern Reporter, second series |
same as above |
Bank 3 |
| SW2d |
Southwestern Reporter, second series |
same as above |
Bank 3 |
| NY2d |
New York Supplement, second series |
compilation of NY state reports |
Bank 3 |
| Cal Rptr |
California Reporter |
compilation of Cal. state reports |
Bank 3 |
| Mo |
Missouri Reports |
Missouri Supreme Court |
Bank 1 |
| Mo App |
Missouri Appeal Reports |
Missouri Appellate Courts |
Bank 1 |
Statutes & Regulations
I. Citations to Statutes may take one of two general formats:
A. Federal:
| volume or title |
section |
| | |
| |
| 42 USCA 816 |
| | |
| abbreviation of source |
|
B. State:
| |
section number |
| |
| |
V.A.M.S. |
558.040 |
| | |
|
| abbreviation of source |
|
| Abbreviation |
Title |
Location(s) |
| PL |
Public Law (Statutes at Large) |
1st Fl, Range 161b |
| Stat.
| Statutes at Large |
1st Fl, Range 161a - 161b |
| USC |
U.S. Code (unannot.) |
1st Fl, Range 162a |
| USCA |
U.S. Code Annotated |
1st Fl, Range 161a; 157a |
| USCCAN |
U.S. Code Congresnl & Administrative News |
1st Fl, Range 161b; 157a |
| FR |
Federal Register |
1st Fl, Range 154a - 156b |
| CFR |
Code of Federal Regulations |
1st Fl, Range 151a - 153b |
| L. or Laws |
Laws of Missouri |
MO REF |
| RSMo |
Revised Statutes of Missouri |
MO REF, Reserve, DOC MO |
| VAMS |
Vernon's Annotated Missouri Statutes |
MO REF, Reserve, DOC MO |
| Mo Reg |
Missouri Register |
1st Fl, Range 102a |
| CSR |
Code of State Regs. |
1st Fl, Range 102a |
Encyclopedias and Annotations
I. The two most prominent legal encyclopedias are Corpus Juris Secundum and American Jurisprudence. They are abbreviated CJS and AmJur, respectively. The citation format is similar for both:
| |
abbreviation for encyclopedia |
section number |
| |
| |
|
| |
| 1 |
Am Jur 2d, |
Abandoned, Lost and Unclaimed Property |
112 |
| | |
|
| |
|
| volume number |
|
topic |
|
American Jurisprudence is located in Bank 1 on the first floor (Plaza Level).
Corpus Juris Secundum is no longer owned by the library.
II. The most popular series of annotations is the American Law Reports Anotated. There are currently six series, all located in Bank 3 on the first floor (Plaza Level):
| ALR |
ALR 3d |
ALR 5th |
| ALR 2d |
ALR 4th |
ALR Federal (Fed) |
They are all cited as follows:
| volume |
page |
| | |
|
| |
| 25 |
ALR 2d |
677 |
| |
| |
|
| abbreviation for series |
