PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Executive order

How to Cite an Executive Order in APA 7

An APA 7 executive order reference has no author and no title. It gives Exec. Order No. and the order's number with a comma (13,295), then 3 C.F.R. and the page where the order starts in Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations, then the year in parentheses, and the URL if you read it online. A recent order that isn't in the C.F.R. yet cites the Federal Register volume and page and the date signed instead. The in-text citation is the label, the number, and the year: (Exec. Order No. 13,295, 2003).

The format

Exec. Order No. Number, 3 C.F.R. Page (Year). URL

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Have the order's Federal Register citation, like Exec. Order No. 14401, 91 Fed. Reg. 21709 (Apr. 18, 2026)? Paste it into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA recognizes it as an executive order and fills in the number, the Federal Register volume and page, and the date signed. Paste the citation, not the order's Federal Register web link: the link builds a webpage reference instead.

Adding one by hand? Choose Executive Orders (under Legal References), then An executive order or A presidential proclamation. Type the number, then answer Where is this work published?

  • In the Code of Federal Regulations: fill in the starting page. Leave Edition Year(s) empty and PERRLA uses the year from Date signed. Only an order from before 1976, printed in a multiyear compilation, needs the years typed in, like 1966–1970.
  • Only in the Federal Register: fill in the volume and the page. Use this for a recent order that hasn't been added to the C.F.R. yet.

Add the date signed and the link. PERRLA writes Exec. Order No. or Proclamation No., puts the comma in the number, and adds 3 C.F.R. or Fed. Reg. for you. The form also asks for the president and the order's title. APA leaves both out, so they don't appear in your APA reference. PERRLA uses them for MLA and Turabian.

Look up
Paste an executive order citation, get the reference

Exec. Order No. 14401, 91 Fed. Reg. 21709 (Apr. 18, 2026)

Exec. Order No. 13,295, 3 C.F.R. 220 (2003). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2004-title3-vol1/pdf/CFR-2004-title3-vol1-eo13295.pdf

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Label and number

Start with the abbreviation Exec. Order No. and the order's number. Put a comma in the number after the thousands, the way the APA manual's own example does. The president's name and the order's title don't go in the reference, and nothing is italic.

Exec. Order No. 13,295,

A presidential proclamation works the same way with the label Proclamation No.: Proclamation No. 10,863,

2. Where it's published: the C.F.R.

Executive orders and proclamations are reprinted each year in Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Write 3 C.F.R. and the page where the order begins in that year's compilation. This is the version to cite whenever the order is in it.

3 C.F.R. 220

Find the page on GovInfo: each order in Title 3 has its own PDF, and the first page number printed on it is the one you need.

3. Or the Federal Register

An order signed this year isn't in the C.F.R. yet: the compilation comes out the following year. Cite the daily Federal Register instead, with its volume, Fed. Reg., and the page where the order starts.

91 Fed. Reg. 21709

The order's Federal Register page shows this as 91 FR 21709. Rewrite FR as Fed. Reg. for your reference.

4. Year or date

For a C.F.R. citation, put the compilation year in parentheses, followed by a period. That's the year the order was signed, not the year printed on the GovInfo file. An order signed in 2003 sits in the 2004 edition, labeled the 2003 Compilation, so the year is 2003.

(2003).

Orders signed before 1976 were compiled in multiyear volumes, so the year becomes a range: (1966–1970). A Federal Register citation takes the full date the order was signed instead: (Apr. 18, 2026).

5. URL

If you read the order online, end with its link. Use the GovInfo PDF for a C.F.R. citation and the Federal Register page for a Federal Register citation. Don't put a period after the URL.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2004-title3-vol1/pdf/CFR-2004-title3-vol1-eo13295.pdf

Examples

An executive order in the Code of Federal Regulations

Executive Order 13295, signed April 4, 2003, sets the federal list of quarantinable communicable diseases, a staple of public health and infection control papers. It starts on page 220 of the 2003 Compilation of 3 C.F.R. It has been amended since (influenza with pandemic potential was added in 2005 and measles in 2021), but you still cite the original order.

  • Parenthetical citation(Exec. Order No. 13,295, 2003)
  • Narrative citationExecutive Order 13,295 (2003)

A recent executive order in the Federal Register

Executive Order 14401, on accelerating medical treatments for serious mental illness, was signed April 18, 2026, and printed in the Federal Register on April 22, starting on page 21709 of volume 91. It won't be in the C.F.R. until the 2026 compilation comes out, so the reference cites the Federal Register and the date signed. This example quotes page 21710.

  • Parenthetical citation(Exec. Order No. 14,401, 2026, p. 21710)
  • Narrative citationExecutive Order 14,401 (2026, p. 21710)

A presidential proclamation

Proclamation 10863, signed November 20, 2024, proclaimed National Rural Health Day. Proclamations follow the executive order format with the label Proclamation No. This one starts on page 311 of the 2024 Compilation of 3 C.F.R.

  • Parenthetical citation(Proclamation No. 10,863, 2024)
  • Narrative citationProclamation No. 10,863 (2024)

An older order in a multiyear compilation

Executive Order 11478, signed August 8, 1969, bars discrimination in federal employment, which makes it a regular in health care administration and human resources papers. Orders from 1966 through 1970 were reprinted in a single C.F.R. volume, so the year in the reference is the range 1966–1970. This student read it in the Office of the Federal Register's codification, so the reference has no link.

  • Parenthetical citation(Exec. Order No. 11,478, 1966–1970)
  • Narrative citationExecutive Order 11,478 (1966–1970)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for an executive order uses the same label and number as the reference, then the year. There's no author name: the order number does that job.

  • Parenthetical: (Exec. Order No. 13,295, 2003)
  • Narrative: spell out the label in your sentence: Executive Order 13,295 (2003) lists SARS as a quarantinable disease.
  • A proclamation: (Proclamation No. 10,863, 2024) or Proclamation No. 10,863 (2024)
  • A Federal Register order: the year only, not the full date: (Exec. Order No. 14,401, 2026)
  • A quote: add the page from the C.F.R. or the Federal Register: (Exec. Order No. 14,401, 2026, p. 21710)

Cite the order by number every time. Don't swap in the president's name, like (Bush, 2003), because the reader looks for the order number on your references page.

Common mistakes

  • Bush, G. W. (2003). Revised list of quarantinable communicable diseases (Executive Order 13295).Exec. Order No. 13,295, 3 C.F.R. 220 (2003).APA cites executive orders in legal format. The president isn't the author, the title is left out, and nothing is italic.
  • Exec. Order No. 13,295, 3 C.F.R. 220 (2004).Exec. Order No. 13,295, 3 C.F.R. 220 (2003).The GovInfo file is named CFR-2004 because the 2003 Compilation came out in 2004. The year in the reference is the compilation year, which matches the year the order was signed.
  • Executive Order 13295, 3 C.F.R. 220 (2003).Exec. Order No. 13,295, 3 C.F.R. 220 (2003).The reference uses the abbreviation Exec. Order No. and a comma in the number. Spell out Executive Order only in your own sentences.
  • Exec. Order No. 14,401, 91 FR 21709 (2026).Exec. Order No. 14,401, 91 Fed. Reg. 21709 (Apr. 18, 2026).The Federal Register prints its own short form, FR. Legal citations abbreviate it Fed. Reg., and a Federal Register citation takes the full date signed.
  • The White House. (2026, April 18). Accelerating medical treatments for serious mental illness. https://www.whitehouse.gov/…Exec. Order No. 14,401, 91 Fed. Reg. 21709 (Apr. 18, 2026).An order posted on the White House site is still an executive order. Cite it in legal format from the Federal Register, where it's usually printed within a few days of signing.

Quick checklist

  • Exec. Order No. or Proclamation No., with a comma in the number
  • No president as author and no title
  • 3 C.F.R. and the starting page, or the Fed. Reg. volume and page for a recent order
  • The compilation year in parentheses, a range for orders before 1976, or the full date signed for Fed. Reg.
  • The GovInfo or Federal Register link if you read it online
  • In text: the same label and number, then the year

Questions students ask

Do I cite the Federal Register or the Code of Federal Regulations?

Cite the C.F.R. whenever the order is in it, because that's the permanent compilation. An order signed this year isn't in it yet, so cite the Federal Register for now. Check GovInfo's Title 3 for the year the order was signed to see if it's there.

Who is the author of an executive order in APA?

There isn't one in the reference. Like laws and court cases, an executive order is cited in legal format, starting with its label and number. The in-text citation uses the number too: (Exec. Order No. 13,295, 2003).

Do I include the executive order's title?

Not in the APA reference. The number identifies the order. You can name it in your sentence if it helps your reader: Executive Order 13,295 (2003), Revised List of Quarantinable Communicable Diseases, names SARS.

How do I cite an executive order that was revoked or amended?

Cite the order itself, with its original citation, and say in your sentence that it was later revoked or changed. If your point depends on the change, cite the later order too, in a reference of its own. For example, Executive Order 13166 (2000) on language access was revoked in 2025 by Executive Order 14224.

Can I cite an executive order from the White House website?

Cite the order in legal format either way. Orders are posted on the White House site when they're signed and printed in the Federal Register a few days later. Once you can find it there, use the volume, page, and date signed.

How do I cite a presidential proclamation in APA?

The same way as an executive order, with the label Proclamation No.: Proclamation No. 10,863, 3 C.F.R. 311 (2024). The in-text citation is (Proclamation No. 10,863, 2024).

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 11.1–11.3 and 11.7 (administrative and executive materials, with its executive order example), which follow the legal citation format of The Bluebook. The APA Style website has no separate executive order page. Example sources verified against GovInfo's Title 3 PDFs (2003 and 2024 Compilations), the order's Federal Register printing (91 Fed. Reg. 21709–21711, April 22, 2026), the Federal Register's records of signing dates and amendments, and the Office of the Federal Register's codification of Executive Order 11478 (34 FR 12985; 3 CFR, 1966–1970 Comp., p. 803).

PERRLA builds the executive order reference in legal format, from the C.F.R. page or the Federal Register citation, with the comma, the abbreviations, and the year in place.

Try PERRLA free for 7 days