PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Federal law

How to Cite a Federal Law in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a federal law starts with the act's name, then gives either its place in the United States Code (the title number, U.S.C., the § symbol, and the section) or its public law number and Statutes at Large volume and page, and ends with the year in parentheses. There's no author, and the act's name isn't italicized. The in-text citation is the act's name and the year, with any year in the name dropped: (Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993).

The format

Name of Act, Title U.S.C. § Section (Year). URL

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 22, 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

In PERRLA, choose Statutes (under Legal References), then A federal statute, and pick the kind. Statute codified in the United States Code asks for the act's name, a shortened title for your in-text citations, the title number, the section, and the year. For a range, put the last section in Ending Section Number and PERRLA prints §§ and the full range. Type a range into the section box instead, like 3001-3058ff, and PERRLA prints the first section and et seq. Statute cited from Public Law asks for the public law number, the Statutes at Large volume, and the starting page.

Already have a U.S. Code citation from your reading, like Older Americans Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq. (1965)? Paste it into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA recognizes it as a federal statute and fills in the name, title number, section, and year. Check each one against your source, and add the shortened title before you save, so your in-text citation reads (Older Americans Act, 1965) instead of repeating the year.

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

The parts of the reference

1. Name of the act

Start with the act's name as the law states it, usually in a short title section that begins "This Act may be cited as." Keep the year if the name has one. Capitalize it like a title, and don't italicize it.

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

No popular name? Start with the citation itself, and use it in your in-text citation too.

2. U.S. Code title and section

For the U.S. Code, give the title number, U.S.C. (with periods), the section symbol, a space, and the section. For a range, double the symbol and use an en dash.

29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654

An act spread over many sections can also take its first section and et seq., Latin for "and the sections that follow": 42 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq.

3. Public law number and Statutes at Large (the other way)

Instead of the U.S. Code, you can cite the law as Congress passed it: Pub. L. No., the Congress and law number joined by a hyphen, then the Statutes at Large volume, Stat., and the page where the law begins.

Pub. L. No. 103-3, 107 Stat. 6

Use one form or the other. The public law form fits a law that amends other laws instead of having its own place in the code, like the Nurse Reinvestment Act.

4. Year

Put the year in parentheses, then a period. For a public law, it's the year the law was enacted. For a U.S. Code citation, APA's own examples use the year the act became law.

(1993).

5. URL

A link is optional for legal references, but one to an official copy helps your reader. GovInfo (govinfo.gov) has both the U.S. Code and the public laws, and Congress.gov has public laws. Don't put a period after the URL.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-107/pdf/STATUTE-107-Pg6.pdf

Examples

A law in one U.S. Code section: FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the student records law education students cite constantly. The whole act is one section of Title 20, so there's one § and no range.

  • Parenthetical citation(Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 1974)
  • Narrative citationThe Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (1974)

A law across a range of sections: the FMLA in the U.S. Code

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 fills Chapter 28 of Title 29, sections 2601 through 2654. With the last section in PERRLA's Ending Section Number box, the reference shows the full range.

  • Parenthetical citation(Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993)
  • Narrative citationThe Family and Medical Leave Act (1993)

The same law by its public law number

The FMLA again, cited as it was enacted on February 5, 1993: Public Law 103-3, beginning on page 6 of volume 107 of the Statutes at Large. It's the same law as the example above, so use one form, not both.

  • Parenthetical citation(Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993)
  • Narrative citationThe Family and Medical Leave Act (1993)

A law with no single home in the code: the Nurse Reinvestment Act

The 2002 law behind the National Nurse Service Corps and the Nurse Faculty Loan Program. It amended the Public Health Service Act instead of creating its own chapter of the code, so the public law is the clean way to cite it. Its name has no year, so the shortened title is the same as the name.

  • Parenthetical citation(Nurse Reinvestment Act, 2002)
  • Narrative citationThe Nurse Reinvestment Act (2002)

A long act cited by its first section: the Older Americans Act

The Older Americans Act of 1965 fills Chapter 35 of Title 42, from section 3001 to 3058ff. Instead of the full range, you can give the first section and et seq., the way APA's own Americans With Disabilities Act example does. In PERRLA, typing the range into the section box prints it this way.

  • Parenthetical citation(Older Americans Act, 1965)
  • Narrative citationThe Older Americans Act (1965)

In-text citations

A federal law's in-text citation uses the act's name and the year, because the name sits where an author would. Drop a year that's part of the name, so it appears once. Act names aren't italicized in your sentences. (Court case names are, which is a different rule.)

  • Parenthetical: (Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993)
  • Narrative: the Family and Medical Leave Act (1993) gives eligible employees…
  • A name without a year: (Nurse Reinvestment Act, 2002)
  • No popular name: the code citation stands in for the name, followed by the year

Pointing to one provision? Name it in your sentence and cite the act: Under 29 U.S.C. § 2612, eligible employees can take up to 12 workweeks of leave (Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993). Defining an abbreviation like FMLA or FERPA in your prose is fine, but keep the act's name in the citation.

Common mistakes

  • (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 1993)(Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993)The year belongs in the citation once. In PERRLA, fill in the Shortened Title box. Leave it blank and the full name, year and all, goes into every citation.
  • 29 USC 2601–265429 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654APA uses legal citation form for laws: U.S.C. with periods, and the section symbol before the sections, doubled for a range.
  • Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, Title 29 of the United States Code, Sections 2601 to 2654 (1993).Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (1993).Legal references are written in their short, standard form. The title number goes before U.S.C., and the sections go after the § symbols.
  • Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (1993).Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (1993).Statute names stay in plain type, in the reference and in your sentences.
  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, H.R. 3103, 104th Cong. (1996).Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936 (1996).A bill number is for a bill that hasn't become law. Once it's enacted, cite the law by its public law number or its U.S. Code section.

Quick checklist

  • The act's name as the law states it, not italic
  • Title number, U.S.C., §, and the section, or Pub. L. No. and the Stat. volume and page
  • §§ and an en dash for a range, or the first section and et seq.
  • One form per law, not both
  • The year in parentheses
  • In text: the name without its year, then the year

Questions students ask

What's the difference between U.S.C. and a public law?

A public law is the act as Congress passed it, published in order in the Statutes at Large. The United States Code takes those laws and reorganizes them by subject, so one act can end up in one section, one chapter, or pieces of several titles. APA accepts either. The U.S. Code is handier for laws with their own chapter, and the public law is handier for laws that mostly amend other laws.

Which year goes in a federal law reference?

For a public law, the year it was enacted. For a U.S. Code citation, APA's own examples use the year the act became law, as in the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (1990). If your point depends on a section's current wording after later amendments, you can use the year of the code edition you read instead. GovInfo shows it at the top of the page, such as "United States Code, 2024 Edition."

What does et seq. mean?

It's short for the Latin et sequentes, "and the ones that follow." Writing 42 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq. points to section 3001 and the sections after it, which is a shorter way to cite an act that runs across many sections.

Where do I find a law's U.S. Code section or public law number?

GovInfo and Congress.gov list both. On a public law, the number and the Statutes at Large page are printed at the top of its first page. In the U.S. Code, the source note in parentheses at the end of each section names the public law that created it and its Statutes at Large page.

How do I cite a bill that never became law?

An unenacted bill gets a different reference, with its bill number (H.R. or S.), the Congress, and the year. See the guide to citing a congressional bill.

Does a federal law go on my references page?

Yes. Federal statutes get full reference entries, alphabetized by the act's name. The U.S. Constitution is the exception: APA cites it in the text only.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Chapter 11 (legal references), including Section 11.5 (statutes) and its federal statute examples. Example sources verified against each law's text and U.S. Code notes on GovInfo: the 2024 edition of the U.S. Code (20 U.S.C. § 1232g, 29 U.S.C. ch. 28, 42 U.S.C. ch. 35) and the public laws themselves (Pub. L. No. 103-3; Pub. L. No. 107-205, approved August 1, 2002).

PERRLA builds federal law references from the U.S. Code section or the public law number, with §§, et seq., and the shortened in-text title handled for you.

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