First, the easy way: PERRLA
Already have the citation from your reading, like U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3? Paste it into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA recognizes it as a constitution and fills in the article, the section, and the clause. It reads amendments the same way, like U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1.
Adding one by hand? Choose Constitutions & Charters (under Legal References), then The U.S. Constitution, and pick what you're citing: Article of the U.S. Constitution, Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or Repealed amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Fill in the article or amendment number, plus the section and the clause if you're pointing to one. You can type a single number as 14 or XIV, and PERRLA prints the Roman numeral either way.
PERRLA writes the in-text citation in legal form, with the abbreviations, the section symbol, and the spacing done for you. It also lists the provision on your references page in the same form, with a period at the end, the way APA 7 asks.
U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3
U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3.
Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.
The parts of the reference
1. U.S. Const.
Start with U.S. Const., the legal abbreviation for the Constitution of the United States. Keep both periods in U.S. and the period after Const. Don't italicize it.
U.S. Const.
The abbreviation belongs inside the parentheses. In your own sentences, write the words out: the U.S. Constitution.
2. Article or amendment
Next comes the part you're citing. For the original seven articles, write art. and the article number in Roman numerals. For one of the 27 amendments, write amend. and its number, also in Roman numerals.
art. I
An amendment looks like this: amend. XIV. A run of amendments takes an en dash: amend. I–X is the Bill of Rights.
3. Section
Put a comma after the article, then the section symbol (§), a space, and the section number in Arabic numerals.
art. I, § 8
Not every article has sections. Articles V and VI are written as plain paragraphs, so you go straight from the article to the clause, or stop at the article.
4. Clause
To point to one clause, add a comma, cl., and the clause number. Clauses aren't numbered in the Constitution's text: count the paragraphs in the section, or check the clause numbers on Congress's Constitution Annotated (constitution.congress.gov).
art. I, § 8, cl. 3
The clause is optional. Cite as narrowly as your point needs: the whole article, one section, or one clause.
5. What's left out
A constitution citation has no author, no year, no title in italics, and no link. You're citing the Constitution in force, so the year it was written doesn't go in. On your references page, end the entry with a period. In your text, close the parentheses right after the last number.
(U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3)
Examples
One clause: the Commerce Clause
Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with other nations, among the states, and with Indian tribes. It's at the center of many debates over federal health law, including the Supreme Court's 2012 decision on the Affordable Care Act.
References
U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3.
- Parenthetical citation(U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3)
- Narrative citationArticle I, Section 8, Clause 3, of the U.S. Constitution
A whole section: the powers of Congress
Section 8 of Article I lists the powers of Congress, from taxing and spending to regulating commerce. Cite the section when your point is about the list as a whole, not one power on it.
References
U.S. Const. art. I, § 8.
- Parenthetical citation(U.S. Const. art. I, § 8)
- Narrative citationArticle I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution
An article with no sections: the Supremacy Clause
Article VI has no numbered sections. Its second paragraph, the Supremacy Clause, makes the Constitution and federal law "the supreme Law of the Land," which is why a federal law can override a conflicting state law. Leave the section box empty and give the clause.
References
U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2.
- Parenthetical citation(U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2)
- Narrative citationArticle VI, Clause 2, of the U.S. Constitution
A section of an amendment: the 14th Amendment
Section 1 of the 14th Amendment holds the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. The amendment number was typed into PERRLA as 14, and PERRLA printed it as XIV.
References
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1.
- Parenthetical citation(U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1)
- Narrative citationSection 1 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
A range of amendments: the Bill of Rights
The first 10 amendments, ratified December 15, 1791, are known as the Bill of Rights. Cite them together as a range with an en dash. Type the range in Roman numerals: PERRLA converts a single number, not a range.
References
U.S. Const. amend. I–X.
- Parenthetical citation(U.S. Const. amend. I–X)
- Narrative citationthe first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution
In-text citations
An APA 7 citation of the U.S. Constitution is the legal citation itself, inside parentheses. It has no year and no page number, and it looks the same every time you cite it. There's no shortened form for later citations. Each article or amendment you cite also gets its own entry on your references page, in the same form with a period at the end.
- Parenthetical: (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3)
- Narrative: write the parts out in your sentence: Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.
- An amendment: (U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1), or in your sentence, Section 1 of the 14th Amendment
- A run of amendments: (U.S. Const. amend. I–X)
In your sentences, follow APA's number style: words for one through nine (the First Amendment) and numerals from 10 up (the 14th Amendment). Inside the parentheses, the numbers stay in Roman numerals. Citing an amendment that was later repealed? See the guide to citing a constitutional amendment.
Common mistakes
- U.S. Constitution. (1787). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcriptU.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3.The references page entry is in legal form, pointing to the provision you mean. It has no year, no publisher, and no link, even if you read the text on the National Archives website.
- (U.S. Constitution, 1787)(U.S. Const. art. I, § 8)The Constitution isn't cited by author and year. The citation names the article and section instead, and the year it was written stays out.
- (U.S. Const. art. 1, sec. 8)(U.S. Const. art. I, § 8)Legal citation writes articles and amendments in Roman numerals and uses the section symbol, not sec.
- (U.S. Constitution, Article VI, Clause 2)(U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2)Nothing in a constitution citation is italicized, and inside parentheses the parts are abbreviated: Const., art., amend., §, and cl.
- (U.S. Const. amend. XIV,§1)(U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1)Put a comma and a space before the section symbol, and a space between the symbol and the number.
Quick checklist
- A references page entry for each article or amendment you cite, in the same form as the in-text citation
- U.S. Const. with all three periods, no italics
- art. or amend. with the number in Roman numerals
- § and a space before the section number
- cl. and the clause number when you point to one clause
- No year, no page, and no link
Questions students ask
Does the U.S. Constitution go on my references page in APA 7?
Yes, when you cite a specific part of it. Each article or amendment you cite gets a references page entry in the same legal form as your in-text citation, like U.S. Const. art. I, § 8. If you only mention the Constitution as a whole, without pointing to an article or amendment, you don't need a citation or an entry.
Do I put a year in the citation?
No. You're citing the Constitution as it stands, so the year it was written or ratified stays out. The only date that ever appears is the year an amendment was repealed, as with the 18th Amendment.
What's the difference between an article, a section, and a clause?
The Constitution has seven articles, the big divisions (Article I covers Congress). Most articles are split into numbered sections, and each section is made of paragraphs called clauses. Cite down to the level your point needs.
How do I find the clause number?
Clause numbers aren't printed in the Constitution's text. Count the paragraphs in the section, or use Congress's Constitution Annotated at constitution.congress.gov, which labels each clause by number.
How do I cite the Bill of Rights?
The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments, so cite them as a range: (U.S. Const. amend. I–X). To point to one right, cite that amendment alone, like the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches.
Should I cite the National Archives website where I read it?
No. The citation points to the Constitution itself, so it's the same wherever you read the text. If you're citing someone's explanation of the Constitution, like an essay on Constitution Annotated or a textbook chapter, cite that source in its own format.
Related guides
Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Chapter 11 (legal references), including Section 11.9 (constitutions and charters), which follows the legal citation format of The Bluebook, and Sections 6.32–6.35 for numbers in your sentences. Example provisions verified against the National Archives transcriptions of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Amendments XI–XXVII.