Legal citations are the part of a research paper most students dread. Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-7-101. S.W.2d. 9th Cir. The abbreviations are specific; the formats vary by jurisdiction; and getting them wrong is conspicuous.

PERRLA’s Reference Engine now knows the legal citation conventions for every state – all 50, plus D.C. and five U.S. territories. Type what you know in plain language, and PERRLA writes it correctly.

Who this update is for

If you’ve ever had to cite a law, case, regulation, or government order in an APA, MLA, or Turabian paper, this update is for you. That includes:

• Nursing students citing their state’s Nurse Practice Act
• Education and social work students citing policy and regulation
• Criminal justice students citing cases and statutes
• Any student citing federal or state law as part of a research paper

What’s covered

PERRLA’s legal reference coverage now includes:

• All 50 states, D.C., and five U.S. territories
• 99 state courts, with correct abbreviations for each
• Each state’s statute code
• Federal courts, including all circuit courts
• Cases, statutes, regulations, constitutions, and executive orders

APA 7 received the most significant updates. MLA 9 received corrected abbreviations. Turabian 9’s legal reference formatting was already accurate and didn’t require changes.

How it works: Start by pasting

The fastest way to create a legal reference in PERRLA is to paste the citation directly into Look up a reference. If your assignment, casebook, or syllabus already gives you the citation – even a rough one – paste it in, and PERRLA fills in the form. Case citations are checked against a public case-law database, which can catch and correct a mistyped year.

If you’re building the reference from scratch, type out the full names rather than abbreviations. Write out the court or statute code name, and let PERRLA handle the abbreviation. PERRLA knows that “Tennessee Code Annotated” becomes Tenn. Code Ann., that “Texas Court of Criminal Appeals” becomes Tex. Crim. App., and that “ninth circuit” becomes 9th Cir.

What you type, what PERRLA produces

A few examples of what the reference engine produces in APA 7:

Tennessee Code Annotated + § 63-7-101 → Nurse Practice Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-7-101 (2021).

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals + S.W.2d → Name v. Name, 826 S.W.2d 201 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992).

Ninth circuit → United States v. Smith, 12 F.4th 345 (9th Cir. 2022).

Tips for legal references in PERRLA

• Start by pasting. If your assignment or casebook gives the citation, paste it into Look up a reference instead of filling in the form manually.
• Type full names, let PERRLA abbreviate. Write out the court or code name, and PERRLA applies the correct abbreviation for the jurisdiction.
• Quoting a case? Add the pinpoint page. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 490 (1954). The pinpoint page field is available in the reference form. 
• State cases: Use the regional reporter. Use S.W.2d, N.E.3d, or the appropriate regional reporter. Add a parallel citation only if your instructor requires it. 
• Unreported cases. If a case isn’t in a reporter, use the Unreported Case section: enter the docket number, a database citation (like 2021 WL 123456), and the date decided. Leave volume and page blank. 
• Constitutions. Add the clause when citing a specific provision – U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3. 

Try it now

Legal references are available now in PERRLA’s reference engine across APA 7, MLA 9, and Turabian 9. Open PERRLA, click Create reference, and search or paste your citation. Every PERRLA subscription includes the full reference engine.

Try PERRLA free for 7 days – no credit card required.

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