Structure
The seventh edition of the Association of Legal Writing Directors' Guide to Legal Citation (ALWD Guide) provides an appendix (Appendix 8) that maps each sentence that has a corresponding rule in the 21st edition of The Bluebook.
ALWD contains six major parts:
- Citation Basics
Addresses key concepts—typeface, abbreviations, numbers, pinpoint references, and full or short citations. - Citing Specific Sources
Popular primary and secondary authorities - Online Sources
The internet, commercial databases, and other electronic media—blogs, email, listserv postings, and social media. - Incorporating Citations into Documents
Placement of citations—citation sentences, citation clauses, embedded citations, citations to multiple authorities, signals and parentheticals. - Quotations
Covers punctuation and formatting, as well as how to make alterations to or indicate omissions from a quoted text. - Appendices
General and specialized abbreviations for official and unofficial reporters, statutes, and administrative publications, as well as complete abbreviations for legal periodicals.
| Rule / Table | Pages | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Rule 1 | 2-7 | Typeface conventions for court documents and legal memoranda |
| Rules 35, 36 | 370-385 | Introductory signals, order of signals, and order of authorities within signals |
| Rule 11 | 44-54 | Short citation forms (i.e., citing materials previously cited) |
| Rule 38 | 392-403 | Formatting quotations |
| Rule 12 | 54-108 | Citing cases |
| Rule 13 | 108-112 | Citing constitutions |
| Rule 14 | 112-131 | Citing statutes |
| Rule 18 | 185-205 | Citing regulations and administrative materials |
| Rules 30-33 | 333-363 | Citing electronic sources and Internet sources |
| Appendix 1 | 417 | Preferred U.S. federal and state sources and abbreviations |
| Appendix 3(E) | 487 | Abbreviations for case names |
| Appendix 5 | Online | Abbreviations for periodicals and looseleaf services |