Pinpoints & Subdivisions
Send your reader to the exact page, note, paragraph or subsection you rely on.
A pinpoint is the part of a citation your reader checks first. A judge, a clerk or the other side opens the source at your number and reads. If your words are not there, the citation fails, however neat the rest of it is. Below, two real pinpoints taken apart: a page span in a 2026 Oregon sanctions opinion, and two subsections of the federal diversity statute.
A page pinpoint, after the first page
Williams v. Honl, 348 Or. App. 505, 510–13 (2026).
- 1 volume and reporter
- 2 first page: where the opinion begins
- 3 pinpoint: the pages of your passage, joined by an en dash; end page cut to two digits
A subdivision pinpoint: two subsections of one section
28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1), (c)(1) (2024).
- 4 section sign, a space that never breaks, the number
- 5 labels closed up, copied as printed
- 6 a second subsection: comma, one space, no second §
4.1Reading a pinpoint: first page, pinpoint and the source’s own locator
In the print and Kindle editions
4.2Pages: one page, several pages, a span
In the print and Kindle editions
4.3Notes, tables and figures
In the print and Kindle editions
4.4Numbered paragraphs
In the print and Kindle editions
4.5Sections, subsections, articles and clauses
In the print and Kindle editions
4.6Lines, transcripts and the record
In the print and Kindle editions
4.7Et seq., passim and other ways of not pointing
In the print and Kindle editions
4.8One passage, several page numbers: slip opinions, reporters and star pages
In the print and Kindle editions
4.9Sources without fixed pages
In the print and Kindle editions
4.10Pinpoints in short forms
In the print and Kindle editions
4.11Errors to catch
In the print and Kindle editions