10. Cite Regulations, Rules, and Agency Materials

10.1 Name the type of material

An agency can publish regulations, proposed regulations, adjudicatory decisions, notices, guidance, manuals, letters, and explanatory webpages. Begin by identifying which item you have. The agency's name does not give every document the same legal effect.

Read the document's status language. A proposed rule is not an adopted rule merely because its text resembles regulatory language. A guidance document may explain an agency's position without amending the codified regulation. A press release may announce action while omitting the qualifications contained in the actual instrument.

10.2 Preserve title, section, and version

A conventional CFR citation identifies the title number, publication, and section. 1 C.F.R. § 1.1 (2024) identifies the definitions provision in the inspected 2024 annual title 1 publication. The section number belongs to the source; do not replace it with the page on which an online search happened to find the text.

The electronic and annual publications have different update practices. A source packet should identify which was used and preserve its date information. When a proposition turns on a historical version, save that version rather than relying on a link whose target changes over time.

The research packet for this book contains both annual CFR title 1 and a later eCFR title 1 snapshot. Their separate storage makes comparison possible. Similar text in those two files is evidence about those files, not a general conclusion that the publications always match.

10.3 Distinguish publication and effective dates

A Federal Register document can have a publication date, effective date, comment deadline, and other dates. Record each by its function. A citation locating a document in the Federal Register does not by itself establish when its provisions began to govern.

Pattern only: [Document title], [volume] Fed. Reg. [first page], [pinpoint] ([publication date]) ([status or codification information when useful]). Confirm whether you are citing the preamble, amendatory instructions, regulatory text, or another portion. Those portions can perform different jobs in the argument.

When tracing an amendment, connect the published document with the affected code provision. Check corrections and later changes before relying on a date or quotation. If the question concerns the agency's explanation, cite the explanatory passage. If it concerns the operative codified language, identify that language directly.

10.4 Identify court rules by rule system

“Rule 12” is not enough when several rule systems are in play. Identify the federal, state, local, or tribunal rule set. Preserve subdivisions and the version relevant to the work.

Citation Code model: Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(8)(A). That form identifies the particular provision requiring an appellant's argument to include contentions and reasons with citations to relied-on authorities and record portions. It does not stand for every briefing requirement in the appellate rules.

For a local rule, include the court identity in the form expected by that court. Keep the local rule separate from a similarly numbered national rule. A handbook that prints both does not merge them into one source of authority.

10.5 Cite agency decisions as decisions

Record the agency or tribunal, proceeding name, decision or docket number, issuance date, source publication if any, and pinpoint. Determine whether the document is initial, final, recommended, modified, or under review. Use the status the issuing institution assigns; do not guess from the file name.

Pattern only: [Proceeding name], [decision identifier], at [page or paragraph] ([agency or tribunal] [date]). A public URL can help retrieval. The URL should supplement the document identity rather than replace it.

When a document is confidential or accessible only in a private matter system, follow the receiving rules for submission and access. Do not invent a public link or imply that the document can be independently retrieved from a database that does not contain it.

Sources and convention notes

GPO CFR guide; GPO Federal Register guide; 2024 CFR title 1 bulk XML; eCFR title 1 bulk XML; Ninth Circuit handbook, FRAP 28(a)(8)(A). The agency-decision and Federal Register patterns are Citation Code editorial models to be completed from the actual source.