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The Citation Code
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Explain any citation

Paste a citation and see every part labeled: what it does, whether a rule requires it or it’s convention or house style, and the section of The Citation Code that explains it.

It doesn’t just correct a citation. It shows you why, part by part, and changes only what is certain.

One citation: a case, statute, regulation, constitution, session law, court rule, article or short form.

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What an explanation looks like

ExampleCase · 6 parts

14.1 Reading a case citation

Citation: Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954)

A court decision, identified by its name and its address in a reporter. Shown in the type of a brief or memo. Select a part to read about it.

Part by part

Case nameConvention

Brown v. Bd. of Educ.

Who the case is between: the first party on each side, shortened. Italicize it in briefs and memos.

The book on this: 14.4 Case names

VolumeConvention

347

The number of the reporter volume that prints the opinion.

The book on this: 14.5 Reporters, pages and parallel citations

ReporterConvention

U.S.

The series of published decisions, abbreviated with the periods and spaces courts use.

The book on this: 7.4 Courts, reporters and journals: identifiers, not words

First pageConvention

483

The page where the opinion begins. It stays the same whichever passage you cite.

The book on this: 4.1 Reading a pinpoint: first page, pinpoint and the source’s own locator

PinpointConvention

495

The exact page with the passage you cite. Include one whenever the case supports a particular point.

The book on this: 4.2 Pages: one page, several pages, a span

CourtConvention

— (not in this citation)

Correctly left out: U.S. prints only the Supreme Court's decisions.

Who decided it. Omit the court when the reporter publishes decisions of that one court alone.

The book on this: 14.3 The court-and-year parenthetical

YearConvention

1954

When the decision came down: not the argument date, the print date or the date it went online.

The book on this: 14.3 The court-and-year parenthetical

Rules that bind

Court rules that bind some filings, each with its official text and the date we last confirmed it.

Legal status

Laws and official notices behind this kind of source or its use, such as which text is the law. They don't set the form of the citation.

Next steps

What the labels mean

Each part of a citation carries one of the book’s four labels, or a dash when it only identifies the source, so you can tell what you must do from what is simply usual.

Requirement
A rule with legal force, such as a statute or a court rule, binds the documents it covers. We name it, link its official text and show when we last checked it.
Convention
What courts and practitioners usually do, backed by recorded usage. Follow it unless a binding rule, or the person you write for, wants another form.
House style
The Citation Code's own choice where practice splits, for reasons the book explains. Use it where no rule or convention settles the point, and stay consistent.
Unresolved
A question the research left open on the date shown. Check the current rule or ask whoever will receive your work.
No label
The part simply identifies the source, such as a title number, so there is no choice to make.
Legal status
Not a citation label: a law about the source itself, such as which text is official or what counts as proof of it. Shown with the result, never on a part.

The book on this: 1.3 What the labels mean

How it works

  • It reads the citation

    A rules-based reader finds the citation and splits it into parts. No AI guesses, so the same citation always gets the same answer.

  • It labels each part

    Each label comes from the research registry behind the book: 2,029 records of court rules, recorded usage and the book’s own decisions.

  • It fixes only what’s certain

    Periods, spacing, section signs and 2d or 3d are corrected, and each change says why. Anything that needs your judgment is noted, never changed.

Citations it explains

Each links to the section of the book that teaches it.

Questions

What does Explain Any Citation do?

It splits one citation into its parts, such as the case name, volume, reporter, section or year. For each part it says what the part does, gives it one of the book's four labels, and links the section of The Citation Code that teaches it. It fixes only what can't be in doubt, and lists every change.

What's the difference between a requirement and a convention?

A requirement comes from a rule with legal force, such as a statute or a court rule, and binds the documents it covers. Explain names that rule, links its official text and shows when it was last checked. A convention is what courts and practitioners usually do, backed by recorded usage. Follow it unless a binding rule, or the person you write for, wants another form.

What do house style and unresolved mean?

House style is The Citation Code's own choice where practice splits, for reasons the book explains; use it where no rule or convention settles the point. Unresolved marks a question the research left open on the date shown. A dash means the part only identifies the source, so there is no choice to make.

Does it rewrite my citation?

Only where the right form is certain: the periods in U.S.C. and C.F.R., the section sign and its spacing, §§ for two or more sections, the period in Id., 2d and 3d, and reporter spacing. A missing year, court or pinpoint is pointed out, never made up.

Does it check that a case exists?

No. Explain is about form. To confirm that a case exists and see the opinion, use the citation lookup. To check every citation in a brief or memo at once, use the document checker.

Is it free?

Yes, for everyone, with no account. It runs on the book's own rules and research records, with no AI, so the same citation always gets the same answer.

To confirm a case exists, use the citation lookup. To check a whole document, use the document checker.