To cite a regulation, you need four pieces of information: the code or register where it appears, the title or volume number, the specific section, and a date. Arrange those pieces according to the style guide you’re following, whether that’s the Bluebook, APA, Chicago, or MLA, and adjust the abbreviations to match the level of government you’re citing. A well-formed citation lets a reader open the code and land on the exact provision without guessing.
The Four Building Blocks
Every regulation citation, no matter the jurisdiction or style, is built from the same parts:
- The name of the code or register, such as the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) or a state administrative code.
- The title or volume number, which is the broad subject grouping. The CFR is divided into 50 titles covering everything from agriculture to transportation.
- The section number, which points to the specific provision doing the work.
- The year or edition date, because regulations change and the reader needs to know which version you consulted.
When you’re pointing to something more granular than a full section, add the subsection, paragraph, and clause in the order they nest: section, then subsection in parentheses, then paragraph, then sub-paragraph. The CFR’s own citation rule at 1 C.F.R. § 8.9 says the code “may be cited by title and section,” and a pinpoint cite in Title 29 might read 29 C.F.R. § 1980.103(d)(2).1eCFR. 1 CFR 8.9 – Form of Citation
Federal Regulations in the CFR
The Code of Federal Regulations is the organized collection of rules issued by federal agencies, grouped by subject across 50 titles.2eCFR. eCFR Home A standard CFR citation follows this pattern:
Title Number C.F.R. § Section Number (Year)
A citation to the filing-of-complaints provision in Title 29 looks like: 29 C.F.R. § 1980.103 (2025).3eCFR. 29 CFR 1980.103 – Filing of Retaliation Complaints If the regulation has a commonly known name, some styles (particularly the Bluebook) place that name before the numerical citation: FTC Credit Practices Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 73.609 (2025).
Which Year Belongs in the Parenthetical
Two conventions compete here. The Bluebook approach is to cite the most recent annual edition of the CFR you consulted. The CFR is updated on a rolling quarterly schedule, so the “current” edition for a given title depends on when that title was last revised.4GovInfo. Code of Federal Regulations Annual Edition If you’re citing a Title 29 regulation in early 2026, the most recent annual edition covering Title 29 would be the one revised as of July 1, 2025, so you’d write (2025).
The alternative approach, common in court briefs, uses the year the regulation was last amended. If a rule hasn’t been touched since 2019, you’d write (2019) even though you pulled it from the current CFR. Some practitioners skip the year entirely when the rule is currently in effect and hasn’t been recently revised. Match whatever your style guide or court rules require, and stay consistent throughout the document.
Citing an Older Version of a Rule
If you need to reference a regulation as it existed before an amendment, cite the CFR edition that contained the older version and make clear in your text that you’re citing a prior version. For example: 40 C.F.R. § 60.17 (2018). Your surrounding text should note something like “as in effect before the 2021 amendment,” so the reader knows you’re intentionally pointing to an older edition.
Federal Register Citations
Not every federal rule lives in the CFR. Proposed rules, recently finalized rules that haven’t been incorporated into the next CFR edition, and public notices appear first in the Federal Register, the daily publication where agencies announce their regulatory actions.5Federal Register. Federal Register 101 The format is:
Volume Number Fed. Reg. Page Number (Date)
For example: 84 Fed. Reg. 45,900 (Sept. 3, 2019). That directs the reader to Volume 84 of the Federal Register, page 45,900, published on September 3, 2019.6GovInfo. Federal Register Vol. 84, No. 170, September 3, 2019, Rules and Regulations
Proposed Rules vs. Final Rules
Both proposed and final rules appear in the Federal Register, and your citation should signal which one you’re referencing. For a proposed rule, add a parenthetical showing status and where it will eventually be codified:
56 Fed. Reg. 9,754 (proposed Mar. 7, 1991) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 86)
For a final rule not yet codified, drop the word “proposed”:
84 Fed. Reg. 45,900 (Sept. 3, 2019) (to be codified at 20 C.F.R. pt. 401)
The distinction matters. Proposed rules don’t carry the force of law. A final rule does, even before it appears in the CFR. A reader who sees “proposed” in your citation knows the rule may never have taken effect.
Executive Orders
Executive orders are compiled in Title 3 of the CFR and also published in the Federal Register. The standard citation uses the order number and the CFR compilation:
Exec. Order No. 13,676, 3 C.F.R. 294 (2014)
In APA style, add the URL. In the Bluebook, cite to the Federal Register if the order is recent and hasn’t appeared in the annual Title 3 compilation yet. The executive order number is the anchor that makes the citation findable in any format.
State Regulations
State regulations follow the same logic as federal ones, but every state names and numbers its administrative code differently. You need three things: the state’s code abbreviation, the title or chapter number, and the section. A few examples show how the formats diverge:
- Alaska: Alaska Admin. Code tit. 8, § 15.160 (2023)
- Kentucky: 405 Ky. Admin. Regs. 1:120 (2019)
- California: Cal. Code Regs. tit. 22, § 51000 (2025)
The abbreviation, the separators between title and section, and whether the title number comes before or after the code name all vary. There’s no shortcut. Look up the correct abbreviation for the specific state. The Bluebook’s Table T1 lists every state’s format, and most state administrative code websites display the correct citation on each regulation’s page.
State Registers for Newly Adopted Rules
Just as the Federal Register captures rules not yet in the CFR, most states publish a register for recently adopted or proposed rules. The format parallels the Federal Register citation: name the register, give the volume and page, and include the date. A Minnesota regulation not yet codified might be cited as 449 Minn. Reg. 1,022 (Mar. 3, 2025). Not every state prints a register, but most make recently adopted rules available through a state register website or bulletin.
Local Ordinances
City ordinances and county codes are the least standardized citation type. There is no universal numbering system. The citation should identify the jurisdiction, the code name, and the section:
- Cincinnati, Ohio, Municipal Code § 302-5
- Des Moines, Iowa, Municipal Code § 6.3
Include the year of the code if available. Some municipal codes are updated on a rolling basis and don’t have discrete annual editions, in which case you can include the date you accessed the code. Give enough detail that someone can find the provision: jurisdiction name, code name, and section number at minimum.
Many local codes exist only on third-party hosting platforms rather than official government websites, so the “official” version may be a printed copy held at city hall.7Clerk of Council. Municipal Code When precision matters, verify the online version against the official published version.
How the Style Guides Differ
The core information stays the same across style guides. What changes is the arrangement, punctuation, and what gets emphasized.
Bluebook
The Bluebook is the default in legal writing. Its format for a codified federal regulation is:
Rule Name (if commonly known), Volume C.F.R. § Section (Year).
For the Federal Register: Volume Fed. Reg. Page (Date) (to be codified at Volume C.F.R. pt. Part).
The Bluebook requires the year of the CFR edition you consulted and uses small caps for “C.F.R.” and “Fed. Reg.” in law review footnotes, though practitioners typically use ordinary type. Rule 14 covers administrative and executive materials in detail.
APA (7th Edition)
APA treats regulations as legal references, which follow a different format than standard APA entries. A codified federal regulation in APA looks like:
Title or Number, Volume C.F.R. § Section (Year). URL
An uncodified regulation uses “F.R.” instead of “C.F.R.” and adds a parenthetical showing where it will be codified. APA also expects a URL when the regulation is available online, which the Bluebook generally does not require. For executive orders, the APA format is: Exec. Order No. xxxxx, 3 C.F.R. Page (Year). URL.
Chicago and Turabian
The Chicago Manual of Style treats regulations similarly to other legal and government documents. In notes, include the title number, “C.F.R.” or the full name of the code, the section, and the year, following a format close to the Bluebook’s. In a bibliography entry, list the issuing department or agency as the author. Turabian, which adapts Chicago for student papers, follows the same conventions. Chicago generally defers to the Bluebook for legal citation details; Rule 14.276 in the 17th edition points readers to legal citation conventions.
MLA (9th Edition)
MLA treats government regulations as authored by the government entity. A Works Cited entry starts with the national government name, then the agency, then the subdivision, followed by the document title, publication date, and URL. The result reads more like a book entry than a legal citation:
United States, Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Filing of Retaliation Complaints. 2025, www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-1980.103.
MLA’s container-based approach puts the emphasis on who issued the regulation rather than on the code’s internal numbering. It works well for humanities papers where the reader needs to find the source but isn’t parsing legal arguments.
Short Forms for Repeat References
Once you’ve given the full citation, you don’t need to repeat every element the next time.
“Id.” is the workhorse. It refers to the immediately preceding citation. If you’re pointing to a different section of the same authority, add the new locator: Id. § 1980.104. This works for any authority, including regulations.
“Supra” is trickier. Bluebook convention discourages using it for regulations, statutes, and other primary legal authorities; it’s mainly reserved for secondary sources like books and articles. The practical alternative for regulations is a shortened section citation. Once you’ve established the full cite to 29 C.F.R. § 1980.103 (2025), you can refer to § 1980.105 without repeating the title, code name, or year.
In APA and Chicago, you’d typically give the full reference list entry once and use abbreviated in-text references thereafter. APA’s in-text parenthetical for a regulation is simply the title and section: (29 C.F.R. § 1980.103).
Where to Verify Regulations Before Citing
Getting the citation format right depends on finding the regulation in a reliable source.
The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) at ecfr.gov is the fastest way to find current federal regulations. It’s updated daily and is searchable by citation, keyword, or agency.8eCFR. Understanding the eCFR One caveat: the eCFR is not the official legal edition of the CFR. It describes itself as an “editorial compilation.”2eCFR. eCFR Home For legal filings, verify what you find on the eCFR against the official annual edition through GovInfo (govinfo.gov), published by the Government Publishing Office.9GovInfo. Code of Federal Regulations
The Federal Register and its archive live at federalregister.gov and GovInfo.10GovInfo. Federal Register For proposed rules and pending public comments, Regulations.gov is the portal where agencies post documents open for comment.11Regulations.gov. Regulations.gov FAQ
State administrative codes are typically available through each state’s secretary of state website or through legal databases. Many states also host their registers online for recently adopted rules. For local regulations, start with the city or county’s official website. If the jurisdiction doesn’t host its code online, third-party platforms like Municode and American Legal Publishing compile municipal codes for hundreds of jurisdictions. These platforms are useful for locating provisions, but the official version is usually the printed code maintained by the clerk’s office. Confirm the version is current before relying on it in formal work.