Federal Legislation

Government documents and government information can be confusing to cite because of their many formats. Unlike standard publications, they do not necessarily follow the APA style pattern of “author, title, publisher, date.” If you need help, reach out to the Government Information librarian.

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Note: CFR is issued every year. Be sure to include which year you're citing.

Basic form
Name. Title number. Code of Federal Regulations as an acronym. Part section number (edition by year). url

Example
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. 7 C.F.R. § 246 (2021). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-II/subchapter-A/part-246

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

Basic form
Author. (date). Title of report italicized (CRS Report number). url

Example
McCarty, M. (2014, Feb 7). An Overview of the Section 8 Housing Programs: Housing Choice Vouchers and Project-Based Rental Assistance (CRS Report No. RL32284). https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL32284

GAO Report

Basic form
Agency Name. (date). Title of GAO report italicized (GAO Report number). url

Example
Government Accountability Office. (2021). Use of data to verify eligibility varies among selected programs and opportunities exist to promote additional use. (GAO Publication No. 21-183). https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-183

Green Book  

Website example
Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives. (2014). 2014 Green book: Background material and data on the programs within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means (22nd ed.). http://greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/2014-green-book

Print book example
Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives. (2004). 2004 Green book: Background material and data on the programs within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means (18th ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office.

Government Website
Note: For a page on a government website without individual authors, use the specific agency responsible for the webpage as the author. More APA tips on siting government websites     

Basic form
Agency. (year). Name of page italicized. url

Example
Social Security Administration. (2021). Supplemental Security Income. https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/index.htm

Public Law

Basic form
Name of Act, Public Law number, Volume number of Statutes. Page number. Year

Example
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119. (2010).

Assistance Listings at Sam.gov

Basic form
Agency. Title of program italicized. (date). url

Example
U.S. General Services Administration. Supplemental nutrition assistance program. (2021). https://sam.gov/fal/8089e199387a4d83bcbf7cae710f25b1/view

General Notes

• The reference citations are double spaced with no additional lines between them.
• Dates on web pages can be one of two things: Date Posted or Date Last Updated.
• If the author of a page is hard to discern, and it comes from an agency website, use the agency's name as the “Author.”
• References that go past the first line have a hanging indent.
• All references are in alphabetical order.

This is an example of a hanging indent. A hanging indent can easily be created by first typing your citations without any formatting. Then, highlight all your citations, and hit “Control+T” on your keyboard. Microsoft Word will automatically create a hanging indent for you.