Government Publications and Patents & Trademarks Librarian
Introduction
Government Publications play a pivotal role as authoritative sources of information, encompassing a wide array of materials, including Congressional Reports and Hearings, Public Law, Government Agency and Department Reports, Supreme Court Cases, and more. Understanding how to cite these publications correctly is crucial for maintaining the integrity and credibility of your work!
General Citation Principles
Consult LSU Libraries Citation Research Guide for an overview about Academic Integrity, and further information about why citations matter and guidelines for the specific citation style that you are using.
Before you begin to create your citations for government publications, consider the following citation principles:
- Consider what style manual is required for your work and adapt to is as necessary. (MLA, Chicago, APA, etc.)
- Provide enough information to be informative and useful. Give essential bibliographic elements so that other researchers, professors, and librarians can find what you're referring to.
- Be consist in whatever citation style you decide to adopt.
- Be careful in using URLs. URLs are not needed for official documents such as the Federal Register, Congressional Record, congressional reports and documents, and legal cases. If it has been cataloged by the GPO, indexed in a citation database, or is a major government publication, there is no need to tell users the URL you used.
Resources About Citing Government Information Sources Available At LSU Libraries
The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources by
A detailed style manual prepared by a team of documents librarians representing the Government Documents Round Table of ALA. This manual is library-use only; contact libgovdocs@lsu.edu for more information.
Call Number: J9.5 .C43 2002ISBN: 9780886925864Publication Date: 2002-01-01
The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources by Call Number: Z7164 .G7 G37 1993ISBN: 9780886922542Publication Date: 1993-06-01- Citing Records in the National Archives of the United States by Call Number: Electronic ResourcePublication Date: Revised in 2010
Style Manual by
Published since 1894, the GPO Style Manual is issued under the authority of section 1105 of title 44 of the U.S. Code by the Director of the GPO. The manual is prepared by the GPO Style Board as a guide to the style and form of Federal Government publishing. The GPO Style Manual has become a major reference source for professionals involved in the field of Federal printing and publishing.
Call Number: Electronic ResourceISBN: 9780160936012Publication Date: 2017-01-11
