# >> Continuing Education >> Writing Guides

How to Cite the Constitution in APA Format

Since the American Psychological Association (APA) format is mostly used in behavioral and social sciences, the need to quote and cite the United States Constitution may be likely. In research papers and other documents, the APA regulates how a document should be formatted and cited, from embedded citations to headers and footers. With the U.S. Constitution having many sections, amendments, articles and clauses, knowing how to create an APA formatted citation can make your paper up to standards.

Instructions

- 1
  Make a direct reference to the U.S. Constitution by using phrases such as, "According to the U.S. Constitution ..." or "Referring to the U.S. constitution ..."
- 2
  Embed the citation to the end of the sentence in parenthesis. For every citation, begin with "U.S. Const." followed by the article number, amendment, section and clause numbers in that order. Article should be abbreviated as "art," clause as "cl.," section as "sect." and amendment as "amend."
- 3
  Cite the constitution in a reference list. Follow the same format as outlined in Step 2 and add additional decisions made by the court followed by the year the decision was made. For example, if the U.S. Constitution repealed the 1993 decision for amendment 18, your reference list would include:
  
  U.S. Const. amend. XVIII (repealed 1933)

How to Use an Apostrophe After a Date

Problems Affecting Effective Story Writing

Writing Guides