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Bluebook 101

Basic information for getting started with The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation

Major Changes in the 22nd Edition

22nd Edition: Substantial Rework of Legal Citation

The 22nd edition of The Bluebook, released at the end of May 2025, is the most substantial change to legal citation in at least a decade. While previous editions always attempted to keep up with practitioner and scholar practices of using online resources, the 22nd edition makes fundamental changes to citations in this area that better align with its underlying principle as stated in the introduction to "lead the reader directly to the specific items cited." The following pages guide take you through the changes in the 22nd edition, as compared with the content that was in the 21st edition.
 

Changes that Apply Throughout the 22nd Edition

Changes that Apply Throughout White Pages

 
All Rules Typeface Descriptor Language TERMINOLOGY CHANGE "Large and small capitals" becomes "Small capitals" Throughout the 22nd edition, this typeface is now referred to as "small capitals", when in previous editions it was called "large and small capitals."
All Rules Archival Information for Web-Based Resources EXAMPLES throughout Throughout the White pages, all examples referring to web-based resources incorporate the new rule 18.2.1 requiring an archived version of the source as it existed at the time of citing to it. Such websites must either be preserved using an archival tool like perma.cc or be preserved in digital/physical form and be on file with either the author or the journal publishing the piece where the citation appears.