Bluebook 20th edition changes (taken from the new preface; rule language inserted as deemed

necessary).
The Bluepages now parallel the Whitepages—helping practitioners cite a broader range of sources and
greatly improving cross-references. Typeface rules have been relaxed to accommodate practitioner use
of LARGE AND SMALL CAPS. Bluetable BT2 has also been expanded to include more local court citation
rules.
Rules:
 Rule 1.4(e) clarifies the order of authorities when federal and state legislative materials are
cited together.
Cite materials within each classification in reverse chronological order. If citing both
federal and state materials, cite federal materials first, in reverse chronological order.
Cite state materials in reverse chronological order and then alphabetically by state.
 Rule 1.5(b), the order of parentheticals has been changed to reflect the removal of the “internal
quotation marks omitted” and “available at” parentheticals.

 Rule 3.2(b) provides additional guidance for citing a range of pages and a single footnote within
the range in the same citation.
… To cite both a range of pages and also a single footnote that appears within the page
range, cite the page range followed by a comma and then cite the footnote in the typical
manner:
 Akhil Reed Amar, The Two-Tiered Structure of the Judiciary Act of 1789, 138 U.
PA. L. REV 1499, 1523–24, 1524 n.75 (1990).

 Rule 3.5 provides guidance on the naming conventions for subdivisions that are numbered or
otherwise designated in a piece.
… Use a consistent naming convention for subdivisions that are numbered or otherwise
designated in the piece (The Bluebook suggests using “Part” for main subdivisons and
“Section” for all smaller subdivisions); use “note” to refer to footnotes within the same
piece; use “p.” and “pp.” to refer to other pages within the same piece; “Figure” and
“Table” are used to refer to figures and tables within the same piece. A variety of forms
may be used.
 Rule 5.2(d)(i) no longer requires indicating the omission of internal quotation marks.

 Rule 5.2(f) provides guidance on the use of internal quotation marks.

(i) Internal quotation marks should be omitted if the opening mark appears at the very
beginning of an in-line quotation and the closing mark appears at the very end.
o Original: If “the agency’s answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute,”
that is the end of the matter.
o The dispositive question is whether “the agency’s answer is based on a permissible
construction of the statute.”
Not: The dispositive question is whether “‘the agency’s answer is based on a permissible
construction of the statute.’”
 (ii) Do not omit multiple levels of nested marks except as this rule allows, even though
“quoting” parentheticals beyond the first level may be omitted under rule 10.6.2. Alternate
between double and single quotation marks as appropriate.
o Original: In this context, “the distinction between ‘jurisdictional’ and ‘non-jurisdictional’
interpretations is a mirage.”
o The Court noted that, “[i]n this context, ‘the distinction between “jurisdictional” and
“non-jurisdictional” interpretations is a mirage.’”
Not: The Court noted that, “[i]n this context, ‘the distinction between jurisdictional and non-
jurisdictional interpretations is a mirage.’”

(iii) Do not fail to include a “quoting” parenthetical because this rule requires omission of
internal quotation marks (rather, omit “quoting” parentheticals only as allowed by rule
10.6.2).

(iv) Do not omit internal quotation marks in block quotations.

 Rule 10.2.1(f) requires the omission of all geographical terms that follow a comma.

 Rule 10.2.2 clarifies that words in a case name that would be abbreviated according to table T6
should not be abbreviated if the words are part of a state, country, or other geographical unit
that is the entire name of a party.

 Rule 10.9(a)(iii) provides additional guidance on the formation of slip opinion short forms.
(iii) Slip opinions.
For decisions available in only separately printed slip opinions (rule 10.8.1(b)), use the
following format:
o Commonwealth v. Sam, No. 4359, slip op. at 12 (Pa. Ct. Com. Pl. Oct. 20, 2005).
becomes: Sam, slip op. at 12.

When citing multiple slip opinions for the same case, either give each decision a unique
identifier in its initial citation or include a jurisdiction or date parenthetical in each short
form.
The following short forms are thus both acceptable:
o Doe v. Clenchy (Clenchy II), No. CV-09-201, slip op. at 4–6 (Me. Super. Ct. Nov.
20, 2012).
becomes: Clenchy II, slip op. at 5.
or:
o Doe v. Clenchy, No. CV-09-201, slip op. at 4–6 (Me. Super. Ct. Nov. 20, 2012).
becomes: Clenchy, slip op. at 5 (Me. Super. Ct. Nov. 20, 2012).

 Rule 11 [Constitutions] now provides guidance on the citation of multiple amendments,

sections within the same article, and clauses within the same section.
 Rule 12.9.4 combines former rules 12.9.4 and 12.9.5, provides guidance on citing principles, and
revises the citation format of model codes, restatements, standards, guidelines, and uniform
acts.

 Rule 13.5 clarifies what year should be cited when a debate occurs in a different year from
publication in the Congressional Record:
If the debate occurred in a different year from its publication in the Congressional
Record, cite the year in which the debate was published.
 Rule 14.2(b) has been expanded to include detailed information on citing comments to
agencies.

 Rule 14.2(d) includes examples of citing guidances and manuals, as well as detailed information
on citing opinion letters.

 Rule 14.4 provides detailed information on citing administrative sources found on commercial
electronic databases.
When citing to administrative materials contained in a commercial electronic database,
give the name of the database and any identifying codes or numbers that uniquely
identify the material. If the name of the database is not clear from the database
identifier, include it parenthetically at the end of the citation:
 FTC Credit Practices Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 444.1 (2000), WL 16 CFR § 444.1.
 Reichhold Chems., Inc., 91 F.T.C. 246 (1978), 1978 WL 206094.
 39 Op. Att’y Gen. 484 (1940), 1940 US AG LEXIS 16.
 Rev. Rul. 86-71, 1986-1 C.B. 102, 1986 IRB LEXIS 189.

 Rule 15.8(a) updates the citation formats for BALLENTINE’S LAW DICTIONARY AND BLACK’S LAW
DICTIONARY

o Noscitur a sociis, BALLENTINE’S LAW DICTIONARY (3d ed. 1969).

o Good-Faith Bargaining, BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (9th ed. 2009).

 Rule 15.9 removes language that requires the use of “available at” in parallel citations.

 Rule 15.9(c) [NEW!] introduces a citation format for ebooks, stipulating that the print versions
of books are authoritative, but that ebooks may be cited if they are the sole media through
which the book is available.

 Rule 16.6(a) requires that opinion pieces in newspapers be cited as “Opinion” rather than“Op-
Ed.”

 Rule 16.6(f) clarifies that online newspapers may be used in place of print newspapers.

 Rule 18 has been updated in a number of areas to account for the increasing use and varied
forms of Internet sources. The rule no longer separately categorizes Internet citations as either
direct or parallel; all citations are treated as direct.
  Rule 18.2.1(b)(ii) provides for the direct citation of Internet sources that share the
characteristics of a print source such that they can be fully cited according to another rule,
whether or not the source is in print.

 Rule 18.2.1(d) provides guidance on how to cite Internet sources using archival tools.

Archiving of Internet sources is encouraged, but only when a reliable archival tool is available.
For citations to Internet sources, append the archive URL to the full citation in brackets:
 Tom Goldstein, Somewhat Significant Settlement, SCOTUSBLOG (Feb. 7, 2005, 8:54
PM), http://www.scotusblog.com/2005/02/somewhat-significant-settlement
[http://web.archive.org/web/20050208081922/www.scotusblog.com/movabletype].
 Letter from Rose M. Oswald Poels, President/CEO, Wis. Bankers Ass’n, to Elizabeth M.
Murphy, Sec’y, SEC (Sept. 17, 2013), http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-03-13/s70313-
178.pdf [http://perma.cc/B7Z7D9DJ].

 Rule 18.2.2(a) provides guidance on citing author information on social media platforms.

 Rules 18.2.2(b)(iii) and 18.2.2(b)(v) detail how to cite titles for blogs contained within a larger
website and titles for social media posts, respectively.

 Rule 18.3 now catalogs where within The Bluebook guidance is provided for citing various
sources found on commercial electronic databases.

 Rule 21 has been expanded to include new rules for citing materials from the International
Monetary Fund and the International Criminal Court and has adopted simpler ways of citing
United Nations documents.
Tables:
 Table T1 has been revised to reflect the most current titles for the various statutory
compilations, session laws, and administrative compilations and registers.
 The abbreviations following the states and District of Columbia in table T1.3 have been revised
to follow the abbreviation convention for jurisdiction names in the date parenthetical of cases.
The citation formats for these sources have been updated to reflect as accurately as possible the
unique breakdown of information within each.
 Table T2 has been updated to reflect changes in local law and legal citation.
 The format of table T13 has been changed from an inclusive list of periodicals to a more general
guide to abbreviating periodicals.
 Table T13.1 contains the abbreviations of common institutional names
 Table T13.2 lists common words found in periodical titles. The table also prescribes abbreviating
geographical terms according to table T10.
 If a word in a periodical title is not included in any of the previously listed tables,
revamped table 13 prescribes including the full word.
 Terms have been added to tables T6, T8, T14, and T15 as appropriate.