U.S. Government Information

Why should government documents should be cited?

Works of the U.S. federal government are generally automatically in the public domain and not protected by copyright. There are numerous exceptions and refinements to this rule for U.S. government works. Therefore, you still need to attribute or cite the source and author as part of your obligation to allow others to search for the content you cite. The followings are APA 7th edition Examples:

References Format

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. OR Government Name. Name of Government Agency. (Year). Title: Subtitle (Report No. xxx [if available]). Publisher.

Federal or State Statute

Name of Act, Public Law No. (Year). URL

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Publ. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ148/pdf/PLAW-111publ148.pd

Report by individual authors or a Government Agency or Other Organization

Organization Name. (Year). Title of report. URL

United States Government Accountability Office. (2019). Performance and accountability report: Fiscal year 2019. https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/702715.pdf

Report by Individual Authors at Government Agency or Other Organization

In-Text citation (paraphrase):

(Palanker, D., Volk, J., Lucia, K., & Thomas, K., 2018)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

Palanker, D., Volk, J., Lucia, K., & Thomas, K., 2018,  p.2)