By Sofia
Citation is never an easy thing to do if you found out from a good number of people. It might look like so in the first place but if you look deeper than you might realize that, that is not the case. One of the things that make citations somehow hard is the fact that they keep changing over time. This is exactly why you find a good number of people asking how to cite the constitution. If such a thing is so easy then why would people enquire so much about it?
Citing the constitution is even more complicated than any other type of citation. If you wish to do so then there are some challenges that you might have to contend with. For instance, you might have to look for accurate sources of information for your citation. Doing so might look like an easy thing but in reality, it is not, this process is way more complicated.
One thing that throws a twist into it is the fact that there are numerous sources of information to this. Being that a constitution is a special case means that it can be found in various sources. Therefore, for a person looking to know ways on how to cite the constitution you might find this process a bit challenging.
How to cite the constitution
Even though the process of citing the US constitution is very complicated, it is still possible to do this. Knowing how to cite the constitution itself is what you need to be looking for. Once you know how to do this, you will understand how to easily go about this process.
For the writers, there are quite a number of ways that you can use to carry out this process. With this in mind, therefore, this text looks into ways that you can use to cite the constitution. If you have been having issues knowing how to cite the constitution then this text will enable you to go about this process with ease.
Citing the US constitution with the use of APA
Citing the constitution with the use of APA is one of the ways you can use to carry out this process. There is a procedure that you can use to carry out this process and make it a success. If you wish to cite the constitution using this means then use the format below.
1: Come up with a sentence that requires a citation
If you are going to paraphrase or quote a section of the constitution then your sentence is going to need a constitution citation. For instance, you might want to use information about the constitution to back up your argument. However, if you do not know how to cite the constitution then carrying out this process might be somehow challenging to you.
If for instance, you are arguing for a freedom opinion in a paper then you can cite the constitution. There are quite a number of ways that you can use to do all this. For instance, if you are writing then you can write the United States of America, citizens of the country are guaranteed rights to freedom of the religion of their choice.
There are so many other examples that you can use in this regard. For instance, you can write the following, the US constitution notes the following: Congress will not take part in making laws that respect an establishment of religion or prohibiting it.
2: Add an in-text citation
If you need to know how to cite the constitution then this is also one of the methods you can use. For this method to work for you, you need to put the in-text citations right at the end of the sentence. However, there are many cases where this citation can come right after the author’s name or even the article.
Whichever way this goes, if you wish to make a constitution citation then better make sure you bring the citation at the end of the sentence. To make it even much better, you can begin with a parenthesis then follow that with the US constitution. Other than that, you can also make use of numerals for the amendment of the articles.
3: Make use of a reference at the end
You can note where your citation came from while writing. In fact, many people who seem to know how to cite the constitution use this approach. However, even in this case, you might still need to make citations right at the end of your paper. In many places, the basic constitution citation format is the same for both the text citations as well as references.
4: Make a date addition if it is needed
Many people looking for the best way on how to cite the constitution can make use of this approach as well. The approach might work well for you as a way of citing the constitution. However, if there is a constitutional amendment that is still in use then you need not include a date for the same.
On the other hand, if you are referring to an outdated part of the constitution then you might need to quote a date. Even in this case, you need to be careful and make sure that this date comes right after the citation. Doing so will give the reader a proper idea of what exactly you are trying to say and make it easy for them to make references as well.
In places where you cannot find proper dates, you can make use of years. For instance, any amendments that were made many years ago like in the 1920s then you can only quit the year. Doing so will still serve the same purpose perfectly.
Conclusion
Many people wish to cite the constitution in their writing works. However, many of them do not know how to cite the constitution which makes it somehow hard to do this. Being this way, some people find it a bit hard to cite the constitution in the right way when writing.
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