When writing a research essay (especially in fields such as history, political science, or international law), you may have to cite a treatise as a source. The basic information that you include in your appointment will generally be the same for different dating styles. However, the format will vary depending on whether you use the rules of the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association (APA), the Chicago style, or the Turabian style (which is the student version of the Chicago one). The APA format is the same as the Bluebook method, which you must use if you are going to write in the legal field.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: MLA Style
Step 1. Begin by listing the government entity as the author
If you have accessed the treaty through a government website, the government entity will be the author. Put the country first, a comma, and then the specific division of the government that ratifies the treaty. Put a period at the end.
- For example, in the US, the Senate ratifies treaties, so it is considered the author of the treaty. If you have accessed a treaty through the Senate website, you should put it like this: "United States, Senate."
- If the author is not from a specific country, start the entry for the works cited section with the title of the treatise, rather than an author.
Step 2. Include the title in a normal font
Capitalize the name in the first word and all adjectives, nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adverbs in the title. Put a period at the end.
For example: United States, Senate. Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Entertainment
Step 3. Enter the name of the post and a URL, if appropriate
In the MLA style, you should direct readers to the exact copy of the tract that you read when you wrote the essay. If it was in a book or on a web page, include the name of the work in italics. If you have accessed the treaty on the internet, write a comma after the name and then copy the URL of the permanent link to the treaty in a normal font. Do not include the "http:" section. Put a period at the end of the URL.
For example: United States, Senate. Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Entertainment. Congress.gov, www.congress.gov/114/cdoc/tdoc8/CDOC-114tdoc8.pdf
Step 4. Finish with a brief description of the document
Indicate that the document you are citing is a treatise, even if the word "treatise" is included in the title. For a bilateral treaty, it indicates both parties to it. Otherwise, it indicates that it is a “multilateral treaty”. Put a period at the end of the description.
For example: United States, Senate. Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Entertainment. Congress.gov, www.congress.gov/114/cdoc/tdoc8/CDOC-114tdoc8.pdf. Treaty between the United States and the People's Republic of China
MLA style citation format:
Country, Government Division. Title of the Treaty. Name of the Website or Publication, URL. Description of the Treaty.
Step 5. Use the in-text citation to direct the reader to the works cited entry
For in-text citations in the MLA style, you will generally place a parenthesis that includes the author's last name and the page number on which the material appears at the end of any sentence in which you refer to the source. However, this formula might not work for treaties. In most cases, the first few words of the post will suffice for readers to find the correct full quote.
- For example, if you are going to talk about the Beijing Treaty, including only "United States, Senate" will not do on its own (especially if you have also used other treaties or government documents as sources). Instead, the parenthetical quote could look like this: (United States, Senate, Beijing Treaty 12).
- If the copy of the treatise that you have used as a source does not have a page number, do not include a number in the citation in parentheses.
- If you mention the name of the treatise in the text, you may not need a parenthetical citation at all. However, if the treatise has a number of pages, you will still need a citation in parentheses with the number of the page on which the material you have cited or paraphrased appears.
Method 2 of 3: APA and Bluebook Style
Step 1. Put the full title of the treatise first
The reference list entry begins with the full title of the treatise. Capitalize the first word and all adjectives, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, verbs and words with more than 4 letters. Put a comma at the end of the title.
For example: Pacific Salmon Treaty,
Step 2. Include the names of the parties involved in the agreement
If the treaty is bilateral, include an abbreviation for each party involved, separated by hyphens. If there are more than 2 signers, you have the option to include or omit them. The standard rule of thumb is that if the United States is a party to the treaty, put the United States first, then the other signatories in alphabetical order. If the US is not a party to the treaty, list the signatories in alphabetical order. Put a comma after the last country.
- For example: Pacific Salmon Treaty, US-Can.,
- Appropriate abbreviations for geographic terms are included in Table 10 of the Bluebook manual. If you can't get one of these manuals at your local library, use an academic search engine (like Google Scholar) to find citations to the treatise online. Find a legal quote and copy its abbreviation.
Step 3. Include the date the treaty was signed
Write the date in the format of day, month and year, abbreviating the months to no more than 4 letters. Put a comma after the date. If the parties signed on different dates, enter the date it was available to sign or it was adopted or approved. Write the importance of the date in italics before it.
- Example with signature date: Pacific Salmon Treaty, US-Can., Jan 28. from 1985,
- Example without signature date: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, available for signature on May 23. from 1969,
Step 4. Finish with the source of the treaty
When using the APA or Bluebook citation format, you must cite an official source that publishes treatise texts. Some of these sources have volume and page numbers, while others use reference numbers. Put a period at the end of the source information.
- If the font has a reference number, write the initials of the font and then this number. Write it like this: Treatise On Pacific Salmon, US-Can., Jan 28. of 1985, TIAS 11091.
- If the font has volume and page numbers, type the volume number and then the font abbreviation. Then write the number of the page on which the tract begins. For example: Treaty On Pacific Salmon, US-Can., Jan 28. 1985, 1469 U. N. T. S. 357.
- The main official sources include the United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (U. S. T.), Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS), and the United Nations Treaty Series (U. N. T. S.).
APA and Bluebook citation format:
Title of the Treaty, Part A-Part B, importance of the date date (in day, month and year), Official Source.
Step 5. Use the title of the treatise and the year for in-text citations
At the end of any sentence in which you quote or paraphrase the treatise, include a parenthetical citation with its title and then a comma. Add the year that you have included in the appointment. The quotation in parentheses will go inside the closing point.
- For example: (Treatise on Pacific Salmon, 1985).
- If the title is long, you may have to include it in the text of the essay and not in parentheses, where it could be distracting to readers. If you put the full title in the text, include the year in parentheses right after.
- If you are writing an essay using the Bluebook method, include the full citation in footnotes. Generally, you will not have a reference list or bibliography at the end of an essay in Bluebook format.
Method 3 of 3: Chicago and Turabian Style
Step 1. Write the title of the treatise in double quotation marks
The bibliographic entry begins with the title of the treatise. Capitalize adjectives, adverbs, nouns, pronouns and verbs. Put a period at the end, outside the closing quotation mark.
For example: "Treaty on the Restriction of Nuclear Weapons"
Step 2. Enter the date it was signed
Put the date in the format of day, month and year. Do not abbreviate the month. If there is no signature date, write a description of the importance of the day before the date. You can use the date it was available to sign or it was approved, ratified, or adopted. Put a period at the end of the date.
For example: "Treaty on the Restriction of Nuclear Weapons". Available for signature July 1, 1968
Step 3. Include the publication data of the source
Italicize the title of the source you used to access the treatise and then place a comma. Include any volume or reference number for the source, then the year of publication in parentheses. Place a colon after the closing parenthesis and indicate the range of pages where you can find the treatise in the source. Place a period after the final page number.
For example: "Treaty on the Restriction of Nuclear Weapons". Available for signature July 1, 1968. Treaty Series: Treaties and International Agreements Registered or Filed and Recorded with the Secretariat of the United Nations 729, No. 10485 (1974): 161-299
Step 4. Finish with the URL, if appropriate
If the source has a copy of the URL on their official website, copy the direct link to the treatise at the end of the quote. This will allow readers to access the text more easily. Put a period at the end of the URL.
For example: "Treaty on the Restriction of Nuclear Weapons". Available for signature July 1, 1968. Treaty Series: Treaties and International Agreements Registered or Filed and Recorded with the Secretariat of the United Nations 729, No. 10485 (1974): 161-299
Chicago Style Bibliographic Format:
"Title of the Treaty". Description of the importance of this day date (in day, month and year). Title of the source that Contains the Text of the Treaty No. of vol. and reference (year): page numbers. URL.
Step 5. Use commas instead of periods to separate items in footnotes
When you refer to the treatise in the text of the essay, put a superscript number at the end of the sentence, outside the closing punctuation mark. The footnote has the same information as the bibliography entry, but the items are separated by commas instead of periods. The only point you will have is the end.
- For example: "Treaty on the Restriction of Nuclear Weapons," available for signature July 1, 1968, Treaty Series: Treaties and International Agreements Registered or Filed and Recorded with the Secretariat of the United Nations 729, No. 10485 (1974): 161-299,
- If you're citing it in full in the footnote, include the full page range. Otherwise, directly quote the page or page range where you can find the material cited or paraphrased in the text.