Nature · Legislation
How to cite legislation in Nature
A legislation citation covers acts, statutes, and regulations: law as enacted, not commentary about it. The classic mistakes are citing a news story about the act instead of the act itself, and omitting the jurisdiction, which changes what the reader finds when two countries have same-named laws.
Worked example · Nature
1. Example Data Protection Act 2023. Statutes of Exampleland (2023).
Rendered with the official Nature style file from a placeholder source (reserved example DOI and domain), so the format is exactly what the style produces. In text: Superscript numbers in citation order, with a numbered reference list.
What to collect before you cite legislation
- The short title of the act, exactly as enacted
- The year of enactment
- The jurisdiction (country or state)
- The chapter, public-law, or statute number
- The official source or database where you read it
Have a DOI? Generate the reference instantly
Journal articles, many books and reports carry a DOI. Paste it and get the Nature entry from the same engine that produced the example above.
Citing a whole thesis, not one source?
CiteDash keeps your bibliography in Nature automatically, verifies every citation against a real paper, and compiles to DOCX, PDF or LaTeX.
Citing legislation in Nature: FAQ
Do I cite the act or the section?
Cite the act in the reference list; pinpoint the section in your in-text citation or sentence. Most styles keep section numbers out of the bibliography entry itself.
The act has been amended. Which version do I cite?
Cite the version you actually used, and say so: consolidated versions carry an as-amended date. Quoting the original when you read the consolidation misstates the law.
Does legislation have an author?
Most styles treat legislation as authorless: the title moves into the author position. Some prefer the legislature as a corporate author; follow your style's legal-materials rules.
What does the in-text citation look like in Nature?
Superscript numbers in citation order, with a numbered reference list.
Is the example on this page hand-written?
No. It is rendered by the same citation engine and official CSL style file CiteDash uses for full thesis bibliographies, from a clearly-marked placeholder source, and a test re-renders it on every release so the page can never drift from the engine.