When you’re writing about the U.S. Constitution, you’ll almost certainly encounter The Federalist Papers. This collection of 85 essays is a cornerstone of American political science. Knowing how to cite the Federalist Papers correctly is essential for any research paper or history essay. Who is the author? What’s the publication date? The originals were published anonymously in 1787 and 1788 in New York newspapers. This complete guide covers the Federalist Papers citation format for MLA, APA, Chicago, and Bluebook, making your arguments stronger and your bibliographies flawless.
How to Cite the Federalist Papers: The Essentials
- Identify the Author: Credit the specific author of the paper you are citing (Hamilton, Madison, or Jay). If you’re discussing the collection generally, you can refer to all three.
- Cite the Edition: You must cite the version of the book you actually used, as page numbers will vary. Common modern editions are edited by Clinton Rossiter (New American Library) or George W. Carey and James McClellan (Liberty Fund).
- Specify the Paper Number: Always include the specific essay number (e.g., Federalist No. 10 or Federalist No. 78) in your text or citation.
- Follow the Style Guide: Adapt the core information to fit the rules of your required citation style, whether it’s MLA, APA, Chicago, or Bluebook for law students.
A Bit of Background
Before we get into citation specifics, understanding what you’re citing is key. After the Constitutional Convention, the newly proposed government framework needed to be ratified. To persuade the skeptical public, especially in New York, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay teamed up. Under the shared pseudonym “Publius,” they wrote a series of 85 essays. These were originally published in newspapers like the Independent Journal and the New York Packet (sometimes referred to as the York Packet).
These papers weren’t just political ads. They were a profound exploration of the new constitution, covering topics from the separation of powers to the role of the judiciary. Today, judges, including the Supreme Court, still reference the Federalist Papers to interpret the Constitution. Think of citing them as joining a conversation that has been going on for over 200 years.
The reason accurate Federalist Papers citation matters so much is simple: there are multiple editions with different page numbers, and the original author attribution was disputed for decades. Getting your citation wrong means pointing readers to the wrong page or the wrong author. Modern scholarly editions solve this, but you must specify which one you used.
A quick tip: while Alexander Hamilton was the project’s initiator, James Madison (fourth president of the U.S.) wrote some of the most famous essays, including No. 10 and No. 51. John Jay, who would become the first chief justice, wrote only five due to illness.
Which Edition of The Federalist Papers Should You Cite?
Because The Federalist Papers have been reprinted in dozens of editions, choosing the right one matters. Different editions use different page numbering, introductions, and editorial notes. Here is a comparison of the three most commonly assigned editions:
| Edition | Editor | Publisher | Year | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New American Library | Clinton Rossiter | Signet Classic / NAL | 1961 | Most academic papers |
| Liberty Fund / Gideon ed. | Carey & McClellan | Liberty Fund | 2001 | Political science, law school |
| Yale University Press | Jacob E. Cooke | Yale University Press | 1961 | Scholarly research, graduate study |
The Rossiter edition (NAL) is the most widely cited in undergraduate courses and is what most style guides reference in their examples. The Federalist Papers also function similarly to book chapters within an edited collection, so the same citation principles apply as when citing books with an editor.
How to Cite the Federalist Papers: MLA, APA, and Chicago
To cite Federalist Papers accurately, you must credit both the original author and the editor of the collection you are using. The core components are: the author’s name (Hamilton, Madison, or Jay), the essay number, the title of the collection, the editor’s name, the publisher, and the year of publication. For a complete digital version of the original text, you can visit the Library of Congress’s Full Text of The Federalist Papers.
The examples below use Federalist No. 10 by James Madison from the New American Library edition edited by Clinton Rossiter. This is the most commonly cited edition in academic writing.
MLA 9th Edition
MLA style focuses on the author and the page where the information was found. Your Works Cited entry gives the full publication details, while the in-text citation is a brief pointer to that entry. Use our free MLA citation generator to format entries automatically.
In-Text Citation Example:
Madison argued that a large republic is the best defense against factions, as the diversity of interests makes it difficult for a single group to dominate (77).
Works Cited Entry Example:
Madison, James. “Federalist No. 10.” The Federalist Papers, edited by Clinton Rossiter, New American Library, 1961, pp. 77-84.
APA 7th Edition
APA style emphasizes the publication date, which is crucial in scientific and social science writing. The in-text citation includes the author’s last name and the year. Our APA citation generator can format your Federalist Papers citation in seconds.
In-Text Citation Example:
It was argued that a large republic helps to control the “mischiefs of faction” (Madison, 1961, p. 77).
Reference List Entry Example:
Madison, J. (1961). Federalist No. 10. In C. Rossiter (Ed.), The Federalist Papers (pp. 77-84). New American Library.
Chicago 17th Edition (Notes-Bibliography)
Chicago style is popular in the humanities and offers great flexibility. In the notes-bibliography format, you use footnotes to provide citation details, which keeps your main text clean and readable. Try our Chicago citation generator for fast, accurate formatting.
In-Text (Footnote) Example:
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison famously addressed the dangers of factions in a democratic government.¹
Footnote Example:
1. James Madison, “Federalist No. 10,” in The Federalist Papers, ed. Clinton Rossiter (New York: New American Library, 1961), 78.
Bibliography Entry Example:
Madison, James. “Federalist No. 10.” In The Federalist Papers, edited by Clinton Rossiter, 77–84. New York: New American Library, 1961.
These Federalist Papers citation formats follow the same structure used when citing an article in an essay from an edited collection. The key difference is the essay number, which makes the Federalist Papers unique.
How to Cite Federalist No. 51 and No. 78
The steps for how to cite the Federalist Papers stay the same for every essay in the collection. Only the author, essay number, and page range change. Here are two more examples students frequently need:
Federalist No. 51 (Madison) in APA:
Madison, J. (1961). Federalist No. 51. In C. Rossiter (Ed.), The Federalist Papers (pp. 320-325). New American Library.
Federalist No. 78 (Hamilton) in MLA:
Hamilton, Alexander. “Federalist No. 78.” The Federalist Papers, edited by Clinton Rossiter, New American Library, 1961, pp. 464-472.
If you need to cite Hamilton’s essays on taxation (No. 12) or foreign relations (No. 11), the structure is identical. Follow the pattern: author last name, essay number, collection title, editor, publisher, year, and page range.
Citing The Whole Collection and Using Bluebook
What if you’re not citing a single paper but the entire collection? In that case, you would list the editors as the primary authors. For instance, the Liberty Fund edition would be cited under George W. Carey and James McClellan.
MLA Works Cited for the Whole Collection:
Rossiter, Clinton, ed. The Federalist Papers. New American Library, 1961.
APA Reference for the Whole Book:
Carey, G. W., & McClellan, J. (Eds.). (2001). The Federalist. Liberty Fund.
For students in law or government, you might need to use The Bluebook, which is the standard for legal citation. Its format is precise and different from academic styles. The goal is to point readers to the original source material with absolute clarity.
Bluebook Footnote Example:
THE FEDERALIST NO. 51, at 262 (James Madison) (Clinton Rossiter ed., 1961).
This structure clearly identifies the title, number, page number, author, and the specific edition used. A word to the wise: Bluebook rules are notoriously complex, so always double-check your guide.
Citation Styles at a Glance
Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the Federalist Papers citation formats? Here’s a table to help you keep the main differences straight. This focuses on citing a single paper from an edited collection.
| Style | In-Text Citation Key Feature | Bibliography/Reference List Title | Author Format in Bibliography |
|---|---|---|---|
| MLA 9 | (Author Last Name Page) | Works Cited | Last Name, First Name. |
| APA 7 | (Author Last Name, Year) | References | Last Name, F. I. |
| Chicago 17 (NB) | Superscript number for footnote | Bibliography | Last Name, First Name. |
How to Cite the Federalist Papers from Online Sources
Many students now access the Federalist Papers online. Citing a digital source is similar to citing a print one, but you need to add information about its online location. If you are citing a website, the rules of how to cite a website in an essay apply. Essentially, you will add the URL and the date you accessed the material.
Because the Federalist Papers were originally published as newspaper columns, the same approach used for citing newspaper articles applies to their earliest print versions. For online databases and archives, follow the URL and access-date rules below.
MLA Works Cited for an Online Version:
Hamilton, Alexander. “Federalist No. 1.” The Federalist Papers, Library of Congress, guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/full-text. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
Correctly citing sources is fundamental to academic integrity. For additional help, you can explore resources on Mastering Citations or use a reliable citation generator to streamline the process. Just remember that generators are tools, not replacements for understanding the rules.
Common Mistakes When Citing the Federalist Papers
Even experienced writers make errors when formatting a Federalist Papers citation. Here are the four most common mistakes and how to fix them.
Mistake 1: Listing “Publius” as the author. Publius was the shared pen name. Modern citation standards require you to use the actual author’s name (Hamilton, Madison, or Jay).
Correct: Madison, James. “Federalist No. 10.” in MLA format, or (Madison, 1961) in APA.
Mistake 2: Using the wrong year. Students often guess 1787 or 1788 (original publication). When citing a modern edition, use the edition’s year (e.g., 1961 for the Rossiter edition, 2001 for the Liberty Fund edition).
Correct: Always cite the edition you read, not the original newspaper publication date.
Mistake 3: Omitting the essay number. Unlike journal articles, where volume and issue numbers identify the piece, Federalist Papers are identified by their number. Leaving it out makes your citation incomplete. For comparison, the rules for citing journal articles show how similar identifiers work in standard references.
Correct: Always include “Federalist No. [X]” in both your in-text citation and your bibliography entry.
Mistake 4: Skipping the editor’s name. Because you are citing an essay within an edited book, you must acknowledge both the essay author and the collection editor (e.g., Clinton Rossiter or Carey and McClellan).
Correct: Include “edited by Clinton Rossiter” (MLA) or “In C. Rossiter (Ed.)” (APA) in your reference.
Who do I credit as the author for each paper?
Authorship for most of the Federalist Papers is well-established. Alexander Hamilton wrote 51 essays, James Madison wrote 29, and John Jay wrote 5. The authorship of 12 essays was once disputed, but scholars now generally agree on their authors. When Hamilton listed the authors, there was some confusion. For a definitive list, check the introduction of a scholarly edition, like the one from Liberty Fund or the New American Library edition by Clinton Rossiter. Always cite the author credited in the specific edition you are using.
Do I need to include “Publius” in my citation?
No, you generally do not need to mention the pseudonym “Publius” in your citation. Modern academic standards require you to cite the actual author (Hamilton, Madison, or Jay). Mentioning “Publius” might be useful for context in the body of your essay, especially if you are discussing the rhetorical strategy of the Founding Fathers, but it doesn’t belong in the formal citation itself.
What if I’m citing a paper about the judiciary, like Federalist No. 78?
The process is the same regardless of the paper’s subject. For Federalist No. 78, which discusses the judiciary department, you would credit its author, Alexander Hamilton. For example, an in-text APA citation might look like this: (Hamilton, 1961). The principles you follow to cite the paper remain consistent; only the author and paper number change.
How do I cite the Federalist Papers in Chicago style?
To cite the Federalist Papers in Chicago style, use a footnote for your in-text reference and a bibliography entry at the end of your paper. For a single essay: footnote format is “Author First Last, ‘Federalist No. X,’ in The Federalist Papers, ed. Clinton Rossiter (New York: New American Library, 1961), page.” The bibliography entry reverses the author’s name and removes the footnote number. For the full collection in Chicago, cite the editor: Rossiter, Clinton, ed. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, 1961.
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Terry is a Chicago-based writer and editor who creates practical, student-friendly guides on essay writing, research, and citation styles (APA, MLA, and Chicago). He’s spent 15+ years editing educational content and building clear examples that help readers apply rules without guessing. When he’s not revising drafts, he’s usually turning messy notes into clean outlines and hunting down the one detail everyone skips.