MS-Word / General Formatting

Adding Your Own Categories

Word comes with seven predefined table of authorities categories: Cases, Statutes, Other Authorities, Rules, Treatises, Regulations, and Constitutional Provisions. If these categories aren't sufficient for your needs, you can add your own. Word has room for as many as 16 categories, and you can either add new categories or replace existing categories with new categories of your choosing.

To create your own categories, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Mark Citation dialog box by pressing Alt+Shift+I. Then click the Category button.
    The Edit Category dialog box appears.
  2. If you want to replace a category, select it in the Category list. If you want to create a new category, scroll past the predefined categories and select one of the dummy categories numbered 8 through 16.
  3. Type in the Replace With field the name you want to use for the new category and click the Replace button. Click OK.

When you add your own categories, they appear in the Category drop-down list box in the Mark Citation dialog box. Then you can assign citations to the new category as you mark them.

Note that the categories you create are stored on your computer and not as part of the document. As a result, if you use custom categories, be sure to create them consistently on all computers in your office.

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