Whether you are writing a research paper, essay, thesis or book, giving credit to a source is proper writing etiquette. Citing sources make your paper more credible and acknowledges the origin of the information. Unlike other government legislation, the amendments of the U.S. Constitution do not have sections, articles and clauses. Therefore, creating a citation for the amendment is simple.
Format the citation correctly by first abbreviating the phrase "United States Constitution" as "U.S. Const."
Abbreviate the term "amendment" " as "amend." and add the roman numeral symbol for four, which is "IV."
Embed the citation, in parenthesis, at the end of the sentence. The final citation for the fourth amendment should look like: "U.S. Const., amend. IV." Remember to place parenthesis around the citation instead of the quotations seen in the example.