Checking a quote
Reading a reference to the official record
Short answer
- UK Commons
- HC Deb, date, column 2
- UK corrections page
- Own column numbering and suffix, as recommended in 2007 1
- US daily Record page prefixes
- H, S, E and D 3
- US bound Record
- No letter designations 3
- UN verbatim record symbol
- Includes PV, for example S/PV.6826 5
- UN summary record symbol
- Includes SR, for example A/C.4/66/SR.10 5
United Kingdom: House, date and column
UK House of Commons references cite the Official Report by House, date and column. The Procedure Committee's 2023 report, for example, cites extracts in the form HC Deb, with the date and a column number, followed by the place such as Commons Chamber 2.
Corrections have their own numbering. The 2007 Procedure Committee recommended that the corrections page in the Official Report should have its own column numbering and suffix 1. A correction reference points to a different column series from the debate it corrects, and each correction should carry a clear cross-reference to the original error 1.
United States: volume, page prefix and date
Each section of the daily Congressional Record is numbered separately and consecutively in each session of Congress 3. House pages are preceded by H, Senate pages by S, Extensions of Remarks by E and the Daily Digest by D 3. The final hardbound version has no letter designations, so a daily-edition page number will not match the bound edition 3.
GovInfo holds the daily Record from volume 140, which covers 1994, to the present 4. The date of an issue refers to the date the proceedings were recorded, not necessarily the date of delivery 4.
United Nations: document symbols
UN meeting records are identified by document symbols. A verbatim record, a full first-person account, has a symbol that includes PV, such as S/PV.6826 of 30 August 2012 5. A summary record, a condensed third-person version, includes SR, such as A/C.4/66/SR.10 of 8 February 2012 5.
The letters tell you what kind of quote the record can support. A PV record can confirm exact words. An SR record is a condensed third-person version 5, so it can support the substance of what was said but not the exact wording.
Canada, Kenya and India
Canada's House of Commons Debates are published under separate cover in each official language with uniform pagination between the two editions 6. Procedure and Practice cites them in the form Debates, followed by the date and page numbers, and cites the Journals the same way 6. The same page number finds a passage in either language edition.
Kenya's National Assembly lists its Hansard by sitting date, with separate entries for morning and afternoon sittings on the same day, such as Wednesday, 21 October 2026, Afternoon Sitting 7. India's Rajya Sabha publishes the text of its debates date-wise 8.
Steps to trace a cited quote
- Identify the body and chamber, for example HC for the UK House of Commons or H for the US House 2,3.
- Note the date, and for Kenya whether it was a morning or afternoon sitting 7.
- Note the column, page or document symbol, and which edition it refers to, daily or bound 1,3.
- Open the record and read the full passage around the quoted words.
- Look for a later correction cross-referenced to the passage 1.
- For UN records, confirm whether the symbol is PV or SR before treating the text as a quote 5.
Common questions
What does col mean in a Hansard reference?
A reference such as HC Deb with a date and column number points to that column of the Commons Official Report 2.
What do H and S mean in a Congressional Record citation?
They mark House and Senate pages in the daily edition. E marks Extensions of Remarks and D the Daily Digest 3.
Why does my Congressional Record page number not match?
The bound edition has no letter designations and different pagination from the daily edition 3.
What is the difference between PV and SR in UN document symbols?
PV marks a verbatim record and SR marks a summary record 5.
Rules and charges change. Check the official source linked on this page before you pay or travel. Spotted an error? Email hello@saidincontext.com.
Sources
- House of Commons Procedure Committee: Corrections to the Official Report, Second Report of Session 2006-07
- House of Commons Procedure Committee: Correcting the record, Fourth Report of Session 2022-23 (29 June 2023)
- Congressional Research Service: A User's Guide to the Congressional Record
- GovInfo: Congressional Record
- UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library: Meeting Records, About UN Documents
- House of Commons of Canada: Parliamentary Publications, The Parliamentary Record, House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Third edition, 2017
- The Kenyan Parliament Website: Hansard
- Rajya Sabha: Debates, Official Debates
Related
- How to check a quote against the official record
A method for checking an official's words against Hansard, the Congressional Record, UN meeting records and briefing transcripts.
- The Congressional Record explained
How the US Congressional Record is made, its four parts, how members revise and extend remarks, and where committee hearing transcripts are published.
- UN meeting records explained
How UN verbatim and summary records work, how to read their symbols, how delegations correct them, and how they differ from press releases and briefings.
- Correcting the record in the UK House of Commons
The UK Commons corrections system from the 2007 Procedure Committee report to the 2023 plan to include all MPs, and what a correction may say.
- Draft, proof and final versions of the official record
Blues, uncorrected transcripts, daily editions and bound volumes compared across Canada, Kenya, the UK and the US, and which version supports a quote.