Definition
A legal and regulatory practice in which a document published elsewhere is made part of a rule or regulation by citing it, rather than reprinting its full text. Once incorporated by reference, the cited document carries the same legal force as the regulation itself. In aviation, the FAA frequently incorporates technical standards, manufacturer documents, and industry publications into the Federal Aviation Regulations this way.
Plain English
Instead of copying a long technical document into a regulation, the rule simply points to it and says 'this document is part of the rule.' The pointed-to document then has the same authority as the regulation.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA rules, aircraft approvals, maintenance requirements, and official notices that require a pilot, owner, or mechanic to follow a separate named manual, instruction, or standard.
Derivation
From Latin 'incorporare', meaning 'to form into a body.' The phrase captures the idea that an outside document is brought into the body of the regulation by being referred to, even though its text stays where it was originally published.
Why Pilots Care
Understanding this tells a pilot or mechanic exactly which additional standards or procedures must be followed even though they are not printed in the main regulation or manual.
Analogy
It is like a checklist that says, “Complete the procedure on page 12 of the manual.” The checklist does not repeat the whole procedure, but that page still becomes part of what you must do.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as a casual mention or a suggested source. In this context, incorporation by reference means the named outside document is treated as part of the official requirement.
Example Sentence 1
The airworthiness directive incorporated the manufacturer's service bulletin by reference, so the mechanic had to follow the bulletin's procedures exactly to comply with the AD.
Example Sentence 2
The type certificate data sheet incorporates certain ASTM standards by reference.