Legislation and Regulation
Primary documents such as laws, pending legislation, executive agency policy and studies, and court decisions may be located for both federal and state levels using sources shown below. The National Institutes of Health provide some introductory material.
If retrieving secondary material and popular interpretations of actions within the federal and state governments is the goal, consult PAIS Index as a starting point.
- PAIS Index [Rutgers Restricted]A bibliographic database covering political, social, and public policy issues in journals, conference proceedings, government publications, and other sources from 1972 forward.
Federal
Finding Federal Laws and Legislative Material
- Congress.govSearch Congressional bills and resolutions, public laws, roll call votes, the Congressional Record, Committee Reports, Treaties, or explore a variety of other useful links. Earliest coverage is from the 6th Congress, 1799-1801.
- govinfoSearch or browse official publications from all branches of the U.S. government. Includes presidential documents, congressional committee prints, hearing transcripts, congressional reports, GAO reports, and many other publications.
- U.S. Congressional Publications [Rutgers Restricted]Indexes and provides selected full-text for Congressional Committee Prints, House and Senate Documents and Reports (Congressional Serial Set), Hearings, and Legislative Histories. It also provides member and committee information, as well as access to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Federal Register, and the Congressional Record (1985-present).
For additional resources, visit the guide for Congressional Research.
Finding Federal Executive Agency Policy and Studies
- Catalog of Government PublicationsThe most comprehensive catalog of federal government publications covering 1976 to the present. Use "stem cell?" to capture the greatest number of hits. Try related terminology (e.g., "human cloning" or "bioethic?") to broaden potential results.
- Public Papers of the Presidents of the United StatesThe official series of Presidential writings, addresses, and remarks of a public nature. Messages and papers of the Presidents from 1789 to the most currently available are also accessible via the American Presidency Project; papers from 1929 forward are available from the University of Michigan Digital Library.
- Compilation of Presidential DocumentsOfficial publications of materials released by the White House Press Secretary.
- Regulations.govCovers all regulations (or rulemakings) issued by U.S. government agencies.
- Code of Federal RegulationsThe annual codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
- Federal RegisterSearchable full text from 1936 to the present.
For additional resources, visit the guide for Federal Government research.
State
Finding State Legislation and Agency Publications
- New Jersey LegislatureIncludes searchable NJ bills and statutes; information on members of the NJ Legislature; the NJ Constitution; the latest Legislative Calendar and Legislative Digest; and more.
- New Jersey Administrative Code and Register PageA searchable version of the Code, updated quarterly. Includes information on searching the New Jersey Register to confirm the currentness of the information provided. Issues of the NJ Register from 1969 to 1995 are available from the State Library.
New Jersey hearings and other state documents are included in QuickSearch.
For additional resources, visit the guide for New Jersey State and Local Governments.
For states other than New Jersey, use the Guide to Law Online: U.S. States and Territories or the research guide for State and Local Governments.
Finding Federal and State Court Decisions
- Westlaw Campus Research [Rutgers Restricted]Contains the full text of court opinions, statutes, and regulations from state and federal governments; in excess of 800 law reviews and journals; as well as other legal materials. Includes West's KeyCite feature for verification of the status of a case, statute, administrative decision, or regulation. Laws, regulations, reports, and related European Union material is also included.
- Guide to Law Online: U.S. States and TerritoriesGuides from the U.S. Law Library of Congress to online sources of information on government and law for every state and territory.