Secondary Sources for Federal Administrative Law Research

Federal administrative law research is more complicated than statutory or case law research because there are various sources of law that must be reviewed in order to have the complete picture. Fortunately, these secondary sources can provide extensive information to simplify your research.

Directories of government agencies not only include "A-Z" listings of agencies, but also provide insight into the organization of the agencies, information about their regulatory activities, and even lists of agency publications. Research guides for administrative law topics can give you a head start in understanding how an agency operates and where you may find the regulations, decisions, forms, and other documents issued by the agencies. Looseleaf services are a "one-stop shop" for materials on a particular legal topic. Finally, articles and treatises often provide extensive background information and citations to primary sources.

Directories

U.S. Government Manual
Law Reference JK 421 .A3, Westlaw, GPO Access

Use this manual to find out which agency or agencies relate to a research issue. For example, when researching issues of labeling organic foods, you may need to look at FDA or USDA regulations. The U.S. Government Manual contains many helpful appendices and a subject index. Especially helpful is appendix C, Agencies appearing in the Code of Federal Regulations, which provides a listing of CFR titles, by agency.

Federal Regulatory Directory
Law Reference JK 610 .F53

The Federal Regulatory Directory, an excellent complement to the U.S. Government Manual, provides detailed profiles for the twelve largest regulatory agencies, plus detailed information on a number of independent agencies. These profiles give insight into the regulatory process, information about statutory authority for the agency's activities, and lists of publications including sources for agency decisions.

Research Guides

Specialized Legal Research
Law Reference KF 240 .S63

This looseleaf research guide provides extensive chapters on research sources for thirteen major specialized research topics, many with an extensive administrative law component. Each chapter provides background on the topic, detailed analysis of specialized sources for the topic, research tips, and more.

In addition to Specialized Legal Research, the Pappas Law Library provides research guides for the following topics with a strong administrative law component:

Banking
Health Care
Intellectual Property
Tax

Looseleaf Services

Originally created for the purpose of making agency information more readily accessible, looseleaf services provide the text of regulations, decisions, and other issuances of the agencies, as well as expert commentary and practice tips. In addition to being a wealth of resources, looseleafs are an excellent source for administrative law research because they are frequently updated. Thus, you would easily be able to locate not only regulations in effect, but also proposed regulations and whether a final regulation has taken effect.

The Bluebook provides an extensive listing of looseleafs under Table 15 "Services". If you are not sure which title might be helpful for your research, consult the subject index of Legal Looseleafs in Print (Law Reference Desk KF 1 .L55). Once you have the title of an appropriate looseleaf, search the B.U. Libraries catalog to locate the looseleaf in our library.

Once you find an appropriate looseleaf, spend a few minutes examining the instructions for use, located within the first volume. Many looseleaf services have complex indexes, and a quick review of the instructions will ensure a smooth research process.

The library subscribes to most BNA looseleafs in electronic form. In addition, major CCH looseleafs in the areas of Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Banking, Food & Drugs, Health Care law, Labor & Employment, and Tax are contained within the library's CCH subscriptions.

Articles

Locate articles in practitioner journals or law reviews to gain a basic understanding of the topic and to find citations to regulations and administrative decisions. For best results, use a periodical index instead of searching full text databases:

Treatises

Treatises and hornbooks can be very useful for understanding complex regulatory topics. Search the B.U. libraries catalog to locate these items in our library. Selected treatises are also available on LexisNexis and Westlaw.

In addition, Finding the Law, 11th edition (Law Annex KF 240 .B473 1999) contains a very handy appendix C: “Sources of Federal Regulatory Agency Rules, Regulations and Adjudications”. This appendix lists by agency: CFR titles and parts, looseleaf services, LexisNexis and Westlaw databases for the regulations of that agency, and official and unofficial sources for agency decisions, including LexisNexis and Westlaw databases!

Page maintained by Raquel Ortiz
Last updated: April 2008