Introduction to Legal Research

Federal administrative law derives from the President, agencies of the Executive Branch, and independent regulatory agencies.  Agencies are given the authority to create administrative law through laws enacted by Congress.  

The law comes in the form of rules, regulations, procedures, orders, and decisions.  In creating these "laws," the agency acts as quasi-judicial, quasi-legislative entity. The administrative agencies act in a legislative-like capacity when promulgating rules and regulations.  The agencies act in a judicial-like capacity when conducting hearings and issuing rulings and decisions on particular matters.  

The process of administrative agency rule-making from the initial notice of agency interest to the promulgation of a final rule is documented in the Federal Register publication system.  The two main components of this system are the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations.  

Federal agencies, when issuing rules, have to follow the steps laid out in the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. The Administrative Procedure Act was passed in order to ensure public participation in the rulemaking process, and also to ensure that agencies followed a consistent set of procedures for issuing rules. Proposed rules and final rules are initially published in the Federal Register; after the publication of the final rule, the rules that are currently in force are organized by subject and published annually in the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Federal Register (FR) is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.  The FR is updated daily and is published Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.  

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.  It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subjects to Federal regulation. Each title is divided into chapters, which usually bear the name of the issuing agency.  Each chapter is further subdivided into parts that cover specific regulatory areas.  

Each volume of the CFR is updated once each calendar year and is issued on a quarterly basis.

Due to the update schedule of the CFR, the List of Sections Affected (LSA) provides a cumulative list of CFR sections that have been changed at any time since each CFR title was last updated.  The LSA provide researchers with the applicable FR citation to a rule or regulation that has not be updated yet in the CFR.  The full code is available in the link below.

Here are the citation elements for 16 C.F.R. § 444.1. 

To locate this regulation, one would go to the most current CFR, look for Title 16, and then locate section 444.1 in that title.  One would also look up this citation in the List of Sections Affected to make sure there have not been any changes to the regulation since it was printed in the CFR.  

Here are the citation elements for Importation of Fruits and Vegetables, 60 Fed. Reg. 50,379 (Sept. 29, 1995) (to be codified at 7 C.F.R. pt. 300). 

To locate this regulation, one would go to Volume 60 of the Federal Register, page 50,379.  One may also locate the Federal Register issued on Sept. 29, 1995 to locate the regulation as well.

Here are some research guides created by other law schools that might be helpful in explaining how to conduct administrative law research.