Administrative Law Research

This guide describes the organization of federal administrative law materials - and how to find them.

Administrative agencies are government bodies "authorized to implement legislative directives by developing more precise and technical rules than possible in a legislative setting.  Many administrative agencies also have law enforcement responsibilities."  Administrative Agency, Wex.  These agencies draw authority from both Congress and the Executive. Agencies are typically created by Congress through the enactment of "enabling" statutes. Each agency is as unique in structure as its enabling statute. An agency may:

• Promulgate regulations designed to implement law or policy
• Issue orders to describe the final disposition of agency action
• Issue licenses, permits, or other permissions
• Issue advisory opinions with binding, non-precedential advice
• Issue decisions arising from a quasi-adjudicative process

Running Time: 3 minutes, 48 seconds.

Administrative law research has three distinct but related content areas:

1. Substantive administrative law and the underlying powers and procedures of administrative agencies
2. Regulatory activities and actions of administrative agencies, including agency regulations, decisions and reports
3. Issuances of the President, namely Executive Orders

For more introductory material on federal regulation please visit:

For a more in-depth discussion on administrative law, explore the following:

Agency websites are a good place to begin your administrative law research. When navigating an agency website, look for headings such as:

• Rules & Regulations
• Legal / Laws Library
• Enforcement
• Interpretations

To find an agency, Google the agency's name or search:

To find defunct agency website materials, including helpful reports, use the: 

The Administrative Procedure Act, Pub. L. 79-404 (1946) requires that agencies follow certain steps when putting rules into effect.  Under the APA, agencies must:

• Publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register
• Take comments from “interested persons” on the proposed rule
• Publish a final rule in the Federal Register after considering those comments
• Make the rule effective not less than 30 days after it is published.   

Around the time when the APA was passed, the Attorney General released a manual:

To learn more about the Act visit:

There are many compiled legislative histories for the Administrative Procedure Act: 

This chart depicts the process of rulemaking step-by-step:

Click to Enlarge

Final Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of federal agencies are first published in the Federal Register, a daily government publication.  Each modern issue of the modern Federal Register also contains these sections: CFR Parts Affected, Presidential Documents, and Corrections.  The first edition of the Federal Register was published March 14, 1936, and publication continues to this day.

The federal register is accessible through a number of sources including:

An Index to the Federal Register is available from the National Archive:

Citations to the Federal Register will contain "Fed. Reg."

Sample Citation:  Investment Adviser Performance Compensation, 77 Fed. Reg. 10,358 (Feb. 22, 2012) (to be codified at 17 C.F.R. pt. 275).

General and permanent rules and regulations are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).  The CFR is organized into 50 topical titles (typically named for the issuing agency). Chapters are further subdivided into parts and subparts. Parts are organized in sections.  The first edition of the CFR was published in 1939 containing regulations in force on June 1, 1938.  An Index to the Code of Federal Regulations is available from the National Archive.

A Source Note at the beginning of each CFR part provides the Federal Register citation and date where the part was published. If a particular section was added or amended later, a separate source note will follow that section.  The CFR is updated by amendments and new rules and regulations in the Federal Register. 

The full CFR is printed once a year, with updates occurring one-quarter of the set at a time.

• Titles 1-16:  January 1
• Titles 17-27: April 1
• Titles 28-41: July 1
• Titles 42-50: October 1

The CFR is accessible through a number of sources including:

An Index to the Code of Federal Regulations is available from the National Archive:

Citations to the Code of Federal Regulations will contain "C.F.R."  Citations to the CFR are most typically provided at either the part or section level.    

Sample Citation: 17 C.F.R. § 275.250 (2011).  

The CFR is published once a year; thus, any language in the latest published CFR must be checked for currency.  To establish the current validity of an existing regulation, find and read case law (in your jurisdiction) that cites your regulation.  Look out for court constitutionality rulings and other holdings affecting the rule's "good law" status.  Often the fastest and easiest way to update regulations is to use a citator (like Shepard's or Key Cite).  However, you can also update your research using the following free online sources:

Updating with Federalregister.gov

Federalregister.gov offers a useful tool for checking updates, or proposed changes, to current CFR sections.  Under the Search Tab, select "Advanced Document Search."  Scroll down until you see the field "Affecting CFR Part," and enter the relevant section.

When searching for regulatory history information check out the Library of Congress' guide to help you get started:

The Federal Register contains most of the important summary, explanatory and documentary information on a rule.  For regulatory docket materials and public comments visit:

To view compiled rulemaking materials associated with a specific Public Law or Executive Order, visit:

Administrative agencies act in a judicial-like capacity when issuing decisions that interpret and enforce regulations.  These decisions are rarely gathered in one place, and some agencies do not publish decisions in any format. Administrative agency websites are a great place to start. The University of Virginia Law Library publishes a guide which provides links to agency opinions and publications:

Agency decisions & guidance can be accessed through the following sources:

Decisions & Opinions in Print

Some agencies publish official reports of their decisions in print reporters or binders called loose-leaf services. For older administrative decisions, print publications may be the only source. The Bluebook lists:

• Official administrative publications in T1.2. 
• Major loose-leaf services in T15.

For print materials at Harvard, search:

Freedom of Information Act

Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), you may request documents from administrative agencies.

Executive materials are found in Title 3 of the CFR.  Presidential Documents are found in the back of each day’s Federal Register.  In addition, the White House website offers a great amount of information and access to Executive documents.  

Executive Orders

Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents

Public Papers of the Presidents

Secondary sources such as books, current awareness/news sources, scholarly articles, or advocacy communications are extremely helpful in getting started.  

Westlaw & Lexis

Law Reviews & Journals

Legal Blawgs

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