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Related Library Research Guide
- LawAdditional law resources and research tips, including how to understand citations.
Librarian Research Help
Law, Social Science Librarian:
Jim Gillispie
E-mail: jeg@jhu.edu
Primary Sources
WestlawNext. From the homepage, choose “Statutes & Court Rules,” “Regulations,” and even proposed laws and regulations.
Hein Online. Using the table of contents on the left side of the homepage, search for federal statutes, federal regulations (in Federal Register database), and even historical views of state laws. Especially valuable is “Subject Compilations of State Laws,” in which you can search laws across the U.S. states on a wide range of subjects covering everything from abortion, to asbestos, to medical waste, to even freak shows.
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic). Click on “Search by Content Type” near the top of the homepage to choose among various search options, including searches of international laws and regulations.
WestlawNext. Here’s another use of this database. At the top of the homepage, enter the case citation into the basic search box.
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic). On the homepage, click on “Look up a legal case” in the middle of the page. Search by citation, parties involved, and/or topic. This database has a unique feature that links legal cases to individual organizations. Here’s how to use this feature: Below the “Academic Search” box click on “Advanced Options.” Select “State and Federal Cases” and type in (for example) “Johns Hopkins Hospital” in quotes in the main search box. The results will be a list of cases in which the phrase “Johns Hopkins Hospital” appears. You can also go to a specific company listing in LexisNexis by using the “Get Company Info” search engine, then find links on the left to legal cases and even patent information related to that organization.
Secondary Sources
WestlawNext. There are several ways to navigate through Westlaw. One way is to click on the “Topics” tab, then select your topic of interest (e.g., Health Law). On the resulting page, you’ll find links to cases, statutes and court rulings, regulations, and secondary sources (i.e., articles). Or go first to secondary sources (see above) then choose your topic to access topic-specific legal journals to search in.
Hein Online. On the left side of the homepage, click on “Law Journal Library” (or “Political Science Journals”) then on “Advanced Search” for the most focused possible article searches.
Index to Legal Periodicals & Books Full Text. Hundreds of law-related journals covering every topic imaginable (Secondary Sources).
ABI/Inform Complete & Business Source Complete: Business Article Databases (including health care business)
PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science: Medical and scientific article databases.
EconLit with Full Text: Many health care policy issues have an economic impact--for example, the cost of health care, supply of health care services vs. demand, etc.
CQ Researcher Plus Archive: Policy Analysis on Various Topics (including health care)
CQ Almanac: Reports and analysis on federal statutes and policy by Congressional year. Includes sections on health care and law.
PAIS International: Business, Economics, Public Policy, and More.
Public Agenda Online: Collects and presents topic-specific articles and analysis on hot contemporary topics.
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) (Search news outlets worldwide): Excellent collection of news media content. Also a place to search for info about individual companies, including related legal cases.
Access World News: Search the content of in-country newspapers from around the world.
Arranged by topic, contains analyses of every major Congressional legislative initiative since 1946.
Contains secondary sources that follow and report on the actions of Congress on a topic.
Collection of reports covering political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy.
Contains an unbiased, objective and comprehensive roundup of virtually all Capitol Hill activity from the previous week.
Nonpartisan research organization specializing in health care policy: coverage, insurance models, underserved populations, etc.
OxResearch (Contained within Business Market Research Collection)
Succinct analytical articles covering world and regional economic and political developments of major significance. It evaluates issues and events within a coherent political, social and economic framework. Additionally, it contains objective, multi-disciplinary articles compiled by an extensive international network of over 1,000 faculty members at Oxford and other leading universities around the world, as well as think-tanks and institutes of international standing.
Pew Research and Pew Charitable Trusts (distinct)
Nonpartisan research organization covering many issues, including health care.
Policy File Public Policy Research & Analysis
Resource for difficult-to-find gray literature 1995-present covers all foreign and domestic policy papers produced by an impressive and growing number of nongovernmental agencies, research institutes, and think tanks in the U.S.
Full-text primary sources compiled and referenced as part of the legislative process. Includes analyses of public policy (existing statutes and regulations) by Congressional Research Service and Government Accountability Office, major existing and proposed legislation, congressional testimony, and much more.
Nonpartisan policy research on a wide range of topics.
An excellent think tank for health care (and other types of) policy research.
Public Policy Institute focusing on bioethics.
National Academy for State Health Policy
Represents those who make and study health policy at the state level.
National Conference of State Legislatures. Searchable database of state-level statutes, analysis, and support for state-level legislators and government department staffs.
Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Everything about Medicare and Medicaid—coverage decisions, regulations, payment by type of service,
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). This website is a treasure trove of information on health and disease among Americans—Statistics about disease incidence and treatment, reports and analyses about different ways to treat diseases, links to other resources on each topic, and much more.
Health Services Research Information Central (HSRIC). This is an online service of the National Library of Medicine. It is a large, searchable collection of links to data sources from government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other entities. Links appear on these listings only if they are authoritative and reliable. Start by clicking on the “Data Tools and Statistics” link on the left.
University of California Berkeley Sheldon Margen Public Health Library. Here is a page of links to organizations conducting policy research, engaging in advocacy, and offering information on many aspects of health care. The organizations represented often conduct research and collect information on topics not addressed by any federal or state agency, and may sometimes be the only sources for some information.
Guidestar.org. Create a free personal “account” and search this website for non-profit organizations relevant to your research. For example, click on “advanced search.” On the advanced search page type in the keywords “health law” (without the quotation marks) and limit to the category “Health (All).” You’ll get a list of over 500 organizations that meet these criteria. You can then learn more about organizations of interest and visit their websites to find useful resources.
Black’s Law Dictionary. Access to this respected publication is available through the WestlawNext database—which can be found in the Law Research Guide. On the WestlawNext homepage, click on “Secondary Sources” then on the Black’s Law Dictionary link on the right. [While you are on the secondary sources page, note the links to topic-specific law journal collections.]
Oxford Reference Online. Find this database in the Law Research Guide in the Online Resources tab. (While you’re on that page, take a peek at the other databases listed.) On the Oxford Reference Online homepage, click on “Subject” then choose “Law” to view all the law-related reference guides in the database. There are currently 14, including Dictionary of Law, Encyclopedia of Human Rights, and Oxford Companion to American Law.
Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL). Also available from the Law Research Guide. On the left side of the GVRL homepage, click on “Law.” Among the 20 or so publications, you will find Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law.
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. JHU subscribes to the online version of this famed encyclopedia. To access, go to the Articles and Databases section of the library homepage. Click on the Databases tab. Type the database name in the “Databases by Name” search box on the left.
Encyclopedia of American Government. Another useful publication available online via the “databases by name” search box.
Encyclopedia of Associations (Gale Directory Library). A good resource for locating industry-specific trade/lobbying organizations. Click on "Organizations" under "Directories available in this library," or else search all included publications with the keyword search box.
Brill Online Reference Works. Source of material addressing international law. Under "Subjects," click on "Law" for a list of resources.