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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
Westlaw From the homepage, choose “Statutes & Court Rules,” or “Regulations”.
Hein Online. Includes a series of databases related to law. For federal regulations see the Federal Register Library database. For law passed by Congress see the U.S. Statutes at Large database. 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. Click on the “All Content Types” dropdown to choose among various legal search content. Under Legal you can select coverage of that selectively includes international laws and regulations.
Westlaw. 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
Westlaw. There are several ways to navigate through Westlaw. Try the “Practice Areas” tab, then select your topic of interest (e.g., Health Law). For commentary and analysis try searching secondary sources (i.e., articles).
Hein Online. Try the “Law Journal Library”.
ABI/Inform Colection & Business Source Ultimate: 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 Press Library
This is the homepage for a series of databases focusing on American government and policy analysis, including health care. Below is a selection of the databases included in CQ Press Library:
PAIS Index: 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.
CQ Press Library
This is the homepage for a series of databases focusing on American government and policy analysis, including health care. Below is a selection of the databases included in CQ Press Library:
Kaiser Family Foundation
Nonpartisan research organization specializing in health care policy: coverage, insurance models, underserved populations, etc.
OxResearch (Contained within Business Market Research Collection)
uccinct 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.
ProQuest Congressional
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.
Rand Corporation
Nonpartisan policy research on a wide range of topics.
The Commonwealth Fund
An excellent think tank for health care (and other types of) policy research.
The Hastings Center
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.
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 Westlaw database—which can be found in the Law Research Guide. On the Westlaw 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. 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.