Mary Fetzer
Government Resources Librarian
fetzer@rci.rutgers.edu
August 2008

Research Resources: Subject Research Guides: Stem Cell Research:
Governmental Action - Legislation and Regulation

Primary documents such as laws, pending legislation, executive agency policy and studies, and court decisions may be located for both federal and state levels using sources shown below. A government site that provides a general starting point is http://stemcells.nih.gov/policy/.

If retrieving secondary material and popular interpretations of actions within the federal and state governments is the goal, however, consult Indexes and Databases such as PAIS International and Archive.

Federal

Finding Legislation at the Federal Level

Two primary online sources are available to search federal legislation. Both are publicly available.

While selected Congressional hearings may be accessed via GPO Access or THOMAS, searching the Libraries' print source CIS Index & Abstracts [ALEX DOCREF KF49.C62] will provide the most comprehensive listing of hearings available.

Finding Federal Executive Agency Policy and Studies

The most comprehensive catalog of federal government publications is the Catalog of Government Publications at http://catalog.gpo.gov/ for 1976 forward. Use "stem cell?" to capture the greatest number of hits; try also other terminology, e.g. "human cloning," "bioethic?" to broaden potential results.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States may be searched in print [Alexander DOCUS GS4.113; Camden/Dana/Douglass/Dana J80.283] or, for 1991+ online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pubpapers/search.html. Use "stem cells" as your search term. Current statements may also be found through use of the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents [ALEX DOCUS GP4.114; DANA Per] available at www.gpoaccess.gov.

Federal regulations are available on www.gpoaccess.gov in the Federal Register [ALEX DOCLAWUS for print version], using the same terminology. An alternative site to use is www.regulations.gov.

State

Finding Legislation at the State Level

Pending legislation including the "Stem Cell Research Bond Act," as well as current statutory law in New Jersey is accessible through the State Legislature's web site at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/.

While many legislative hearings may be accessed through http://www.njleg.state.nj.us, the easier way to locate hearings of New Jersey legislative committees is to go to the Libraries' home page http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu and conduct a search using IRIS. Try a search on "stem cell new jersey" in the "Words Anywhere" box to get started.

Finding State Agency Publications

Regulations for the State of New Jersey are available using the print New Jersey Administrative Code [ALEX DOCLAWNJ; DANA Per]. Consult IRIS for holdings. You may also access New Jersey regulations by selecting New Jersey from the Library of Congress' Guide to Law Online at http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/states.html, searching New Jersey Regulations, registering your name, and following appropriate links.

For states other than New Jersey, the Library of Congress' Guide to Law Online at http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/states.html provides a good starting place.

General publications of the State of New Jersey regarding stem cells are fully cataloged and accessible through IRIS.

Finding Federal and State Court Decisions

Suggestions for locating publicly available web sites are offered from the Library of Congress' Guide to Law Online at http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/states.html.