Law Journals: Source Pulling and Cite-Checking Resources for Staff Members

Use Bluebook Rule 12 for statute citation rules. 

It is important to note what the author is citing- statutes have a "life cycle" in terms of their printing and an author might be looking at the versions before they were placed in the US Code. 

Slip Law:  statute is assigned a Public Law Number (Pub. L. No.)

• Slip laws are individually paginated pamphlets, each containing a single statute.  

Session Law:  Book of all laws (the "Statutes at Large") printed in one legislative session; law as passed before codification so can sometimes provide more context 

• Bound collections of the slip laws enacted in a session of a legislature

U.S. Code:  The U.S. Code is contains federal laws currently in force, and the Code is published every six years.  The most recent edition of the United States Code is 2018, but supplements are released annually.

Using the title number and section, locate PDFs of the current U.S. Code from one of the following databases. If appropriate for context, pull any related Supplements as well. 

• Govinfo.gov. Contains authenticated, official versions of the U.S. Code from 1994 to present. 
• HeinOnline - U.S. Code. Includes coverage dating back to inception, 1925-1926.