1. Bills, Statutes, Legislation, Law
Bills are the drafts of laws.
When bills are approved by the legislature and signed into law, they become statutes. Statutes are organized hierarchically into codes, titles, chapters, and sections, with each section containing the specific legal provisions.
The process of creating these laws is called legislation.
All of these collectively fall under the broader category of law.
2. State Agency Regulations or the Administrative Code
Statutes come from elected lawmakers and establish the law, while regulations come from government agencies and detail how those laws are implemented or enforced. State Agency Regulations or the Administrative Code refer to a collection of rules and regulations created by state agencies to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy.
3. United States Code (U.S. Code or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal statutes (laws) of the United States. It organizes and consolidates all federal laws passed by Congress into a coherent, accessible system based on subject matter.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 556, 653 and 762
Professor Meriano
1) Legal Reference Sources
Black’s law dictionary
9th ed. Bernhard Library Reference Collection Ref KF156 .B53 2019
Law Library Reference Ref KF156 .B53 2019
The Law Dictionary - free online legal dictionary, featuring Black's Law Dictionary
2) Electronic Resources
The Library databases can be searched on campus and off-campus.
To do so you must go through the Edward and Barbara Netter Library or Arnold Bernhard Library homepage.
To get to the Library homepage:
3) Resources for the Research Paper
Please check the "Find Articles" page of this Guide for a listing of databases for your research papers.
4) Professional Association
American Occupational Therapy Association http://www.aota.org
Check the "Legislative Action Center" to find legislation and the "Advocacy" section for advocacy issues and news on federal legislation and policies, state policies, health care reform, etc.
5) State Websites -> State Statutes
Note:
In the Search box, enter occupational therapist. The link for licensure comes up and links to the Connecticut General Statutes, etc.
Searching the CT State Statutes specifically (in cga.ct.gov): Scroll down and click on Legislative under CT Government , then click on Statutes and then Search Statutes in Connecticut General Assembly website. The Connecticut General Assembly (CTGA) is the state legislature of Connecticut, responsible for making and enacting laws for the state.
Type keywords into the Document Text search box (note drop down menu options). Examples: Good Samaritan or birth to three
PLEASE NOTE: PROFESSOR MERIANO RECOMMENDS SEARCHING THE CONNECTICUT STATUTES THROUGH THE "BROWSE STATUTES" OPTION SO THAT ONE CAN MOVE THROUGH DIFFERENT SECTIONS.
State Websites -> State Agency Regulations or Administrative Code
Statutes come from elected lawmakers and establish the law, while regulations come from government agencies and detail how those laws are implemented or enforced.
State Agency Regulations or the Administrative Code refer to a collection of rules and regulations created by state agencies to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy.
***Remember: Google is a good option for searching State websites since some are not as user friendly as others, and it is usually straight forward. Check the domain for a site from the State government, for example ct.gov, ri.gov, but some states are subcontracting with private companies for certain services, like Massachusetts for licensing. Make sure that the State government site leads to the subcontracted site.
Google site search: search within a specific site. Example, site:cga.ct.gov occupational therapist
6) Web Sites for Federal Information
In the U.S. Congress plays a central role in lawmaking as it is the legislative branch of the federal government, responsible for creating and passing laws. The U.S. Congress is a bicameral body, meaning it has two separate chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
On the homepage the default search is for current legislation or Congresses and this may prove a good place to start. Enter keywords for search and use quotes around phrases when appropriate, for example "occupational therapy". If you are not finding what you want, try extending the time frame. In the left margin check off the earlier Congress and run the search or at the top choose All Legislation.
If you have a Public Law such as Every Student Succeeds Act, Public Law 114-95, the title of the act can be searched in quotes and then limit results to "Became Law." Also can search by law number, enter in quotes this way: "public law no 114-95"
Another example: Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Public Law 103-322 (part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994) The best way to search for this law is by law number, enter in quotes his way: "public law no 103-322"
United States Code - The United States Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is the definitive, organized collection of federal laws in the United States. This is the freely available website from the U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Keyword searching is available.
Note: The Code only includes the general and permanent laws of the United States. Temporary laws, such as appropriations acts, and special laws, such as one naming a post office, are not included in the Code.
7) Database with Legal Research Component
Nexis Uni: Search this database for federal and state cases; law review articles; as well as federal and state statutes and regulations..
The Nexis Uni homepage provides access to case law and legislation through the drop-down menu “All Content Types” to the right of the search box. A screen shot is below.
Add keywords to search box after selecting Legal, US Cases and jurisdiction or US Legislation and federal or state designation.
8) Affordable Care Act: some selected sources are listed below
The complete name is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama.
About the Law https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/index.html
AOTA: check the Association
Non-governmental Sources of Information: there are many articles, blogs, etc. on this topic and many more current articles.
9) Statistics Sources
State Health Facts Online by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Statista Find statistics, consumer survey results and industry studies from over 22500 sources on over 80000 topics on the internet's leading statistics database.
ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the US Current Edition
10) Additional Resource
LII - Legal Information Institute Cornell Law School
Free legal resources
Federal and State Statutes
APA style
A reference list entry for a federal statute:
Name of the Statute, Title number Source § Section number(s) (Year). http://www.xxxxxxxx
Example: Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990). https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12101&num=0&edition=prelim
Note:
Public Law Number vs U.S. Code Citation
When a bill becomes law, it first gets a Public Law Number and is published in the Statutes at Large.
Later, it is codified into the U.S. Code, often split across different titles and sections depending on its content
Example: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:
Public Law Number: Pub. L. 101-336
U.S. Code Citation: 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.
In-Text Citation Example
The in-text citation format for a federal statute is similar to that for other APA Style references. Cite the name of the statute and the year:
For more information, please visit APA Citation Help - Legal Citations, or Purdue OWL Legal References
AMA style Please visit AMA Citation Help - Legal.
In addition, the legal citation style manual is available in print copy only:
The Bluebook: a Uniform System of Citation. Ref KF245 .U55 2021 in the Bernhard Library Reference Collection and the Netter Health Sciences Library and the Law Library.
Features journal articles, dissertations, conferences, images and book chapters in Nursing and Allied Health professions from 1937 to present. Contains resources related to nursing and allied health; consumer health, biomedicine; and health sciences. Also includes research instruments, diseases and conditions, quick lessons, and evidence-based care sheets.
The CINAHL database provides access to AJOT from 1980 to present. If you want to search only AJOT, the link below will take you to the journal page within CINAHL. Click on "Search within this publication" above Publication Details and add keywords in the second and third row.
AJOT
See: The American journal of occupational therapy (0272-9490)
| 01/01/1980 to Present in CINAHL database |