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Seminar Paper Research

This guide will help you when it comes time to research your seminar paper. This guide is general in scope so be sure and check out our other guides to see if there is one related to the topic you are researching.

Where Codes Are Published

Federal

Official (unannotated)

United States Code (U.S.C.)

  • The USC is published every six years with cumulative bound supplements issued in between editions. Publication typically runs several years behind.

Unofficial (unannotated)

Unofficial (annotated)

State

Publication of state codes will vary. The Law Library's state codes are located on the 4th floor with the other state materials at call numbers KFA through KFZ. Note that most of the print codes are no longer being updated.

Ohio

Ohio does not publish an official version of the Ohio Revised Code, instead unofficial versions of the code are published. 

Where to Find Session Laws

Session laws usually have official and unofficial publications. 

Federal

Official

Unofficial

State

With most states, you will also find their session laws published in the legislative service pamphlets published by West or the Advance Service published by Lexis. Many states will also publish their session laws on the state website. 

50-State Surveys and Statutory Compilations

If you need to research a particular issue as treated by multiple state statutes there are several useful tools that may save you a lot of work.  Just be aware that these may only address selected narrow topics and that they may not be current.  Be sure to locate the date of the survey or latest revisions.

Also check association websites that advocate or deal with specific statutory issues. Just be aware of potential association bias and the need to verify and update.There are also subject-specific book compilations.

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PO Box 210033 Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0033

Phone: 513-556-1424

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