• These instructions are for searching the official United States Government version of CFR and the Federal Register. While you are a student at UMC you also have access to these CFR and the Federal Register in Lexis/Nexis. Searching the Lexis/Nexis version of the Federal Register and CFR is not much different from searching the official government site and the cost in the real world is significantly different. Lexis/Nexis requires that you use VPN to access it if you are not on the campus network.

  Search federal regulations at: LEXIS® general Federal Register/CFR regulations search  or Search by regulation number

  
  
  
• Current regulations are found in CFR volumes. Proposed changes to regulations in CFR are found in the Federal Register (See below). The homepage for CFR is at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html.
  
  
• There are three different ways to find rules. You can:
  
  • 1. Search the entire set of CFR databases by keyword
       
       This search form lets you search the full text of all of the rules using key words and phrases. There are examples of common types of searches just above the search box. A link to a Helpful hints guide is available on this page. This guide has detailed suggestions for developing search terms. It is possible to do advanced searches and to be very specific.
       
    2. Retrieve CFR sections by citation (current and/or historical data)
       
       Use this search form if you already know the Title and Section/Subpart of the CFR you want to retrieve. CFR is divided into 50 titles arranged roughly by subject or agency. For example nursing home regulations are found in Title 42 Public Health. Each CFR title is divided into sections called Parts. 42 CFR 411 is the title and part which covers EXCLUSIONS FROM MEDICARE AND LIMITATIONS ON MEDICARE PAYMENT. 42 CFR 411.4 is the text of the regulation which covers Services for which neither the beneficiary nor any other person is legally obligated to pay. The search form is very specific and is easy to use.
       
       
    3. Search or browse your choice of CFR titles and/or volumes
       If you know CFR Title number you can browse (and search) that title using this link and the search form at the site.
       

  Federal Register

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  • New regulations and proposed changes to existing regulations found in CFR are found in the Federal Register. The homepage for the Federal Register is at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html. You may see citations to Federal Register in your research because there is a lag between the regulations going into effect and their appearance in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). There are two basic ways to search the Federal Register. You can:
    
  • 1. Search the entire Federal Register by keyword
       
       This search form lets you search the full text of all of the regulations using key words and phrases. There are examples of common types of searches just below the search box. A link on this page entitled Additional Instructions and examples takes you to the GPO Access General Searching Instructions guide. This guide has detailed suggestions for developing searches from the simple to the complex.
       
       An example of a search for a specific Federal Register citation is one of the examples on given on the search page.
       
       
    2. Browse the Table of Contents
       The The Federal Register (FR): Main Page permits you to Browse the current year and prior years issues of the Federal Register day by day.
       If you know the date of a regulation you can find the specific regulation. These sections have hyperlinked table of contents and can be browsed without much difficulty.
       

Maintained by James Carlson - University of Minnesota, Crookston Library
Email: James Carlson