Related Documents Feature

Download the Related Documents Quick Reference Guide (PDF) - Last updated October 2019


What is the Related Documents feature?

GovInfo offers a feature that makes it easier than ever to navigate to documents that are linked within the complex network of legislative, regulatory, and judicial publications.

On select Content Details pages for a document, a “Related Documents” tab will display other documents within GovInfo that have a functional relationship or reference to that particular document. The purpose of the Related Documents feature is to make it easy for users to navigate to associated content without having to conduct multiple searches or manually go into and read each document’s text.


Important Things to Know

  • This feature is intended to provide a convenient way to access related documents on GovInfo but not to be a complete legislative history.
  • The links between related documents are dependent on having documents and metadata already in the system.
  • If you do not see any documents under Related Documents on a given document’s page, it is possible that:
    • related documents are not yet in the system for that document,
    • the Related Documents feature has not yet been built for that document or collection, or
    • metadata is not available in the system to support a relationship for that document.
  • If you do not see a document you expect to see, make sure to try additional searches.

Find Related Documents in 3 Steps

You can find related documents on GovInfo in just 3 steps:

  1. Find a publication- through searching or browsing
  2. Click Details
  3. Click the Related documents tab

What related documents are linked?

Related documents are linked to applicable Details pages of each of the following collections:

Congressional Bills

Links to other bill versions of the legislation; bill history; Congressional Reports for the legislation; Congressional Committee Prints for the legislation; Presidential Signing Statements and Remarks for legislation from the Compilation of Presidential Documents; Public Laws for the legislation; Statutes at Large document for the legislation; U.S. Code documents that reference the legislation.

See example. How to get there: Search for H.R. 803, click details for the result titled "H.R. 803 (ENR) - Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act", then click the related documents tab.


Public and Private Laws

Links to bill versions of the legislation; bill history; Congressional Reports for the legislation; Presidential Signing Statements and Remarks for the legislation from the Compilation of Presidential Documents; Statutes at Large document for the legislation; U.S. Code documents that reference the legislation.

See example. How to get there: Search for public law 108-201, click details for the result titled "Public Law 108-201 - NASA Flexibility Act of 2004." then click the related documents tab.


Congressional Reports

Links to bill versions and Public Laws for the legislation.

See example. How to get there: Search for H. Rept. 106-513, click details for the result titled "H. Rept. 106-513 - WENDELL H. FORD AVIATION INVESTMENT AND REFORM ACT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY", then click the related documents tab.


Congressional Record

Links to bill versions referenced.

See example. How to get there: Search for congressional record public bills and resolutions, click details for the result titled "164 Cong. Rec. H7919 - PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS", then click the related documents tab.


Presidential Signing Statements and Remarks from the Compilation of Presidential Documents

Links to bill versions and Public Laws for the legislation.

See example. How to get there: Search for wildlife and wetlands signing statement, click details for the result titled "34 WCPD 2202 - Statement on Signing Wildlife and Wetlands Legislation", then click the related documents tab.


Congressional Hearings

Links to other parts of the same hearing.

See example. How to get there: Search for endangered species act Washington, dc, click details for the first result, then click the related documents tab.


Federal Register

Links to other Federal Register rulemaking documents related via the same Regulatory ID Number and CFR documents referenced by that Federal Register document.

See example. How to get there: Search for rearview mirrors, click details for the result titled "70 FR 57549 - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Rearview Mirrors", then click the related documents tab.


Code of Federal Regulations

Links to Federal Register rulemaking documents referenced.

Important Note: The Federal Register citation displayed may be the first page of the document that includes the exact citation referenced in that CFR document.

For example, 21 CFR § 135.110 references the following Federal Register citations from Volume 63: 63 FR 14035, Mar. 24, 1998; 63 FR 14818, and Mar. 27, 1998.

On the Related Documents tab for 21 CFR § 135.110, the first linked Federal Register citation is 63 FR 14817. As you can see above, 63 FR 14817 is not referenced in 21 CFR § 135.110, but the linked document starts with page 14817 and includes page 14818 as well.

Also, some Federal Register documents may be listed on the related documents tab but do not necessarily reference the noted CFR document, as Federal Register document page number ranges for citations can overlap. Verification of the related documents displayed may be required.

Other than scrolling through the Federal Register document to confirm the citation in question is within that document, you can also confirm by checking the page number range of a given document on the summary tab metadata on the details pages.

See example. How to get there: Search for ice cream and frozen custard, click details for the result titled "21 CFR § 135.110 - Ice cream and frozen custard." then click the Related Documents tab.


General Publications

Links to publications in the same series (determined by ILS number).

See example. How to get there: Search for reporting rates of exchange, click details for the first result, then click the related documents tab.


Will related documents in other collections be linked together?

GPO has identified numerous relationships, most identified by subject matter experts and stakeholders during the initial requirements gathering stage of development. Each collection has a unique set of relationships within or to other collections or documents. The approach is to incorporate individual use cases or groupings of use cases by collection. Implementation of use cases will be on an iterative basis throughout the course of development. Priorities are established by complexity of implementation, anticipated appeal or popularity, and the overall design and planning roadmap.