eCFR historical version
Original research draft · October 2026
Working pattern
[Title] C.F.R. § [section] (electronic version as of [date]).
Capture from the source
Selected version date; title; section; downloaded text; source URL
Check before you use it
Preserve the date-specific text rather than a link that returns the current version later.
Common error: An access date is not necessarily the version date.
Completed example
Electronic system, regulatory text, dates, export, and behavior are fictional training facts. This example makes no claim about the functionality or legal status of the actual eCFR.
8 TRAIN C.F.R. § 22.16(b) (electronic version as of Feb. 15, 2025), TRAIN-A35 preserved export.
Read the supplied source facts
Fictional packet TRAIN-A35 includes a date-selected electronic version of Northmere's TRAIN Code of Regulations, title 8, section 22.16, as of February 15, 2025. The researcher retrieved it on September 4. The supplied interface distinguishes the selected version date from the retrieval date. A generic section URL now opens wording effective May 1, whereas the preserved date-specific export contains the February text. The exercise asks for the source used to describe the February version. The export's heading and metadata both confirm the selected date, and the relevant passage is subsection (b).
Why this works
The parenthetical identifies the version date, which is the important temporal locator here. September 4 belongs in the retrieval log and should not replace February 15. Preserve the date-selected content as well as the link, because a generic current-section link may later display different language. The reader should be able to reproduce the historical text without guessing which interface settings the researcher used. Keep the export title, selected date, source URL, and relevant subsection in one source card, and compare them before relying on a downloaded file's name alone.
When the facts change
If a date-specific link redirects to the current version, do not describe the current display as the February source. Use the preserved export and explain the retrieval problem, or reacquire the historical text from a reliable source. If the assignment asks which rule governed a February event, separately investigate effective and transition terms; a historical display date is evidence of a selected text version, not a complete applicability analysis.
Apply the receiving court or publication’s requirements. These working forms do not establish citation permission, precedential weight, or support for a legal proposition.