Martini, Leila and Presley, David and Klieger, Sarah and Burris, Scott, A Scan of CDC-Authored Articles on Legal Epidemiology, 2011–2015 (November 16, 2016). Public Health Reports, Vol. 131, No. 6, p. 809-815, November/December 2016. Available for download at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2882830

“Objective: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funds and conducts research on legal epidemiology, which is the scientific study of law as a factor in the cause, distribution, and prevention of disease in a population. This study describes the results of a scan of articles authored by CDC staff members to characterize the frequency and key features of articles on legal epidemiology and their distribution across CDC departments and divisions.

Methods: CDC librarians searched an internal repository for journal articles by CDC staff members that were published from January 1, 2011, to May 31, 2015. Researchers at the Public Health Law Research program reviewed and coded the abstracts to produce data on key features of the articles.

Results: We identified 158 CDC-authored articles on legal epidemiology published in 83 journals, most frequently in Preventing Chronic Disease (14 publications), Journal of Public Health Management Practice (10 publications), and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (nine publications). Most articles concerned the use and impact of law as a deliberate tool of intervention. Thirteen articles addressed the legal infrastructure of public health and three articles assessed the incidental or unintended effects of non-health laws. CDC-authored articles encompassed policymaking, implementation, and impact. Literature reviews and studies mapping laws across multiple jurisdictions comprised one-quarter of all publications. Studies addressed laws at the international, national, state, local, and organizational levels.

Conclusion: CDC staff members contributed at least 158 articles on legal epidemiology to the literature during the study period. Results of the scan can be used to identify opportunities for the agency to better support research, professional development, networking, publication, and tracking of publication in this emerging field.”