Rule 976, adopted by the California Supreme Court in 1963, provided that panels of the courts of appeal could decide not to publish their opinions in cases which did not establish a new rule or change an existing one, involve a legal issue of continuing public interest, or criticize existing law. It also provided that opinions of the appellate departments of superior courts were to be selected for publication by those courts unless the supreme court directs otherwise. A new rule, more stringent than the first, was adopted in 1972. The principal change was to shift the presumption from publication to nonpublication. Further, it provides for the supreme court's decertifying cases for publication which the courts of appeal had decided to publish. The supreme court has linked the publication decision and the process of substantive review, which involves the injection of substantive issues into the publication decision. Thirty-eight footnotes are provided.