Legal Research

Quick Review for Locating Legal Periodical Articles

By Leslie A. Pardo

Are you beginning research on a legal topic and looking for that law review article to lay the groundwork? Let?s begin by looking at indexes and how to locate the full-text of the law review or journal article once you identify the article. You can begin on the library home page. Click on Research Now then choose Find Legal Articles under Find Books and Articles.

LegalTrac is a searchable, electronic index to over 875 law reviews and other legal periodical articles dating back to 1980 is a good place to begin. A link is provided when the abstract or the full-text of the article is available. The print equivalent, , for years 1980 through 2001, is found in the Reading Room at . Use of the print index can be helpful in locating index terms for a more successful online search. In addition to a Subject Index and Author/Title index, Table of Cases and Table of Statutes indexing is useful.

Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective: 1908 ? 1981
Looking for an older law review literature? Try this retrospective index to over 750 legal periodicals published in the U. S. and overseas! The link Get it @ ASU is provided when the full text is available in ASU Libraries. Once again, there is a print equivalent, Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, in the main Reading Room, at Law Index K33 .I533

How Do I Obtain Full-Text Articles?
Go to the ASU Libraries Catalog and search by Journal Title! Once again, current print issues held by Ross-Blakley Law Library will be available at the Circulation Desk and bound issues will be in Law Bound Periodicals on the second floor of the library. Many titles will be available electronically.

HeinOnline
A prime resource for law review and other legal periodical articles is HeinOnline. For a full description of HeinOnline see the Ross-Blakley Law Library Electronic Resource Guide to HeinOnline or look under Research Tools and Recommended Databases. This is the go-to place for an image based PDF copy of early issues of important and well known law journals.Both of these services provide full-text searchable databases of law review articles.

Both of these services provide full-text searchable databases of law review articles.

• Westlaw (JLR)
• LexisNexis (US Law Reviews & Journals, Combined)

Full post as published by Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog on September 09, 2010 (boomark / email).