Searching for Journal Articles - Human Rights Research
This page
was created by the library to assist you in finding journal articles discussing
human rights issues. You will need to check various sources (both indexes
and full-text) to thoroughly research your topic. You can go through these
steps in any order, but there is a certain logic to the order listed below.
Good luck with your research, and if you have any questions feel free
to contact
.
STEP ONE
Search Lexis full-text law reviews AND Westlaw full-text law reviews. Although there is a lot of overlap, you should search both Lexis and Westlaw since their databases include many different articles. [This search will cover most of the law review articles written since the mid-1990s.]
THE BAD NEWS: If your topic is too broad, you will get 1000's of results and may be overwhelmed at the first step.
THE GOOD NEWS: If you can narrow your search, you may be able to locate one or two very useful articles. If you find a couple good articles on point, you can check the footnotes to see what may be your most useful resources. The footnotes should lead you to the primary sources you'll need such as UN resolutions or ILO conventions or international treaties.
STEP TWO
Search Index to Legal Periodicals and Books on Lexis (LAWREV:ILP) OR Westlaw (ILP) OR the Index to Legal Periodicals and Books Internet Database. (Note: This Internet database is only accessible from computers on campus.) [This search will cover many more articles than the full-text database search in step one, since this index includes almost every law review article written in the United States since 1980. However, you may retrieve fewer articles than you located in step one since this is not a full-text search.]
STEP THREE
Search Legal Resource Index on Lexis (LAWREV:LGLIND) OR Westlaw (LRI) OR the LegalTrac Internet database. (Note: This Internet database is only accessible from computers on campus.) [This search will include a few additional journal articles, and articles from bar journals and legal newspapers written since 1980 that were not searched in steps one and two. Like the index in step two, this is not a full-text search; Legal Resource Index and LegalTrac are simply online versions on the print Current Law Index.]
STEP FOUR
Search Current Index to Legal Periodicals(CILP), an Internet resource that is only accessible from computers on campus, OR search CILP on Westlaw (CILP). This index is published every week, but you only need to search the past two months. If you use Westlaw, you can either browse the most recent issues or you can select "edit query" to search these issues. [This will update your searches in steps one through three. You'll only need to read the most recent eight issues of CILP, because prior issues have already been included in your results from steps two and three.]
STEP FIVE
Search the online Legal Scholarship Network. This is a searchable database of abstracts of working-papers as well as articles accepted for publication. (Note: This Internet database is only accessible from computers on campus.) [This step is necessary because it includes many links to articles not available elsewhere.]
STEP SIX
If articles on your topic may have been published prior to 1980, then you need to use the print version of Index to Legal Periodicals and Books. This index is located on the Index Wall in the 4th floor stacks; search each volume using the listed subject headings. For example, there is a "Human Rights" subject heading. [This step is necessary if you need to check articles written before 1980.]
STEP SEVEN
If you want to read articles on your topic published in a foreign legal journal, then you may want to search Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals. This database is updated quarterly and covers 1985 to present. It is only available from computers on campus. If you need to locate articles published prior to 1985, Hastings has the print Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (1960 - present) on the Index Wall in the 4th floor stacks. [This step is only necessary if you need to check foreign journal articles.]
STEP EIGHT
If an article on your topic may have been published in a non-law journal, then you might want to search the Index to Periodical Articles Related to Law (print index available on the Index Wall in the 4th floor stacks) or other non-legal journal indexes. Many of these indexes are available at the San Francisco Public Library. If you think you need to search these indexes, you can ask for assistance at the library reference desk. [This is only necessary for interdisciplinary topics that may be covered in non-legal periodicals.]
Last updated January 22, 2007Prepared by
FCIL Librarian