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This guide explains how to conduct research in books and articles when writing a seminar paper or note. If most of your research in law school so far has been on Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law, this is the right guide for you.
Librarians are available to consult on all aspects of the research process.
Goals of a literature search
A literature search serves two purposes:
- Learn about your topic
- Make sure your argument is original
Because you need to make sure nobody has already made the argument you plan on making, it's crucial that your literature search be thorough. Be sure to pursue all the avenues listed in this guide to make sure that you don't miss a relevant book or article.
Resources about academic legal writing
This guide is about conducting the research you will need to write a seminar paper or note. The resources below cover this as well as other aspects of the writing process.
Books
Academic Legal Writing by Call Number: Law Library Reserve KF250 .V65x 2016Publication Date: 2016Reserve item; ask for it at the circulation desk.
Scholarly Writing for Law Students by Call Number: Law Library Reserve KF250 .F17 2017Publication Date: 2017Reserve item; ask for it at the circulation desk.
Scholarly Writing by Call Number: Law Library Reserve KF250 .C528 2019Publication Date: 2019Reserve item; ask for it at the circulation desk.
Guides from other libraries
- Writing for & Publishing in Law ReviewsThis guide from the University of Washington includes useful suggestions on selecting a paper topic and sections on getting your paper published in a journal. Although the guide is aimed at publishing, it has plenty of relevant information for writing seminar papers as well.
- Research Strategies for Seminar PapersThis guide from Georgetown Law Library takes you through the process of preparing to write a seminar paper one step at a time, from topic selection to the different stages of research.
- Researching & Writing a Law Review Note or Seminar PaperThis guide from NYU Law Library contains many useful links to books, articles, and blog posts about every step of the researching and writing process. The citations tab includes advice on dealing with tricky citations and hard-to-find sources.
- Researching for a Scholarly Article or Seminar (SAW) PaperThis guide from UCLA Law Library gives advice on finding many different kinds of sources for your research, including some that are not discussed here, such as statistics and primary sources.
