LEGAL PERIODICALS GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Index to Legal Periodicals (1908-present)

2. Current Law Index (1980-present)

3. Current Index to Legal Periodicals

4. Shepard's Citations

5. Internet (LegalTrac and Wilson ILP)

6. Lexis and Westlaw

7. Foreign Legal Periodicals Indexes (Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, Szladits' Bibliography on Foreign and Comparative Law, Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature)

8. Other Sources (Legal Newsletters in Print, Index to Federal Tax Articles and CCH Federal Tax Articles, Kindex, Criminal Justice Periodical Index)

The two major indexes are the Index to Legal Periodicals(1908-present) and the Current Law Index(1980-present). These indexes appear in print and online.

1. Index to Legal Periodicals.

The I.L.P. indexes articles by subject and author. The I.L.P. also includes Tables of Cases and Statutes. Coverage begins in 1908 and includes references to articles from several hundred legal periodicals and books published in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Prior to 1983, the I.L.P. provided complete references under the subject entries only. To find an article by a certain author, you will need to check the cross-references to subject entries under the author's name. The letter in parentheses which appears after the subject entry under the author's name indicates the first letter of the title of the article which is listed under that subject entry.

Beginning in 1983, complete references to articles appear under both subject and author. For help in identifying your subject, consult (1) the Index to Legal Periodicals: Thesaurus(1988) which is shelved with the volumes of the I.L.P. with the Reference Collection behind the reference desk on the Sixth Floor of the library; (2) the subject listing which appears in each annual volume; or (3) ask a Reference Librarian for assistance. The ILP is located on the 6th floor in the Reference Collection K33 .I54.

2. Current Law Index.

The C.L.I. indexes articles by subject and author/title. Complete bibliographic references appear under both subject and author. The C.L.I. also provides Tables of Cases and Statutes. Coverage begins in 1980 and includes articles from several hundred legal periodicals published in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. To find citations on your topic look under the subject entries. The C.L.I. provides detailed sub-headings and cross-references to subjects. If you need help in locating the appropriate subject headings for your research topic, ask a Reference Librarian for assistance. The Current Law Index is located on the 6th floor in the Reference Collection K33 .C87.

3. Current Index to Legal Periodicals.

Articles which are too recent to be included in the I.L.P. or the C.L.I. are listed in the weekly Current Index to Legal Periodicals which indexes articles from nearly 300 law reviews. The C.I.L.P. lists recently published articles under 90 subject headings. The C.I.L.P. also lists the Table of Contents for the journals covered each week. To find an article on your topic, scan the subject headings and/or refer to the Table of Contents listings under the name of the law review.

The C.I.L.P. is available on the Suffolk Law School Library web site: Click on Legal Databases.

4. Shepard's Citations.

You may find citations to law review articles when you use Shepard's Citations to Shepardize a case or statute. For example, to find law review articles which cite a state case, use that state's Shepard's citator. [Shepard's regional citators exclude law reviews.] To find law review articles which cite federal primary authority, use Shepard's Federal Law Citations in Selected Law Reviews. To find citations to law review articles, use Shepard's Law Review Citations where you may find related articles and judicial decisions. Shepard's Law Review Citations are located on the 6th floor in the Reading Room. Shepard's research may be performed online on the computer adjacent to the Reference Desk on the 6th floor of the Library.

5. Internet: LegalTrac and Wilson Index to Legal Periodicals(ILP)

The Current Law Index is available online in the LegalTrac Database. To access LegalTrac from the law library home page, select Legal Databases or do a title search for LegalTrac on the online catalog. LegalTrac includes citations from several hundred legal and law-related periodicals, including legal newspapers.

The Wilson Index to Legal Periodicals(ILP) includes citations from over 500 journals and law reviews from 1981 to the present. To access the ILP from the law library homepage, select Legal Databases and select the Wilson Index to Legal Periodicals.

6. Lexis and Westlaw

Lexis and Westlaw include both full-text articles and legal periodical indexes. The Current Law Index is available on Lexis in Secondary Legal>Annotations and Indexes and on Westlaw in the LRI database.

Lexis and Westlaw include selected full-text articles from many legal periodicals. To find out whether a particular periodical is included in Lexis or Westlaw, consult the online Directories.

To search for articles from a particular periodical, select the individual periodical in Lexis or the individual database in Westlaw. To retrieve all full-text journal articles which are available in Lexis and Westlaw, select LAW REVIEWS, COMBINED in Lexis and in Westlaw, select the JLR database.

For articles not included in Lexis or Westlaw, search Hein Online. From the law library homepage, select Legal Databases to access Hein Online.

7. Foreign Legal Periodical Indexes.

To locate references on international law subjects, consult the following sources which are located on the Sixth Floor with the reference materials.

• The Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (1960-present) [LAW REF K33 .I38] indexes periodicals dealing with international law, comparative law, and the municipal law of all countries except the United States, the British Isles and the British Commonwealth, whose systems of law have a Common Law basis. Access to articles is provided by author, subject and geographic region or country. This Index is also available online from the law library homepage. Select Legal Databases to access the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals. Coverage for the online version begins in 1985 and indexes over 500 legal periodicals.
• Szladits' Bibliography on Foreign and Comparative Law [LAW REF K38 .B53] provides access to books and articles on international and comparative law published in English. Coverage of articles indexed begins in 1790. Access is provided by author, subject, and geographic region.
• The Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature (1979-present) [LAW REF KE8 .I5] indexes articles in Canadian legal periodicals, articles in non-legal Canadian journals, and articles published in topical law reports. Access to articles is provided by author and subject. A Table of Cases is included.

8. Other Sources.

There are several other sources which may provide additional references to articles on your research topic. The following paragraphs describe a few of these sources.

• Legal Newsletters in Print [LAW REF KF1 .L44] is published annually and provides descriptions for over 1,000 newsletters. It is arranged alphabetically by the title of the newsletter. A subject index provides access to newsletters on particular legal topics. Legal Newsletters in Print is located behind the Reference Desk on the Sixth Floor of the Library with thereference materials.
• Index to Federal Tax Articles [LAW TREATISES(FL5) KF6335 .A1 I64] indexes articles from periodicals and other publications on all subjects of taxation. It is updated with cumulative volumes and quarterly supplements. Access is provided by author and subject.
• CCH Federal Tax Articles [LAW TREATISES(FL 5) KF6335 .A6 C58] is issued monthly and contains abstracts of tax articles published in legal, accounting, tax and other periodicals. It is arranged by section of the Internal Revenue Code.
• Kindex [LAW REF K33 .K56] is an index to legal periodical articles pertaining to children and the law. Access to articles is provided by author, subject, Supreme Court decisions, states and countries. Coverage begins in 1965. Kindex is located on the Sixth Floor of the Library with the Reference Collection.
• The Criminal Justice Periodical Index is published three times a year and provides indexing for over 100 journals on subjects related to criminal justice. A cumulative volume is issued annually. Coverage begins in 1975. Access to articles is provided by author and subject. The Criminal Justice Periodical Index is located on the 6th floor of Library with the Reference Collection LAW REF Z5118 .C9 C74 HV 8138. You may access the electronic version through the online catalog. Search for the title Criminal Justice Periodical Index.

Prepared and updated by Ellen V. Delaney, Reference Librarian