Legal Research
From Simmons Library Research Guides
We have selected these resources to help you find relevant information on your research topic. Please contact a librarian for help using the resources listed in this guide or for help with your research process.
Contents |
Reference and Background Information
Search for Reference sources that contain information about your specific research topic here:
You may also consult the resources below for overviews of the topic that you have chosen to research. Use these resources to help you to put your topic in context and give you the big picture of what information exists about your topic. These resources may have bibliographies at the end of each entry that can help further your research.
- How Laws are Made
Free Online
It may be helpful to understand the process of creating federal laws before trying to locate and evaluate them. These two source from the Library of Congress explain the process of lawmaking in the House and the Senate.
- Black's Law Dictionary
Level 1 Reference KF156 .B53 2004
A weighty (literally) dictionary of legal terms, laws, conventions and treaties. The book also includes many useful appendices, like a table of legal abbreviations, a Federal Circuits map, and a reproduction of the Constitution.
- Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law
Level 1 Reference KF387 .G27 2003
The Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law offers background information on practical laws and issues affecting peoples lives. The two volumes offer 200 articles arranged in 24 broad subject categories. The encyclopedia also offers a comprehensive overview of the American legal system, a list of State and Federal Agency contacts with websites, and a general index in the second volume.
- Legal Systems of the World
Level 1 Reference K48 .L44 2002
A four volume encyclopedia that discusses the political, social, and cultural aspects of legal principles and systems from all over the world. You can look up an American state or a country and find information about the government structure, legal codes, the judicial system, high courts, and much more. You can also look up legal terminology and concepts for in-depth definitions and discussion.
- The Oxford Companion to American Law
Level 1 Reference KF154 .O96 2002 and Simmons Eresource
This encyclopedic book is intended to offer a comprehensive guide to the development of American Law. It includes entries on important lawmakers and figures, concepts central to the American legal system, current controversies, significant cases, and legal vocabulary. Entries are arranged alphabetically, and a full index and case index are provided.
- West's Encyclopedia of American Law
Level 1 Reference KF154 .W47 2004
This is a thirteen volume encyclopedia containing nearly 5,000 entries on terms, concepts, events, legal movements, cases, and significant people in US law. Entries are arranged alphabetically, and most contain lists for further readings. Some entries also include more in-depth essays, and the set includes appendices, primary documents, and citations for cases and statues.
- Zimmerman's Research Guide: An Online Encyclopedia for Legal Researchers
Free Online
Browsing this index is a good way to find links on a legal or governmental topic.
Finding Laws and Court Decisions
- Findlaw
Free Online
FindLaw provides a comprehensive set of legal resources for legal professionals, corporate counsel, law students, businesses, and consumers. These resources include Web search utilities, cases and codes, legal news, an online career center.
- Legal Information Institute
Free Online
The Legal Information Institute is a well-respected online source for primary and secondary documents. They offer the full text of all US Supreme Court decisions since 1992, as well as over 600 cases selected for historical significance, the full US Code, and topical pages that offer explanatory guides and overviews of various legal issues.
- Lexis Nexis Academic Legal Research
Simmons Eresource
U.S. Federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, legal career information, patent research and international legal information and Shepard's Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789.
- United States Code: Containing the General and Permanent Laws of the United States
Level 1 Reference KF62 .A2 1994
Contains all the current general and permanent laws of the United States of America.
- Code of Federal Regulations
Free Online
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. Each volume of the CFR is updated once each calendar year and is issued on a quarterly basis.
- Major Acts of Congress
Level 1 Reference KF154 .M35 2004
Published in 2003, this three volume encyclopedia contains entries on over 262 major acts of Congress through history, offering contextual information and background, significant elements of each act, the last impacts, cross-reference to other related acts, and bibliographies. The table of contents and topical index for all three volumes can be found at the beginning of each volume, and a copy of the Constitution, a chronology, glossary, and court case index at the end.
- Congressional Record
Free Online
Put out by the U.S. Government Printing Office, this website provides access to text and PDF versions of documents produced by the House and Senate. The site also splits the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches onto different pages, allowing easier navigation of the documents produced by each branch.
- U.S. Laws, Acts, and Treaties
Level 1 Reference KF385.A4 U152 2003
Three volumes of essays on constitutional provisions, treaties, and statues, giving information on historical provenance for laws and their main provisions. Each essay offers a bibliography, and entries are arranged chronologically. The third volume features the text of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and a list of legal research resources. A subject and category index is also available in the third volume.
- Historic U.S. Court Cases
Level 1 Reference KF385.A4 J64 2001
A two-volume encyclopedia with essays on a variety of topics (mostly Supreme Court cases) organized topically and chronologically. Essays are a few pages long and offer a general overview and information about why the case is significant, as well as further reading lists.
- United States Supreme Court Website
Free Online
The Supreme Court website contains complete information about recent Supreme Court decisions, the current docket schedule, and a great deal of information about how the Supreme Court works. The site can be a little hard to navigate if you don't know what you're looking for, but the information here is so complete it is worth being persistent.
- Supreme Court Compendium: Data Decisions, and Developments
Level 1 Reference KF8742 .S914 2003
This book offers a comprehensive collection of data on the Supreme Court, its history and development, significant cases, trends in opinions and decisions, the backgrounds, activities, and decisions of justices throughout history, public opinion of the Supreme Court, and the social impact of various decisions throughout history.
- Supreme Court Yearbook
Simmons Eresource
Clear and in-depth analysis of every decision made by the nation's highest court since the 1989-1990 term.
- General Laws of Massachusetts
Level 1 Reference KFM2420 .M3 and Free Online
Provides the current general and permanent laws of Massachusetts.
- National Survey of State Laws
Level 1 Reference KF386 .N38
This volume offers charts offering state-by-state comparisons of laws in several general legal categories including business law, criminal law, education, employment, family, real estate, and tax law, and general civil laws. Topics covered are those that are most controversial, including gun control, abortion, lemon laws, and so on. A topic cross reference table is provided to help you find all areas of law are related.
Finding Articles
Below are suggested databases and indexes for articles on the topic that you have chosen to research. These databases include articles from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals. Articles are shorter and more narrowly focused than books or reference materials so you should use them after you have narrowed your topic.
- Lexis Nexis Academic Legal Research
Simmons Eresource
U.S. Federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, legal career information, patent research and international legal information and Shepard's Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789.
- Contents Pages from Law Reviews and Other Scholarly Journals / Compiled by Tarlton Law Library
Free Online
A keyword-searchable database of tables of contents from more than 750 law reviews and other scholarly publications related to the law published in the United States and abroad. Updated daily, the database lists journal issues received over the past three months by the Tarlton Law Library. Consult a commercial indexing service for less recent issues.
- Academic Search Complete
Simmons Eresource
Academic Search Complete is a great place to start your search for both popular and scholarly articles, no matter what your topic is! It contains journals from almost every topic and is designed specifically for academic institutions. It provides more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, 4,400 of which are peer-reviewed journals. This resource also features content as far back as 1865.
- Academic Onefile
Simmons Eresource
Academic Onefile contains 8,000 academic journals, the majority in full-text, available in HTML and PDF formats. In addition it contains hundreds of podcasts and transcripts from NPR, CNN, and the CBC.
- Expanded Academic ASAP
Simmons Eresource
From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Access scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many with full text and images. Updated daily.
TIP: Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search!
Searching the Web
Simmons librarians have created a customized search engine that allows you
to find Legal information on the free web.
Use this Legal Research Google Custom Search Engine box to search all select, quality free web sites at the
same time:
You may also wish to go directly to, or bookmark, the Legal Research Google Custom Search Engine
Tips for Searching the Internet:
- Use the advanced search function, which is available from most search engines:
- Google - See also "Advanced Search Tips"
- Ask - Click "Advanced." See also "Advanced Search Tips"
- Live (MSN) - See also "Options"
- Exalead - See also "Exalead FAQ"
- Yahoo! Search
- Limit your search to .edu and .gov sites. These often provide quality research, statistics, and commentary. Sites ending in .org often have good information, too, but are likely to espouse a strong stance or bias on the issues they cover and may not be objective.
- Try Scandoo, which presents search results from Google, Yahoo! Search, or Live (MSN) with an evaluation about the objectivity, credibility, and overall reliability of the site.
- Consider using a directory of pre-screened, annotated sites:
Writing Style and Citation
For more information on style and citation for this discipline, please contact the Simmons College Writing Center
You may also consider consulting these resources:
- Writing Resources
Free Online
The Writing Center provides online resources for citing your research. If you are unsure of which citation style to use, consult your professor and consider the following:- Use APA (American Psychological Association) when your topic is in the Social Sciences
- Use ASA (American Sociological Association) when your topic is in Sociology
- Use MLA (Modern Language Association) when your topic is in the Humanities
- Use Chicago/Turabian when your topic is in Literature, History or the Arts
- Use CSE (Council of Science Editors) when your topic is in the Sciences
- RefWorks
Simmons Eresource
RefWorks is a great program for organizing articles, books, and other materials you need for research. You can also use RefWorks to create bibliographies, create in text citations in your paper (Write-N-Cite), and share your research with others. Access RefWorks from the A-Z list of resources on the library's web page, and then follow the instructions to create your own username and password. We hold RefWorks Clinics throughout the semester. For more information, ask a reference librarian
