How to Prepare Your Note, Cert. or Seminar Paper:
Secondary Source Research

Looking at secondary sources, including law review articles, treatises and loose-leaf services, is a very helpful first step for any legal research project. While researching your paper topic, you may also wish to consult some non-legal resources. Guides to legal research are available in print and electronic formats.


Law review & law journal articles

  • The HeinOnline Law Journal Library offers limited searchability of legal articles, with many of the journals going back to their first volume.
  • For articles not available in full text online, check Law Journals A-Z.

Treatises and other books

Search the BU online catalog by Word to find materials related to your topic.

If you do not find the materials you require in the BU collection, you can search the catalogs of libraries from around the world through the online catalog Worldcat, then request to borrow the materials through interlibrary loan. Please consult a reference librarian with any questions or problems.

Looseleaf services

  • Search the BU online catalog by Word or Title, if you have found the title of a loose-leaf service in the course of your research.
  • Legal Looseleafs in Print [Law Ref Desk KF 1 L55] lists looseleafs currently published
  • LexisNexis has topical databases collections under Research Tasks or Area of Law - By Topic which include looseleaf services

Non-legal articles

You may want to supplement your legal research with non-legal perspectives on the same topic. Some of the resources you can use include:

Guides to Legal Research

General Guides

  • Fundamentals of Legal Research
    Law Reserve & Law Ref Desk KF240 .B369 2009  
  • Handbook of Legal Research in Massachusetts
    Law Ref & Law Ref Desk KFM 2475 .H36

Topical Guides

  • Chanin, Specialized Legal Research
    Law Ref Desk & Law Reserve KF 240 .S63
  • Richmond, Federal Tax Research
    Law Reserve KF 241 .T38 R5 2007
  • Germain, Germain's Transnational Law Research: A Guide for Attorneys
    Law Ref Desk K 85 .G47
  • Guide to International Legal Research
    Law Ref Desk    KZ 1234 G85
  • Legal Information Institute's "Law About" Topics from Cornell Law School
  • Pappas Law Library Research Guides

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Page maintained by Raquel Ortiz
Last updated: September 2009