As with many tasks involving legal research, it is most efficient when beginning your academic article research to first consult secondary sources discussing your topic. While you will, of course, ultimately consult relevant primary sources, secondary materials aid you in first identifying the range of potentially relevant primary sources, and understand how those sources of law operate and work together. Secondary sources include:
- Legal encyclopedias,
- Treatises,
- Hornbooks,
- Monographs,
- Scholarly articles,
- Practice-oriented articles (i.e. bar association publications) and manuals,
- Current awareness publications,
- Blogs,
- Reports,
and more. Your journal note topic will be quite narrow and specific, and as such you should locate other journal articles that have discussed your topic in some way (in part to ensure that you have not been "preempted"!). You should also, however, also consult resources discussing the broader subject area in which your topic is situated. Approach these broader sources with an eye towards gaining needed background information, and insights regarding related issues and questions.
Locating Secondary Sources
Reference Works
- Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law This link opens in a new windowComprehensive database on articles on every aspect of public international law. Primary documents, such as treaties, are also available for some entries.
- Oxford Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law This link opens in a new windowCases, treaties, journal articles, and websites on international law including diplomatic law, criminal law, human rights, etc. concise but substantial information on: legal terms as used in international law, significant doctrines, prominent cases, decisions and arbitration, important incidents, judicial and literary figures, treaties and conventions, organizations and institutions, and acronyms.
Books
Whereas users seeking known items in the library catalog should use the Title and Author/Creator search fields, students seeking works in the collection relevant to their note topics should consider utilizing the Subject field.
- West Academic This link opens in a new windowIn addition to study aids, West Academic provides a number of hornbooks and treatises beneficial for academic research. Select 2L/3L Subjects > All Subjects to browse to titles discussing international law (and/or other subjects, as some titles that do not focus specifically on international law may nevertheless offer global perspectives).
- Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law This link opens in a new windowIncludes more than 180 references works and treaties on international law. Users can search the full text of all publications and review relevant chapters, or access works in full.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowLaw Journal Library includes some foreign titles, and titles offering specific coverage of international law.
In seeking journal articles discussing a particular topic, periodical indices provide a useful supplement to keyword searches, since they are assembled by human experts, and can assist researchers in identifying synonymous and related key terms. A notable such resource within HeinOnline is the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals. The index, compiled and frequently updated by editors, assembles articles on salient topics in foreign and international law, many of which are available in Hein. For articles not available in Hein, search the library catalog and/or Google Scholar with Vanderbilt library links enabled.
- Google Scholar Vanderbilt Login This link opens in a new windowUse this link to access both free, open-access content via your Google Scholar search, but also certain articles in VU databases. Alternatively, see below screenshot demonstrating how to change your own Google Scholar settings to search VU content.
