Using Law Journals

Use Law Articles in your Law Essays

Journal articles are something that all law students should be using in their essays sooner rather than later. You are going to be expected to only use journals if you are in your third year of study or if you want to get a first. So start early.  Journal articles are lengthy, difficult to understand, and tough to locate. This is why you get higher marks.  The majority of pupils have no idea why they are required to incorporate them into their assignments.

What is a law journal article?

Journal articles are essentially extensive essays on a certain subject, generally authored by law professors who are quite knowledgeable about it. They are published in scholarly journals. As a result, they are often written in a complex language that you may find difficult to comprehend at first unless you have done some reading in the textbook. In the legal profession, journal articles are published in law journals, which serve as (in a sense) publications for law academics and practitioners. In the past, they were printed, but these days, many of them are published only on the internet and are digital. 

These days, every journal has its own website, from which you may download copies of the journal's contents. You can access the journals through My Athens. The university covers the subscription cost, which in turn enables you to view specific articles published in the journals, so read them it’s free. Journals that publish scholarly works in the field of law are often referred to as "journals" or "law reviews." There is no difference, thus you should include articles from any of these sources in your law essays. 

Structure of law journals

The majority of legal journals organize their articles into "volumes" that are further classified into "themes" that are further separated into "issues." This enables the specific position of a single journal article to be determined, which is very valuable when a journal publishes hundreds of articles each year. Normally, volumes and issues will be identified by a number. This was a greater worry in the past when reading journal articles required visiting a library and identifying the publications' year, volume, and issue. Due to the ease with which databases like Westlaw and LexisNexis facilitate searching, many journals are now publishing their articles in issues rather than volumes. That is not to indicate, however, that you may exclude information regarding the year of publication, the issue, and so forth from your essay's bibliography and footnotes. These continue to be a significant element of academic practice.

Accessing law journal articles

​Each university subscribes to journal subscriptions. Your institution has already paid for access to Practical Law, Lawtel, Westlaw, and/or LexisNexis. All of these are substantial legal databases that compile articles from a wide range of law periodicals. In reality, this implies that if you are looking for journal papers on a certain subject, you should do a search on Westlaw and/or LexisNexis rather than frantically scrolling through the websites of many different journals. Also, a good tip is to start by searching for articles in Google Scholar, which has the best search function. Once you have located the source of the journal use My Athens to access the article. 

Neither Westlaw nor LexisNexis will provide you with access to every article ever published in a law journal. Individual articles may or may not be available to you depending on your university's subscriptions. However, combining all of the resources will ensure that you have access to all articles required for your LLB or LLM. It will soon materialize that being a researcher means being good at finding things. Therefore, if you are seeking for fresh law journal paper on a certain subject, your best is to start with Google scholar and then do a search on Westlaw and/or LexisNexis. 

Why Should you use articles in law essays?

The first reason is you are training to become a lawyer. No one is going to take your word for something, you have to prove it and for this you need evidence. Journal articles are evidence. People have previously studied this subject before you and come to conclusions before you. So rather than going to the source of the law or doctrine and hoping to have a Sir Isaac Newton moment, see what others are saying, - Are they agreeing with your analysis? Are they supporting your proposition? Are they disagreeing?