Skip to Main Content

Researching Your Paper: Journal Articles and News: Lexis & Westlaw for Journal Research

A guide on how to find law review and journal articles, non-legal journal articles, legal news articles, and general news articles.

Using Westlaw & LexisNexis to Find Articles in Legal Periodicals

Westlaw

  1. By Citation

    If you know the citation of the article, simply type it into the search box on the homepage.  You can use abbreviations or type out the entire citation.

    Examples: 
    57 Stan L Rev 1095
    57 Stanford Law Review 1095
    57 Stanford LR 1095
     
  2. Searching Westlaw Databases

    Searching all law reviews and journals.  To search for articles using key words and phrases, use the JLR (Journals and Law Reviews) database. This database includes hundreds of law reviews, bar journals and continuing legal education (CLE) materials. To get to the JLR Database, type JLR into the search bar on the main page (DON'T PRESS RETURN) and choose Law Reviews & Journals under Content Pages. 

    Searching a specific law review or journal.  To search a specific journal, start typing the name of the journal in the search box on the homepage (DON'T PRESS RETURN).  If Westlaw has the journal, it should appear under "Content Pages".  Click on the journal and the next page will show you the 10 most recent articles.  You can use the search box on top to search the contents of the journal. 

LexisNexis

  1. By Citation

    Type the citation into the search bar on the main page. 
     
  2. Searching LexisNexis

    On the main search page, select “Law Reviews & Journals” under Secondary Materials.  You can then search the database of combined law reviews and journals, or drill down further to search individual titles.
     

Tip: If you need to find a PDF of an article (e.g. for cite or source checking), use the Law Journal Library on HeinOnline.