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Paper Topic Development: International

Sources to identify international law developments.

Initial Tips

BLS Library’s first floor Reserve collection includes many print copies of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025).  Call no. = KF 245 .B58 

Finding Tips

  • Visit BLS Library's News Access: Instructions if you wish to create individual accounts for: FT.com, NYTimes.com and WashingtonPost.com.
  • Check Google, Google Books (for books in the public domain) & Google Scholar (for articles) because they sometimes yield desired sources in PDF. 
  • Search BLS Library’s SARA catalog to find many books and reports. 
    • Search by keyword(s) or use the pull-down menu to search by title or author.  (If a book/report title begins with: "The": Ignore "The" -- Do not add The to your catalog search.) 
      • A title search often is effective in SARA catalog:

  • SARA catalog also links to BLS Library's Find a Source tool. 
    • In Find a Source, enter a journal’s title (or a newspaper's title) to see whether BLS Library has holdings for, and links to, the journal (or newspaper):

  • SARA catalog also links to BLS Library's OneSearch discovery tool. 
    • In OneSearch's "Advanced" search form, enter an article's title to search many (but not all) BLS databases.  Use the pull-down menu to choose option: TITLE - TI, then run search:

  • If you obtain a WorldCat result like the one below, DO NOT CLICK PURPLE TAB:  "Request Item Through Interlibrary Loan" until you have confirmed that no one else assigned to your source check has requested this book.  BLS Library might need to pay a lending library up to $20 per loan.  So, you only want to request ONE COPY of a book needed for a source check.

Citing Tips

  • Check Westlaw: Secondary Sources - Law Reviews & Journals to see whether your journal previously cited to a source you need to check.  Below is a sample Westlaw Boolean "terms and connectors" search to see whether an article published in Brooklyn Journal of International Law ever cited to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties:

    • "Brooklyn Journal of International Law" AND "Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties"

      • If you retrieve search results, sort results by: Date.  Note: As of June 23, 2025, cites in a recently published BJIL article likely would reflect application of the rules from 21st ed. of The Bluebook.  You need to review appropriate rules in 22nd ed. (2025) of The Bluebook.  

      • If you do not retrieve search results, check to see how other scholarly journals cited to the desired document and review appropriate rule(s) in 22nd ed. (2025) of The Bluebook.  

  • If reading a legal journal article in Westlaw, check Copy Menu (on right of screen) for option: Copy Citation.

    • Verify by consulting Rule 16 (p. 164-) in 22nd ed. (2025) of The Bluebook.  

  • If reading a legal journal article in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library, click: " (on left of screen) & review: Bluebook 21st ed. cite format.

    • Verify by consulting Rule 16 (p. 164-) in 22nd ed. (2025) of The Bluebook.  

  • NEW: The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) includes T1.5: Tribal Nations.  Bluebook Rule 21.4.2: Treaties and Other International Agreements: Parties to the Agreement (p. 217) states "do not abbreviate the name of a Tribal Nation party."  See two examples of an agreement between a Tribal Nation party and the U.S. in Rule 21.4 (p. 216) and in Rule 21.4.2 (p. 217).   

  • This BLS Treaty Research Guide discusses how to apply Bluebook rule 21.4 (Treaties and Other International Agreements) (p. 215-) and provides sample treaty cites here.  To apply rule 21.4, determine whether the U.S. is a party to the treaty.  Sources that answer this threshold question:

    • United Nations Treaty Collection, MTDSG, tab: Status of Treaties  Provides cites/parties to multilateral treaties registered or filed with the United Nations.  Enter treaty's title or keywords. 

    • U.S. Department of State, 2020 Treaties in Force + 2021 – 2023 Supplement to Treaties in Force 2020

      • Provides cites to treaties currently in force to which the U.S. is a party.  You will see cites to the previously published United States Treaties and Other International Agreements series (U.S.T.) and to the currently published Treaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.).
      • If Treaties in Force index does not reference a recent U.S. treaty, try consulting these U.S. Department of State Office of Treaty Affairs web pages: Recent Actions for Treaties for Which the United States is Depositary and Treaties Pending in the Senate.  
      • Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London (host), Flare Index to Treaties 
        • Provides cites to 2,000+ multilateral treaties (scope: "key multilateral treaties from the 1600s onwards" + "key bilateral treaties from 1353 to 1815"). 
        • Cites include Bluebook-preferred sources.   
      • Westlaw > Secondary Sources > Law Reviews & Journals
        • Search by a treaty's title or popular name and note how scholarly legal journals have cited to the treaty.  Then, review the appropriate Bluebook rule(s) in 22nd ed. (2025).   
    • If you find a cite to the treaty, copy the cite.
    • If the U.S. is a party to the treaty, apply either Bluebook rule 21.4.5(a)(i) [primarily: bilateral treaties] or rule 21.4.5(a)(ii) [multilateral treaties].
    • If the U.S. is not a party to the treaty, apply rule 21.4.5(b).
      • Requires researchers to cite to one source published by an international organization.
      • If a treaty does not appear in a source published by an international organization, researchers can cite to the treaty in the unofficial document collection: International Legal Materials (I.L.M.). Finally, if a treaty does not appear in International Legal Materials, researchers can cite to the treaty as posted at a government's website, an intergovernmental body's website, or other sources listed in rule 21.4.5(c) of The Bluebook.