Legal Reference Sources

About Law Review & Scholarly Journal Articles

Law reviews and scholarly journals publish articles written by legal scholars, practitioners, and students that analyze court decisions, legislation, and emerging issues in the law.

These sources provide in-depth discussion, background, and citations that can strengthen your research papers.

Use them when you need more than case law or statutes—especially if you want expert commentary or to see how the law is being debated in academic circles.

When to Use / When Not to Use

  • Use law review and scholarly journal articles when you need expert commentary, background on legal issues, or citations to cases and statutes for deeper research.
  • Don’t rely on them when you need the actual law itself (cases, statutes, or regulations). Always trace citations back to the primary source.

Law Reviews & Scholarly Journals - EMU Library Databases

These databases require an EMU login if you are off-campus.

To search beyond journals focused on law, try a multidisciplinary database:

Law Reviews & Scholarly Journals - Freely Available Sites

Many law reviews and journals are freely available online, and several sites gather these materials into one convenient place.

The sites below are freely available, but may not be as comprehensive as the EMU Library databases listed above.

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