Law Journal Staff: A Research & Policy Guide

Research Help

Reference librarians are available to assist you with cite checking and source collecting. Click the Find Help tab at the bottom of the left-hand navigation panel for contact information.  If you need assistance with pre-emption, topic selection and writing for either the Catholic University Law Review or the Journal of Law & Technology please consult our Library Guide on Student Scholarship (linked below).

Obtain the Entire Article You Are Checking

It is not unusual for journal staff to have only a certain portion of the footnotes, while at the same time they are trying to check a source previously cited (e.g. "Supra note 2, at 233").  In some cases they do not have the reference for footnote 2, or if they do, the person who is cite checking footnote 2 has the book off the shelf. Often a footnote needs to be seen in the context of the entire article before we can determine what is being referred to.The reference librarians can therefore better assist you if they can view a copy of the entire article going through the spading process.

Organize Cite Checking by Source

If possible, group cite checking tasks by the sources you need to check, rather than by footnote number. As noted above, you may have several footnotes that refer to the same source.

Analyze Sources

Sometimes it can be difficult to determine exactly what your source is (book, report, hearing, treaty, etc.). Check the Bluebook Tables and Index for help. Check the Bieber Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations for help with abbreviations.  Use the title of the source as a search query in the law journals library on Westlaw or Lexis and see how it is cited in other articles.

Check Other Sources When Citing

If you are unsure how to cite to a source, check to see if it has been cited before in a well respected law review. This can simply be done by searching for the source as a term (i.e. in quotation marks) in the law journals database on Westlaw or Lexis.  However, use other attempts at citing only as a guide; always be sure to consult the Bluebook.

Guides to Using the Bluebook

Books on Legal Citation

The following are at the Circulation Desk and/or in the Academic Skills collection in the Reference Room (Room 235) unless otherwise noted. Linked titles are available online in full-text through West Academic Study Aids.

Other Resources