Refer to the ‘Basic Search Tips for Major Legal Databases’ document for a summary of the wildcards and connectors used in popular legal databases.
Search Planner
Before you start researching for an assignment it is a good idea to plan out your search strategy. Use this downloadable search planner to get started.
What is FIND IT @ DEAKIN?
You will sometimes see a FIND IT @ DEAKIN link when you are searching for journal articles, and the full text is not immediately available.
FIND IT @ DEAKIN will provide you with possible options for locating the full text of the article if it is not available in full text from the database you are using.
Clicking on the FIND IT @ DEAKIN link will provide a link to other databases, to the library website, and other possible sources.
Databases for finding journal articles
Australian
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AGIS Plus TextAGIS Plus Text, developed in partnership with the Attorney-General's Information Service Australia, is an authoritative collection of legal resources developed for primary legal research in comparative and the study of Commonwealth law.
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Lexis AdvanceLexis Advance contains the full text of Australian cases, journal articles, and online commentaries. Includes, CaseBase case citator, Halsburys Laws of Australia legal encyclopaedia, All England Law Reports, New Zealand Law Reports and the Law0w legislation citator.
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Westlaw AUWestlaw AU includes FirstPoint, The Laws of Australia, Online Commentaries, Thomson legal journals, the Alert24 Current Awareness service, Commonwealth & Federal Law Reports, and Trade Secrets and Privacy Online
International
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Hein OnlineHeinOnline gives access to law journals. The English Reports and the Philip C. Jessup Library, and Selden Society Publications and the History of Early English Law are also included. Includes four centuries of research covering: History, Law, Political Science, Business, Public Policy, Government, Criminal Justice, Gun Regulation.
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Oxford Journals OnlineThe Oxford Journals Online Collection consists of journals from arts, social science, scientific, technical, medical, professional and humanities disciplines.
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Westlaw UKWestlaw UK provides access to databases of case law, legislation, news, journals, commentary, current awareness alerts and EU legal materials.
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Thomson Reuters WestlawWestlaw contains the full text of cases, legislation and journal articles from a range of jurisdictions. However, coverage is predominantly U.S. and Canada.
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Lexis Advance (US Research System)Lexis Advance (US Research System) contains the full text of cases, legislation and journal articles from a range of jurisdictions, however coverage is predominantly U.S and Canada. Includes the Shepardize case citator.
Journal Articles
Why isn't my textbook enough?
Textbooks are a good starting point for legal research, but you cannot rely on them solely for the complete answer to a problem. Textbooks, for example, may be out of date and not cover recent changes to legislation or case law. It may be that the topic you are researching is not covered in sufficient depth within textbooks, or is so recent that no textbooks on the subject are available.
Journal articles will provide you with more recent information and will usually look at one topic in detail. Like textbooks, they will also alert you to major cases and legislation. Journal articles can also be used for historical research to determine what was being discussed about a particular issue at a given point in time.
Choosing your search terms
Choosing the right search term/s is essential when researching online.
The New Lawyer, (2nd ed 2019) p.208-211 suggests a couple of strategies to help you identify useful search terms - 'mining' your background reading, and 'Statsky's cartwheel'.
'Mining' your background reading requires a focused approach to your background reading, to identify useful search terms, and relevant primary sources and other authoritative materials.
Statsky's cartwheel is a technique for identifying search terms, that involves various forms of word association with an original term to identify a range of relevant and useful search terms. It is described on p. 209-211 of The New Lawyer. (2nd ed 2019).
Choosing a database for law journal articles
The library provides access to a number of different law journal databases. To be an efficient researcher, you need to select the databases that contain information best suited to your research topic.
Here's one easy way to choose a database:
- Is your topic Australian-specific? If so, use a more Australian focused database.
- Does your topic cover international jurisdictions? Then choose a large international database.
When searching for journal articles on Australian topics, AGIS Plus Text, CaseBase via Lexis Advance and Westlaw AU give the best results.
Explore how to search in these, and our international journal databases, using the left side menu.
What is a peer reviewed journal?
Finding a known journal article
Journal articles are cited so that you can identify each part of the reference.
The following reference provides citation details for an article on confidential communications with lawyers.
| J C Campbell, 'Some Aspects of Privilege Concerning Communications with Lawyers' (2006) 27(3) Australian Bar Review 264. |
This tells us:
- the author's name
- the title of the article
- it is in volume 27 Issue 3
- the title of the journal is Australian Bar Review published in 2006
- the article begins on page 264
Find by article title
To find by the title of the article, just enter the title into the main search box:
Click 
to see where the item is located:
Click 
to go to the link to the article:
Click on the blue title link for the text of the article:
Find by journal title
Use the Library Catalogue if you know the journal title:
Select 
Make sure it takes you to 
(If it doesn't, go back and select the other one.)
Open the volume and issue for the article:
Click on the blue title link for the full text of the article.