Law

Information sources

Databases

Find articles relevant to your subject by searching databases.

Look at the guides to get the most from each database.

These databases are available for use by Leeds staff and students both on and off-site within the terms of the license agreements. Off-site users will need to login using their Leeds username and password.

You can also see a complete list of databases for Law

Key databases


AfricArXiv AfricArXiv is a community-led multidisciplinary digital archive for African research. It is working towards building an African-owned open scholarly repository and a knowledge commons of African scholarly works to catalyse the African Renaissance.
Avalon Project This project from Yale University Law School gives access to a full text collection of documents available on the web relating to world history. It has a U.S. focus (including relations with other nations) with some non U.S. documents. Most documents date from 18th century to present, but some pre 18th century documents are included. It also includes a section on 20th century history, or you can explore the section called “Document Collections” for relevant material.
British and Irish Legal Information Institute Access to freely available British and Irish public legal information. Find British and Irish case law and legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports and other law-related British and Irish material. Coverage from 2010. Often very up to date. Guide to using British and Irish Legal Information Institute
Criminal Justice Abstracts Criminal Justice Abstracts contains records from these subject areas: criminology; criminal justice; criminal law and procedure; corrections and prisons; police and policing; criminal investigation; forensic sciences and investigation.
Dimensions Dimensions is the world’s largest linked-research database, covering articles, grants, patents, clinical trials, datasets, policy documents and technical reports. It also provides research metrics. There is a free version open to all, or a subscription version. You must register for an account with your Leeds email address to get full access, from a computer within the University’s IP range or through the virtual desktop. Once you are registered, you can access the database from off-campus. If you are a student, you can put “student” in the job title field. Guide to using Dimensions
Erudit Erudit gives free access to French-language resources in the social sciences and humanities from the North American region. It indexes journal articles, books and proceedings, theses and dissertations, and research reports.
HeinOnline Very strong on international law, particularly from the USA. Not all of the content goes up to the present day, but it covers a wide range of journals and legal materials not available elsewhere and has a very simple interface. Guide to using HeinOnline
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Fully searchable, indexed House of Commons bills, papers and command papers from 1688-2012. There is also some supplementary material from 1688. There will be regular releases of papers from current sessions of Parliament or a huge collection of everything placed before the House of Commons from 1688-2008/09. The papers have been scanned, and the full text can be searched. Guide to using House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
J-Stage J-STAGE is an electronic journal platform for STEM information in Japan, developed and managed by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). J-STAGE supports Japanese societies and research organisations, and has published more than 3,000 journals, conference proceedings and other academic publications.
JSTOR JSTOR provides access to more than 10 million academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in 75 disciplines including Art and Art History, Performing Arts, Architecture and Music. Guide to using JSTOR
Lawtel This database allows you to search for UK case law, legislation and journal articles. The database is updated daily.
Lexis+ Covers law reports, legislation, legal journals and key legal commentaries such as Halsbury's Laws of England. All content is available in full text, making it a very good starting point for research. The database also contains a large quantity of international law, accessible from the sources tab once you have logged in. Updated twice daily. Guide to using Lexis+ LexisNexis Legal Glossary
OSF Preprints OSF preprints indexes millions of preprints from preprint providers from around the world, including AfricaArXiv, and IndiaRxiv. It is maintained and developed by the not-for-profit Center for Open Science (COS). A preprint is a version of a research article prior to it going through the peer review process.
Scopus Scopus is a large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature from more than 18,500 journals and quality web sources, with smart tools to track, analyse and visualize research. Coverage starts from 1823. Guide to using Scopus
The Lens The Lens aggregates and provides access to over 225 million scholarly works, patent records and patent sequences from across the world. Its goal is to enable more people to make better decisions, informed by evidence.
UK Parliamentary Papers : public information online This database contains the full text of all House of Commons bills, House of Commons papers, command papers, House of Lords bills and House of Lords papers from session 2006/07 onwards. It also contains the full text of Public Bill and Standing Committee debates. It is updated daily. Guide to using UK Parliamentary Papers : public information online
Web of Science Search for journal articles using three databases; Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index and Arts and Humanities Citation Index. A current awareness service provides citation alerts for newly added journal articles. Each database is updated weekly. Guide to using Web of Science
Westlaw Contains law reports, legislation, journals and some commentary material. It covers some law reports not in Lexis, and you may need to search both databases to ensure you have covered everything. Search for international law material under the "Directory" tab, choosing the "Search all Westlaw databases" option. Particularly useful for searching for journal articles. Not all are available in full text, but many of these can be accessed through the Library Catalogue. Guide to using Westlaw

AfricArXiv

AfricArXiv is a community-led multidisciplinary digital archive for African research. It is working towards building an African-owned open scholarly repository and a knowledge commons of African scholarly works to catalyse the African Renaissance.

Avalon Project

This project from Yale University Law School gives access to a full text collection of documents available on the web relating to world history. It has a U.S. focus (including relations with other nations) with some non U.S. documents. Most documents date from 18th century to present, but some pre 18th century documents are included. It also includes a section on 20th century history, or you can explore the section called “Document Collections” for relevant material.

British and Irish Legal Information Institute

Access to freely available British and Irish public legal information. Find British and Irish case law and legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports and other law-related British and Irish material. Coverage from 2010. Often very up to date.

Guide to using British and Irish Legal Information Institute

Criminal Justice Abstracts

Criminal Justice Abstracts contains records from these subject areas: criminology; criminal justice; criminal law and procedure; corrections and prisons; police and policing; criminal investigation; forensic sciences and investigation.

Dimensions

Dimensions is the world’s largest linked-research database, covering articles, grants, patents, clinical trials, datasets, policy documents and technical reports. It also provides research metrics. There is a free version open to all, or a subscription version.

You must register for an account with your Leeds email address to get full access, from a computer within the University’s IP range or through the virtual desktop. Once you are registered, you can access the database from off-campus. If you are a student, you can put “student” in the job title field.

Guide to using Dimensions

Erudit

Erudit gives free access to French-language resources in the social sciences and humanities from the North American region. It indexes journal articles, books and proceedings, theses and dissertations, and research reports.

HeinOnline

Very strong on international law, particularly from the USA. Not all of the content goes up to the present day, but it covers a wide range of journals and legal materials not available elsewhere and has a very simple interface.

Guide to using HeinOnline

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

Fully searchable, indexed House of Commons bills, papers and command papers from 1688-2012. There is also some supplementary material from 1688. There will be regular releases of papers from current sessions of Parliament or a huge collection of everything placed before the House of Commons from 1688-2008/09. The papers have been scanned, and the full text can be searched.

Guide to using House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

J-Stage

J-STAGE is an electronic journal platform for STEM information in Japan, developed and managed by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). J-STAGE supports Japanese societies and research organisations, and has published more than 3,000 journals, conference proceedings and other academic publications.

JSTOR

JSTOR provides access to more than 10 million academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in 75 disciplines including Art and Art History, Performing Arts, Architecture and Music.

Guide to using JSTOR

Lawtel

This database allows you to search for UK case law, legislation and journal articles. The database is updated daily.

Lexis+

Covers law reports, legislation, legal journals and key legal commentaries such as Halsbury's Laws of England. All content is available in full text, making it a very good starting point for research. The database also contains a large quantity of international law, accessible from the sources tab once you have logged in. Updated twice daily.

Guide to using Lexis+

LexisNexis Legal Glossary

OSF Preprints

OSF preprints indexes millions of preprints from preprint providers from around the world, including AfricaArXiv, and IndiaRxiv. It is maintained and developed by the not-for-profit Center for Open Science (COS). A preprint is a version of a research article prior to it going through the peer review process.

Scopus

Scopus is a large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature from more than 18,500 journals and quality web sources, with smart tools to track, analyse and visualize research. Coverage starts from 1823.

Guide to using Scopus

The Lens

The Lens aggregates and provides access to over 225 million scholarly works, patent records and patent sequences from across the world. Its goal is to enable more people to make better decisions, informed by evidence.

UK Parliamentary Papers : public information online

This database contains the full text of all House of Commons bills, House of Commons papers, command papers, House of Lords bills and House of Lords papers from session 2006/07 onwards. It also contains the full text of Public Bill and Standing Committee debates. It is updated daily.

Guide to using UK Parliamentary Papers : public information online

Web of Science

Search for journal articles using three databases; Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index and Arts and Humanities Citation Index. A current awareness service provides citation alerts for newly added journal articles. Each database is updated weekly.

Guide to using Web of Science

Westlaw

Contains law reports, legislation, journals and some commentary material. It covers some law reports not in Lexis, and you may need to search both databases to ensure you have covered everything. Search for international law material under the "Directory" tab, choosing the "Search all Westlaw databases" option. Particularly useful for searching for journal articles. Not all are available in full text, but many of these can be accessed through the Library Catalogue.

Guide to using Westlaw

Law