SJD Guide to Law Library Services

Although the Harvard Law School Library building is currently closed, the library staff is working from home and is continuing to support the research and work of the Harvard Law School community, including our SJD students. 

Not all of the services that are outlined in this guide are currently available, especially those regarding print materials.  We appreciate your patience as the libraries of Harvard work to resume these services as quickly as possible.

The two sites listed below have the most up-to-date information about the status of our services.

• For information about the law library's services during this time, including checking out and returning books, visit https://guides.library.harvard.edu/law/offcampus.
• For information about the Harvard Library services (including the ability to access print materials during its phased re-opening process), visit https://library.harvard.edu/how-to/borrow-materials-and-use-our-services-during-covid-19.

Our research librarians are staffing a virtual reference desk during business hours (10am-6pm eastern, Monday-Friday).  For more information, visit http://asklib.law.harvard.edu/.

If you have a research question related to Historical and Special Collections, send an email to specialc@law.harvard.edu.

If you are a current SJD student, and your name is not paired with a librarian in the list below, please send an email, with your dissertation topic, to Jennifer Allison. 

HOLLIS is where you can track your library loans, renew items, check due dates and more. After logging in, click your name in the top right corner, then "My Account."

Use HOLLIS to find books and other materials available at the Harvard University libraries, including the Law School Library.

The Library is rearranging the Langdell and ILS stacks. Check the Guide to Finding Items at HLSL to find each country’s current location and general call number locations.

The library encourages you to recommend new and important older titles to add to the collection. Please send as much information as you have about recommendations or donations to J. Bridget Reischer (reischer@law.harvard.edu) or your liaison.  You can also fill out the Purchase Request form online.

Because links often change or become broken (known as “link-rot”), Bluebook's recommended method for citing on the web includes the use of an archiving service.

Perma.cc is a free, easy-to-use archiving tool developed here at the Harvard Law School Library. It captures an archive of the page and gives you back a 'Perma Link' to be used in your citation. 

If you have questions about our document delivery services, email frida@law.harvard.edu.

FRIDA is part of the Law Library's Faculty Research & Scholarly Support Department (FRSS). It is the primary service for faculty members and SJD’s to obtain delivery of known documents from the Law Library or other sources.

FRIDA is available Monday through Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM. FRIDA is closed on holidays.

Note: Materials requested after 3:00 p.m., items requested from storage and requests received during a weekend or holiday will be processed on the next business day.

Submit FRIDA requests via the Request Form or by any of the following methods:

• Email frida@law.harvard.edu
• Call 617-496-2147

Make sure that your request includes:

• Your name and @harvard email address
• As much and as accurate bibliographic information as possible (if the citation is incorrect, often we cannot retrieve the item)
• Any format preferences. We will make every effort to accommodate your preferences, if possible

FRIDA accepts requests for books and other materials from the Law School Library and other Harvard Libraries:

• Law School
  • FRIDA borrows materials from the Law Library
• SneakerNet
  • FRIDA staff members photocopy articles at most Harvard libraries in Cambridge and borrow monographs from Widener, Divinity, Cabot, Gutman, Baker, Tozzer, Yenching and the Kennedy School libraries.
• Electronic Document Delivery
  •  FRIDA offers desktop electronic delivery.
  • Materials  include PDF articles from E-Resources, scanned articles, book chapters etc. etc.
• Outside of Harvard
  • If materials are not currently available at any Harvard libraries, FRIDA will refer your request to Borrow Direct or Interlibrary Loan.

FRIDA makes every effort to fill requests within 2 business days, but turnaround time may vary if there is a high volume of requests, if an item is not available on the shelf or if we need to get something through Interlibrary Loan.

We will notify you if there are problems with a request.

Need a book chapter from Widener? An article from MCZ? Use Scan & Deliver to save a trip by requesting their material be scanned and emailed to you. 

Scan & Deliver, a free electronic document delivery service of the Harvard University libraries, allows Harvard faculty, students and staff to request scanned copies of chapters and articles from materials held at the Harvard Depository and participating Harvard libraries. When viewing an item in Hollis or Hollis Classic, initiate a request by clicking the Scan & Deliver link located in the Holdings or Availability portion of its record. A one-time registration is required for first-time users. 

Log in to your Scan & Deliver account to track filled and outstanding requests. 

Please note the following: 

• Requests may be made for personal use only and are limited to a single chapter or article up to 100-pages
• Requests are fulfilled within 4-days and include email updates
• Reserve, course reserve, microfilm and already checked-out items are not eligible
• Request made for multiple chapters from a single book will be rejected
• No more than 2 requests per day per library
• No Rush Service

Scan & Deliver is just one of the Harvard Library's suite of services, providing Harvard researchers with a full range of options for locating and requesting materials. Please contact the Library Circulation Desk, 617-495-3455, for more information.

For a list of databases available via Harvard Law School Library, please visit our Find a Database page or contact the reference desk if the database you are looking for is not already listed.

Many other electronic resources and databases are available from other Harvard libraries on the Databases page.  You can filter the databases by keyword, title or subject including regional and cultural studies databases.  If you attempt to access some of these remotely, you may be prompted for your Harvard credentials.

In addition to the selected e-book collections listed below, Harvard Library subscribes to over 500 other ebook collections

On the Harvard Databases page search by title, subject or keyword, then refine your results by content type "E-books and texts"

Numerous options are available for keeping up with newly published literature, including those listed below. Please contact your librarian liaison or the Reference Desk for information about customizing journal alerts to meet your current awareness needs.

Current Index to Legal Periodicals (CILP)

Current Index to Legal Periodicals (CILP), updated weekly, offers tables of contents for newly published law periodicals, tracking over 500 major law reviews and journals. CILP is available 4-6 weeks earlier than other commercial legal periodical indexes. The latest issue of CILP is available every Friday.

CILP is available in html, pdf, and Word format. The html version allows a direct link to the cited articles in full text articles on Westlaw and Lexis. (You will be prompted for your Lexis or Westlaw password.)

SmartCILP

SmartCILP provides a weekly email listing new citations from journals and on topics of interest to you. The citations are drawn from the CILP database. Please contact the Reference Desk, 617-495-4516, for information on subscribing to SmartCILP.

EconPapers

EconPapers provides access to RePEc (Research Papers in Economics), the world's largest collection of on-line economics working papers, journal articles, new titles and software.

Google Scholar

Any search on Google Scholar allows you to create an email alert for any new articles matching that search.  Perform your search, then look to the bottom of the filters on the left side of the page.  

You can also follow certain authors if they have a Google Scholar Profile.  Click on the name of an author underlined in a Google Scholar citation.  You will be directed to that author's personal page.  Click on the blue "Follow" button to track that author.

HeinOnline

Through HeinOnline's MyHein, you may set alerts for tables of contents from journals or search queries.  See MyHein's User Guide for more information.

LegalTrac Search Alert

LegalTrac Search Alerts allow you to create email alerts and RSS feeds of searches run in LegalTrac. Email alerts can be sent daily, weekly or monthly. After running a search in LegalTrac, create an alert using the Create Search Alert link on the right.

IngentaConnect

IngentaConnect, a database of the tables of contents of more than 28,000 multi-disciplinary journals, allows you to create a profile in which you designate journals of interest to you and receive regular email alerts of the table of contents of new issues.  

1) register as an individual

2) select My Profile

3) Create new publication alerts and follow the instructions.

Journal Alerts through Publisher/Vendor Platforms

Many journal publishers and vendor platforms provide alert services. Try the following strategy to discover whether an alert service is available for a journal of interest to you:

1. Look up the journal in Find E-Journals.
2. A list of databases that have full text of the journal will be displayed.
3. Select the database that has the most current issues and locate the journal.
4. Look for a link to set up an alert.

Sometimes, the links in the alerts will not work properly. Try using the Lean Library extension or the Check Harvard Library bookmark.

Alternatively, you can try inserting .ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu just after the .com or .org and before the first slash in the URL. For example,

https://www.jstor.org/stable/362622     ​

becomes

https://www.jstor.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/stable/362622     ​

Please contact the Reference Desk if both of these workarounds fail.

SSRN Social Science Research Network

SSRN is dedicated to rapid dissemination of social science research and provides an email alert service in several specialized areas, including law, management, accounting, economics and politics.  Through Harvard's institutional subscription, you may create e-mail alerts to a range of subject matters and series in various networks on SSRN.   When you register for an SSRN, make sure you affiliate yourself with Harvard's institutional subscription.  Ask your librarian liaison or contact the reference desk if you need assistance.

Law Commons (BePress)

Law Commons is a network of law school repositories on the BePress Digital Commons platform.  You may follow specific authors, institutions and subjects that interest you.  Look for the blue "FOLLOW" buttons: 

You can generate alerts for new results for searches run in Hollis when you are logged in.  Look for the "Save Search" button at the bottom of the filters down the left side of the results page.

Within Westlaw, you can set up a search to be run regularly and have the results delivered to you.  You can also create an alert from a search you have already done.  Look for the bell icon.

Set up a KeyCite Alert to be informed when new materials are added to the KeyCite report for the authority you are citating.  Westlaw offers documentation about its alerting services. 

You can set up a search to be run periodically on Lexis and have results delivered to you. Additionally, with Shepard's Alert changes to Shepard's reports for your authority can be sent to you automatically.  See instructions for setting up alerts on Lexis Advance.

BNA publications give you access to cases, laws and regulations as well as news and analysis on a large number of topics. Highlights and headlines can be delivered to your email inbox daily.

You can do e-mail keyword alerts from many of the BNA publications through Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg.

Please look at our research guide on Publishing in Law Reviews and Journals for a more comprehensive overview of this topic.

ExpressO is a service allows authors to electronically submit manuscripts to their choice of 750+ law reviews. For an overview read the "Getting Started with ExpressO" page.  If you would like to set up an account, please contact June Casey, jucasey@law.harvard.edu.  ExpressO also provides FAQ about the submission process.

SSRN (Social Science Research Network) is an electronic network disseminating research in the social sciences. Research is organized into networks including the Legal Scholarship Network (LSN). 

CIAO Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 to the present, including working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from non-governmental organizations, foundation-funded research projects and proceedings from conferences.

EconPapers
EconPapers provides access to research papers in economics including working papers, articles, books and chapters. EconPapers uses the RePEc database.

Olin Center Faculty Discussion Paper Series

Olin Center Fellows Discussion Paper Series
The John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business at Harvard Law School promotes faculty research in and furthers student understanding of law and economics.

Comparing Law Journal Impact Factor/Prestige, Harvard Law School Library.

Law Journals: Submissions and Rankings, Washington and Lee University School of Law Library, http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/.

Law Journals, Washburn School of Law, http://www.washlaw.edu/lawjournal/ (list of journals with short description)

Google Scholar's Metrics listing Top 100 publications in different disciplines and languages.

The following list of shared study plans are password protected.  They are also accessible on the Canvas site.

Empirical Research Overview

If your goal is to use statistics in your research, review information at HLS support for Empirical Research Services.

Empirical Research Classes

Harvard offers a variety of empirical courses.

For self-guided education, consider some of the resources here:

• UCLA Institute for Digital Research and Education
• Analyzing Data - Open Courseware

Empirical Legal Studies uses data analysis to study the legal system. Empirical Legal Studies is comprised of the body of scholarly research in this field, the methods employed to conduct this research, and the application of this research.

• Read and subscribe to the J. of Empircal Legal Studies
• Check out the Emprical Legal Studies Blog

Check out these law library research guides:

• Getting Started Finding Data
• Statistical and Data-Related Resources

For help in finding data, contact:

• The Law Library's Data Librarian, Michelle Pearse, at mpearse@law.harvard.edu
• Your SJD Liaison

No matter your relationship to numbers and charts, many researchers will want to find and use data to illustrate and support points made. 

A good general place to start looking for data is the law library's Statistical and Data-Related Resources research guide.

For the novice numbers person, here are easy-to-use resources for finding charts:

• Statista (market data)
• Proquest Statistical Insight (for US data)

For the intermediate to advanced numbers person, there are a variety of data sources that provide replication datasets:

• IQSS Dataverse (quantitative social science data)
• ICPSR (archive of social science data)

Literature Review

Conduct a literature review to help you identify data made or cited by others.

Browsing Print

For ideas on what data may be useful, browse the HLS Library Reference collection of statistical materials in the range of H61 to HA4675.

More Data Resources

• Harvard Data research guides - by category
• Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) - Financial

This section of the guide provides a brief overview of the process for researching an issue of U.S. law.  It is intended to introduce you to important concepts and terms without going into too much detail.

The United States has a common law legal system. Applicable sources of law include both legislation (statutes) and judicial opinions (cases).

The United States Constitution provides the framework for the U.S. legal system. It also guarantees that certain powers, rights, and liberties, for both the states and the people, are protected.

Three Branches of Government 

Under the Constitution, there are three branches of the federal government, and each is endowed with unique powers:

• The Legislative Branch is comprised of two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is responsible for enacting legislation.
• The Executive Branch is headed by the President, who signs legislation enacted by Congress.  This action creates binding federal statutes. The Executive Branch also includes federal administrative agencies, which are responsible for promulgating regulations pursuant to the powers granted to them in federal statutes.
• The Judicial Branch hears cases to determine the constitutional validity of federal laws and to resolve legal disputes involving federal law between parties.

Federalism

In addition to the federal government, each individual U.S. state also has its own government that creates its own law. As is the case with the federal government, states create law through legislation enacted by the state legislature and judicial opinions issued by judges in state courts.

If a state law directly conflicts with a federal law, the state law is preempted by the federal law.

If you are doing comparative research in which the U.S. is one of the countries, it is important to understand that, in the U.S. common law legal system, certain areas of law are generally the exclusive domain of the federal government.  These include, but are not limited to, bankruptcy, federal taxation, immigration, and intellectual property.

Likewise, some areas are, in general, a matter of state law.  Examples of these include property law, corporate law, and family law. In the areas of law that are generally governed by the states, there are some common law principles that apply generally in every state. So, for example, if you would like to research divorce law in the U.S., you will need to look at both the common law principles and the laws of the individual states.

The United States has both federal courts and state courts. Each court system is organized in a three-tiered structure.  

The court of first instance for almost all cases is the trial court.  

• Federal trial courts are the United States District Courts. Each District Court serves a region, such as the District of Massachusetts, the Central District of California, or the Southern District of New York. 
• The trial court has various other names in the states, such as the Superior Court in California, the Superior or District Court in Massachusetts, and, confusingly, the Supreme Court in New York. 

Appeals from the trial-level courts are heard in the appropriate appellate court.

• The federal appellate court system is organized into twelve circuits. Massachusetts is in the First Circuit, New York is in the Second Circuit, and California is in the Ninth Circuit. Each circuit has its own United States Court of Appeals.  
• Each state also has its own system of appeals courts. These courts hear cases directly from the state trial courts.

At the top of each system is the highest court.  

• In the federal system, this is the United States Supreme Court.  
• Each state has its own supreme court, which generally has the final word on the application of the laws in that state. However, the U.S. Supreme Court can still decide cases on the validity of state laws under the U.S. Constitution.

In the U.S. legal system, law created by the judiciary has the same legal stature as statutory law. The idea of legal precedent is also very important.  Under the principle of stare decisis, opinions from higher courts are binding on lower courts, and must be followed.

Researching Case Law

Judicial opinions are published in chronological order in case law reporters. These are available in print and electronically.

There are two types of case law reporters:

• Official reporters, published by the government, generally include only the text of the judicial opinion.
• Unofficial reporters are published by legal publishing companies. In addition to the text of the opinion, they additional content to help the researcher understand what the case is about and find related opinions.

Citators

A citator is a tool that you can use to learn whether a judicial opinion is still good law. This is important because judicial opinions can be overruled by higher courts. The U.S. Supreme Court can also overrule its own previous decisions.

The two major citator services are part of larger subscription legal databases:

• Westlaw's citator is called KeyCite.
• In LexisNexis, the citator service is called Shepard's (the term "Shepardizing" a case comes from this).

When you are looking at a case in either of these databases, there will be a symbol at the top of the screen that indicates its citator status. In both databases, a red symbol indicates that the case is no longer good on at least one point of law. This does not mean the whole case is no longer valid. Instead, the researcher will have to read subsequent opinions to determine the exact point(s) of law on which the earlier case has been overruled.

Legislative activity basically works the same way in federal and state governments. An identical version of a proposed version of a statute, called a bill, is passed in both legislative houses. Then, the bill is signed by the executive. At that point, the bill becomes law.

A simple graphic representation of the process for a bill becoming a law is available here.

Researching Statutes

There are two type of statutory publications:

• Statutes are published chronologically, in the order in which they were enacted. For federal statues, the name of this publication is the United States Statutes at Large.
• Statutes are also "codified." This means that all of the statutes that are currently in force are organized by topic. The United States Code contains all of the federal codified statutes. It is divided into 51 titles, each covering a distinct area of law. Each title has multiple sections.

Annotated codes, which are published by major legal publishing companies, are great for research. They include the statutory text and helpful resources, such as citations to relevant journal articles, legal encyclopedias, and judicial opinions.  

It is best to start your legal research with secondary sources, because they can help you easily find and understand the law.  

Types of secondary sources are listed below, in order of least depth to most depth.

• A legal dictionary defines a legal word or phrase in a few sentences.  
• Legal encyclopedias define a specific legal concept in a few paragraphs.
• An article in a legal periodical (called a law journal or a law review) provides analysis of a legal topic, generally in around 25-75 pages. Articles are written by law students, law professors, practicing attorneys, and judges.
• A legal treatise provides book-lengthy analysis of a legal subject.

Each type of secondary source, in addition to providing explanations and analysis, cites relevant judicial opinions and statutes.

The Harvard Law Library has a separate research guide that explains in much more detail how to use secondary sources for legal research. Check it out at http://guides.library.harvard.edu/secondary.

It is generally required that citations to legal sources in academic documents be in the format required by the Bluebook. The current Bluebook is the 21st edition (published in 2020).

You can borrow a copy of the Bluebook to use for up to two hours (in-library use only) from the law library's circulation desk. If you will be using it frequently, you may want to purchase your own copy. You can purchase a physical copy, access to the electronic version, or both. Note that the law school does not provide access to the online Bluebook for students.

From time to time, the law library provides Bluebook training classes for foreign law students. Slides and handouts from two recent classes (one on citing U.S. sources, one on citing foreign and international sources) are available at http://guides.library.harvard.edu/LLM-Bluebook. 

For more information about legal citation, see the law library's Legal Citation Research Guide at http://guides.library.harvard.edu/legal-citation. 

Once you have a topic, it is recommended that you conduct your legal research project in this order.

Read and reread everything:

• Simple details such as careful editing can make or break an application.

Discuss the why: 

• It’s important to understand the value your project will have for your own community and also for the greater community.  It’s likewise important to describe the impact of the project in the context of the grant.  Stay within the scope of the request for grant applications.  Think about what is happening locally and show broader knowledge.

Get to know the funding organization:

• Look at former successful grant recipients.
• Look at funder goals and don’t lose sight of these goals.  Reviewers are looking at factors like significance; people represented; and whether the project is cost-effective.  To this end, the budget must be realistic. Use a conservative estimate to make sure you arrive with enough money.  Having a low estimate is not your best strategy. 
• Reach out to the program officer to ensure the fit is a good one.  When you contact the officer:  (a) send an abstract of your project; (b) communicate interest in funding; and (c) get feedback and tips.  Remember that the officer is very busy. 
• Show that you will be a cheerleader for the project; show enthusiasm and share that with others.  Promote and disseminate ideas that flow from the grant, including promoting the granting organization.  Be open with communication always to signal your transparency.
• Ask questions, especially if something is unclear or if you are unsure of an application detail.

Other thoughts on grant writing:

• The current trend in grants is collaboration or partnerships.  SJD students seeking funding will want to consider working with others across Harvard, at other institutions (academic and otherwise), including in other geographic regions.
• Large grants require a principal investigator.  This is often a faculty member.
• There are great differences in culture among disciplines.  For example, grants in the humanities can work very differently than grants for the Medical School or Law School.

There are an overwhelming amount of resources for finding grants. 

One of the best places to start is the Harvard

• GSAS Graduate Guide to Grants

This GSAS site allows for easy searching of grants for graduate students, using a variety of parameters, such as geography and citizenship status.

Another recommended place to start is the Harvard FAS site for grant support:

• FAS Research Development

The FAS site has resources and guides for searching six grants databases.

Three of these include:

• Foundation Directory Online
• Grants.gov
• Spin (search by farious vactors, like citizenship)

On this part of the FAS site, you can also browse funding agency by type, for example, government agency or private funder.

There are many specific databases for locating funding opportunities.  Here are two in the area of Human Rights:

• Foundation Center - Human Rights
• International Human Rights Funders Group

These resources will help you to find academic job postings, research potential employers and keep up-to-date on scholarship in your field. You may also want to look at the career portals for universities of interest to you, as jobs are often also posted on those sites.

Whether you are interested in working as in-house counsel or in working in a different type of corporate job, these databases will help you to research potential employers.

If you are interested in finding a job at a nonprofit, NGO or governmental agency, try these websites.

Those interested in working at a law firm will want to start their research with these resources. You may also want to consult the resources provided by the HLS Office of Career Services.

  Ask Us! Submit a question or search our knowledge base.

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Email: research@law.harvard.edu

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