International Arbitration Research

This is a guide to international commercial and investment arbitration research at the Harvard Law School Library. 

The content of this guide is on a single page. To search for a term in the guide, use CTRL+F. To navigate through the guide, use the links on the left.

If you have questions or comments about this guide, please contact the author, Jennifer Allison, using the contact information at the top of the page.  If you are a Harvard Law School affiliate who need research help, please visit https://asklib.law.harvard.edu/index.php.

Below are links to information about words or phrases that often appear in the arbitration literature.  Terms listed include those used in the following types of arbitration, both of which are covered in this guide: 

• Investment arbitration: resolving a dispute between a private investor and a state
• Commercial arbitration: resolving a dispute between two private parties that have entered into a commercial contract with each other

A variety of types of sources are linked to, including legal dictionaries, introductory treatises, and official websites of relevant organizations.

Access to all sources listed in this guide is available through the HOLLIS library catalog at https://hollis.harvard.edu, which you can use to search for books, journal articles, and more.  Limit search results by resource type, library location, and more using the options on the right side of the search results screen.

Searching HOLLIS

Below is a list of pre-populated HOLLIS searches that are relevant for international arbitration research.  Click a link to view its search results in HOLLIS.  Note that most of these searches are very broad, so you will probably want to limit the search results by date, additional keywords, or other options.

Browsing Materials in HOLLIS by Library of Congress Call Number

Books in our library are organized on the shelves by subject and classified according to the Library of Congress call number system.  Under this system, all books that are primarily about law have a call number that starts with the letter "K."  If the book is mainly about international arbitration, then its call number will begin with "K2400."

In HOLLIS, you can browse books by call number.  Click the link below to browse the K2400 books in HOLLIS.

HOLLIS call number browse: K2400​

Using HOLLIS to Find Papers on Arbitration Written by HLS LLM and SJD Students

To view a list of papers on the topic of arbitration in the library's collection written by HLS LLM and SJD students, click the link below to run the appropriate search in HOLLIS:

Title = "Harvard Law School Thesis" AND Keywords anywhere = "arbitration"

Below is a list of subscription databases that are helpful for arbitration research, organized alphabetically. For each database, a link to its HOLLIS record, which include a link to its Harvard-specific URL, is provided, along with a brief description of its content.

Below are selected secondary sources that discuss international arbitration in general. They may provide a good basic overview for your research.

The books listed below focus more on international law generally and include one or more chapters or sections specifically dedicated to arbitration.

Academic publishers sometimes issue a series of books about a particular subject, and there are a few series devoted to arbitration.  To search HOLLIS by series title, click its corresponding link below.

Print Sources

Electronic Sources

Print Sources

Electronic Sources

Arbitration awards and documents related to arbitration proceedings can be notoriously difficult to find.  Below is a list of options you can try.  To suggest other sources that are not listed below, please contact the author of this guide (jallison@law.harvard.edu)

Print Materials

Online / Electronic Sources