LOCATING CASE NOTES

In connection with the journal writing competition, many first-year students have requested information on locating notes.
NOTICE: THE JOURNAL WRITING COMPETITION IS GOVERNED BY THE RULES ESTABLISHED BY THE JOURNALS. THE RULES PROHIBIT USE OF OUTSIDE RESOURCES ONCE YOU HAVE PICKED UP YOUR COMPETITION PACKET. ONCE YOU HAVE PICKED UP YOUR PACKET, YOU MAY NOT CONSULT THIS PAGE OR ANY OF THE RESOURCES ON IT.

A few words of caution: Student-written law journal articles are traditionally considered "notes" if they primarily analyze a recent court decision, and "comments" if they more broadly consider an issue of law. These terms are not used universally, however, and different journals have different traditions associated with the formatting, content, and length of their notes or comments, as well as standards for publication. Moreover, sometimes articles written by established scholars may be called "notes" or "comments," depending on the usage of the individual journal. Students are encouraged to heed the guidance of the journal editorial boards in connection with what sort of "note" is expected. Be aware in particular that most published notes are much longer than the paper you will submit for your writing competition, and their quality can be quite variable. Read samples critically, and bear in mind that you will not have the space in your own competition paper to pursue all of the details or tangents displayed in published notes that you see. Follow all rules for the writing competition. In particular, students are advised that once they pick up their writing competition packet, the rules prohibit use of outside resources.

That said, here are a few means by which case notes can be located. All of these resources are available on the home page of the Law Library:

LEGALTRAC

LegalTrac indexers specifically identify case notes, so this is probably the easiest way to locate them.

LegalTrac is an index to law review articles. The default page in LegalTrac is for a subject search, but if you select Basic Search at the upper left, and enter the search case note, you'll retrieve a list of thousands of case notes. LegalTrac links to electronic versions on HeinOnline and other electronic sources through the "Find it at NU" button. Most of these will be readily available in print in the library periodicals stacks to the right of the grand staircase or (in the case of journals devoted to international law) in the southeast corner of the main floor. You can also access many of them on Lexis or Westlaw. Note, though, that for many journals HeinOnline does not provide the most recent two to four years of the journal.

WESTLAW

In the JLR database (journals and law reviews), you could search for PR("case note"). We also recommend you try a date restriction to limit your results to relatively recent case notes. PR is a Westlaw field for "preliminary matter," and Westlaw includes a case note label when the document is so labeled in the journal, although this is very under-inclusive. To access the search linked here, you must enter a client code, but this can be any text at all.

LEXIS

In the database US and Canadian Law Reviews and Journals, Combined, search TITLE (case note). This will retrieve documents that have been labeled case notes in the journal, although this is very under-inclusive.

HEINONLINE

HeinOnline is a digital image database of most American legal journals, and includes every issue of each journal except the most recent issues.

JOURNAL WEB SITES

Browse back issues of the journals on the journal Web sites for information about published notes:

Northwestern University Law Review

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Journal of International Law and Business

Northwestern Journal of Technology and International Property

Journal of International Human Rights

Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy

		Pritzker Legal Research Center Locating Case Notes
	Locating Case Notes
	Locating Case Notes

		LOCATING CASE NOTES In connection with the journal writing competition, many first-year students have requested information on locating notes. NOTICE: THE JOURNAL WRITING COMPETITION IS GOVERNED BY THE RULES ESTABLISHED BY THE JOURNALS. THE RULES PROHIBIT USE OF OUTSIDE RESOURCES ONCE YOU HAVE PICKED UP YOUR COMPETITION PACKET. ONCE YOU HAVE PICKED UP YOUR PACKET, YOU MAY NOT CONSULT THIS PAGE OR ANY OF THE RESOURCES ON IT. A few words of caution: Student-written law journal articles are traditionally considered "notes" if they primarily analyze a recent court decision, and "comments" if they more broadly consider an issue of law. These terms are not used universally, however, and different journals have different traditions associated with the formatting, content, and length of their notes or comments, as well as standards for publication. Moreover, sometimes articles written by established scholars may be called "notes" or "comments," depending on the usage of the individual journal. Students are encouraged to heed the guidance of the journal editorial boards in connection with what sort of "note" is expected. Be aware in particular that most published notes are much longer than the paper you will submit for your writing competition, and their quality can be quite variable. Read samples critically, and bear in mind that you will not have the space in your own competition paper to pursue all of the details or tangents displayed in published notes that you see. Follow all rules for the writing competition. In particular, students are advised that once they pick up their writing competition packet, the rules prohibit use of outside resources. That said, here are a few means by which case notes can be located. All of these resources are available on the home page of the Law Library: LEGALTRAC LegalTrac indexers specifically identify case notes, so this is probably the easiest way to locate them. LegalTrac is an index to law review articles. The default page in LegalTrac is for a subject search, but if you select Basic Search at the upper left, and enter the search case note, you'll retrieve a list of thousands of case notes. LegalTrac links to electronic versions on HeinOnline and other electronic sources through the "Find it at NU" button. Most of these will be readily available in print in the library periodicals stacks to the right of the grand staircase or (in the case of journals devoted to international law) in the southeast corner of the main floor. You can also access many of them on Lexis or Westlaw. Note, though, that for many journals HeinOnline does not provide the most recent two to four years of the journal. WESTLAW In the JLR database (journals and law reviews), you could search for PR("case note"). We also recommend you try a date restriction to limit your results to relatively recent case notes. PR is a Westlaw field for "preliminary matter," and Westlaw includes a case note label when the document is so labeled in the journal, although this is very under-inclusive. To access the search linked here, you must enter a client code, but this can be any text at all. LEXIS In the database US and Canadian Law Reviews and Journals, Combined, search TITLE (case note). This will retrieve documents that have been labeled case notes in the journal, although this is very under-inclusive. HEINONLINE HeinOnline is a digital image database of most American legal journals, and includes every issue of each journal except the most recent issues. JOURNAL WEB SITES Browse back issues of the journals on the journal Web sites for information about published notes: Northwestern University Law Review Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Journal of International Law and Business Northwestern Journal of Technology and International Property Journal of International Human Rights Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy