Legal Research Guide
Getting Started
If you are not sure what your topic is about, try one or more of the following:
American Jurisprudence (USA)
Corpus Juris Secundum (USA)
See the Law Online Tutorial.
Check out the full list of databases for law.
- Help to find the full titles of law reports, courts, journal titles and commonly used legal terms.
- Tip: Once you have found the full title of a law report or journal, search the Library's catalogue to verify that the Library holds it.
CaseBase Abbreviations - Australia and some international jurisdictions.
Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations - UK, Commonwealth, USA, and a selection of other jurisdictions.
FirstPoint Legal Abbreviations - Australia, UK and USA.
Abbreviations of Legal Publications - Australian and international.
Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations - USA only.
For more information about legal abbreviations see the Law Online Tutorial.
Case Law
CaseBase (via LexisNexis AU) Australian reported and unreported judgments and some international. CaseBase quick reference guide.
FirstPoint (via Westlaw AU) Australian case references, citations, history, and digest information. Westlaw AU Quickguide.
LawCite (via AustLII) Automated case citator for Australian and some international cases LawCite Help.
Australian and New Zealand citator to UK reports (via LexisNexis AU) UK cases considered by courts in Australia and New Zealand.
United Kingdom case law locator (via Westlaw International) UK and EU cases, citations, history, and digest information.
KeyCite (via Westlaw International) Citing references for cases and legislation in UK, US, and Canada. Cases only for Australia and Hong Kong.
Shepard's citations service (via Lexis.com) US cases only.
Tip: Case citators may provide you with the full text of the judgment - but not always!
More information: Case citators are a very useful legal research tool! Learn more about case citators on the Law Online Tutorial.
Authorised Report Series
Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR)
Federal Court Reports (FCR)
Unreported Judgments
AustLII Cth case law
Courts & Tribunals
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
Federal Circuit Court of Australia (formerly Federal Magistrates Court)
Authorised Report Series
Queensland Reports (Qd R)
State Reports Queensland (St R Qld)
Unreported Judgments
AustLII Qld case law
Queensland Legal Indices Indexes Queensland judgments (click on the password link in the catalogue first before accessing)
Queensland Judgments via the Supreme Court of Queensland Library
Courts
Queensland Courts Court website including judgments
Industrial Court of Queensland Queensland Industrial Relations Commission
Land Court of Queensland Tribunal decisions
Authorised Report Series
Australian Capital Territory Law Reports (ACTLR)
Unreported Judgments
AustLII ACT case law
Courts
Authorised Report Series
New South Wales Law Reports (NSWLR)
New South Wales Reports (NSWR)
Weekly Notes (WN(NSW))
Unreported Judgments
AustLII NSW case law
Courts
Authorised Report Series
The Northern Territory Law Reports (NTLR)
Unreported Judgments
AustLII NT Case law
Courts
Courts Northern Territory (Department of the Attorney-General & Justice)
Supreme Court of the Northern Territory Court web site including judgments
Authorised Report Series
South Australian State Reports (SASR)
South Australian Law Reports (SALR)
Unreported Judgments
AustLII SA case law
Courts
Authorised Report Series
Tasmanian Reports (Tas R)
Tasmanian State Reports (Tas SR)
Tasmanian Law Reports (TLR)
Unreported Judgments
AustLII Tas case law
Courts
Authorised Report Series
Victorian Reports (VR)
Victorian Law Reports (VLR)
Unreported Judgments
AustLII Vic case law
Judgments and Summaries via the Supreme Court of Queensland Library
Courts
Authorised Report Series
Western Australian Reports (WAR)
Unreported Judgments
AustLII WA case law
Courts
Courts & Tribunal Services Western Australia (Department of the Attorney-General)
Authorised Report Series
Canada Supreme Court Reports (SCR)
Canada Federal Court Reports (FC)
Databases
Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII)
Authorised Report Series
New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR)
Databases
Authorised Report Series
Law Reports, Chancery Division
Law Reports, Queen's
Bench Division
Databases
British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII)
English Reports (via HeinOnline)
Old Bailey online Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London's Central Criminal Court (1674-1913)
More Databases:
Review the full list of databases for law.
Hansards
Journal Articles
For recent information, journal articles are often the best sources. Looking through individual journals in the hope of finding relevant material is time-consuming. It is better to use the databases to find articles on your topic.
Australian Journal Indexes
AGIS Plus Text - comprehensive coverage of Australian legal journals; selected full text.
APA Full Text - Australian social and legal issues; selected full text.
Australian Full Text Databases
AustLII - selected Australian and New Zealand law journals freely available online
Westlaw AU - selected journals published by Thomson
LexisNexis AU - selected journals published by LexisNexis AU
International Journal Indexes
Legal Journals Index - indexes more than 400 journals from the UK and Europe
International Full Text Databases
Learn about locating journal articles and creating effective search strategies on the Law Online Tutorial.
More Databases:
Review the full list of databases for law.
Legislation
Links to legislation and bills via Offices of Parliamentary Council are provided by jurisdiction below. Australian legislation and bills are also available for all jurisdictions via TimeBase LawOne. The Library subscribes to various point in time products.
Queensland Legislation Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel
Tabled Papers Queensland Parliament
Queensland Historical Acts AustLII
Ozcase Queensland Historical Legal Collection
Legislation Office of Parliamentary Counsel
Subject Index to South Australian Legislation
South Australian Legal History Archive South Australian Acts and Ordinances 1837 - 2002
Westlaw International (select 'international directory')
Lexis.com (select the 'foreign law' tab)
United States Code Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Legal Information Institute (LII) Cornell University
THOMAS Legislative Information from the Library of Congress
For more information about legislation consult the Legislation Module of the Law Online Tutorial.
More Databases:
Review the full list of databases for law.
News
Factiva Search the full text of hundreds of newspapers from Australia and around the world. Full text is usually available back to the 1990s. No images or full-page views.
Press Display Shows page layout views of newspapers, showing the stories exactly as published. Only the last 60 days of publication available.
Informit TVNews Videoclips of news broadcasts from Australian television stations from 2007 onwards.
For more information see the Law Online Tutorial and the News and Newspapers "How-to Guide"
Specialised Resources
Looseleaf Resources
Looseleaf services (known online as 'commentaries') are specialist resources relied upon by professional practitioners. They offer current information (eg. legislation, cases), provide commentary and analysis on specific areas of law and are updated regularly. To locate a looseleaf service, do a keyword search of the Library catalogue incorporating the word looseleaf into your search.
Law Reform Commission Reports
Law reform commission reports are based on extensive research. They comprehensively analyse the present law and make law reform proposals on areas on law in need of reform.
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