A journal is a regular publication (monthly, yearly, etc.) in which you will find academic and research articles. The articles present current research and quick (but thoughtful) responses to legal developments, such as Case Comments..
Journals which are peer-reviewed submit potential articles to evaluation by other experts before publication, so you can be confident of the quality of those finally included in the volume.
The majority of journals held by the Bodleian Libraries in both physical and electronic formats can be searched via SOLO, however you may find the Law Library's own database easier to use.
Use the other tabs in this box to find recommended journals and guidance on the special online tools to help you find articles in law journals,
Holders of an Oxford SSO have access to many English language law journals via the following databases. Such is the importance of obligation law to legal systems, many generalist journals - Law Quarterly Review, Modern Law Review etc - will publish relevant articles.
There are specialist journals, but some are from other common law jurisdictions - eg the Journal of Contract Law and Tort Law Review are both Australian journals. They may well have pertinent articles, but you may have to move into the international/foreign section of a database - or another database entirely to find them.
NB Resititution Law Review This journal is NOT (as of 2023) available online. Please see the page in this box for finding print journals.
If you would like to search SOLO for a law journal: we recommend using the Advanced Search screen, and changing the Resource type to Journals before doing a search. SOLO will not understand the abbreviations used in citations of law journals. Use the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations to expand the abbreviation to the full - title. In other words to find our holdings (in print and onlline) for an MLR citation you need to ask SOLO to find Modern Law Review. Please ask at the Enquiry Desk if you are having any problems.
Available on the free web
The first element of the Law Library shelf mark indicates on which floor(s) you will find the volumes
Shelf mark beginning
Cw UK - Level 2, the entrance level to the library
General 300
Journal issues from and including 2000 are on Level 1; older issues up to and including 1999 are on the Ground Floor.
For example the Restitution Law Review is at General 300 R45.
Jurisp 300
Journal issues from and including 2000 are on Level 1; older issues up to and including 1999 are on the Ground Floor.
Euro Comm or Private Int 300 or the name of a European jurisdiction eg France
Journal issues from and including 2000 are on Level 3; older issues up to and including 1999 are on the Ground Floor.
Name of a jurisdicton other than European eg Cw Australia or South Africa
Journal issues from and including 2000 are on Level 1; older issues up to and including 1999 are on the Ground Floor.
Please ask a member of staff for directions when you visit the Law Bod.
Legal databases and ejournal platforms offer ways for you to set up customised alerts and/or an RSS feed. Look out for "Current Awareness," "Stay up to Date," "Create Alert" or the bell icon: instructions are usually clear. If you do encounter difficulties please contact us.
Note that Westlaw Edge UK also includes the formerly separate LawTel service
An ETOC or TOC option provides the entire table of contents of each new journal issue.
If you come to the Law Library, check out the Just In Corner on Level 2 (the entrance level) which has a display of the most recent issues of those law journals still received in print. (This display is updated weekiy.)
In addition (especially if you have inter disciplinary interests)
Some researchers may remember ZETOC. In its place we recommend the open access service JournalsTOCs - "the largest, free collection of scholarly journal Tables of Contents (TOCs): 32,312 journals including 15,741 selected Open Access journals and 11,834 Hybrid journals, from 3333 publishers."
Please note this requires you to register as an individual - it is not an Oxford SSO related eresource.
Remember: legal developments may well be the subject of articles in law journals published in other jurisdictions.
There are special tools - not just SOLO's article search and google scholar! - to help you locate articles published in scholarly journals. Do make use of them!
Indexing tools on the free web
There are too many for any list to be comprehensive. If you are studying a particular legal topic, or a foreign jurisdiction, it may well be worth considering which law firms have gained a distinguished reputation in the same topic/jurisdiction, they may well have partners/practitioners posting news and comment.
Abstracting (service):
Used to refer to a bibliographic database, the service provides abstracts of publications.
(Academic) Journal:
A regular publication of academic and research articles.
Bibliographic database:
A searchable platform that contains descriptive records of articles, books, conference proceedings, audio-visual material, maps, newspapers, and more.
Conference proceedings:
The published record of a conference.
Citation:
A quotation from or reference to a book, paper, or author, especially in a scholarly work.
Full-text:
This means you can read the item in full from beginning to end, not just the abstract or summary.
Indexing (service):
Used to refer to a bibliographic database, the service provides descriptors to help organise and navigate publications.
Periodical:
A regular publication that includes articles, stories and other text. Magazines and newspapers are examples of these.
Platform:
This refers to the site on which you can find and access the journal.
Preprints:
Pre-publication version of articles. cf Version of Record.
Serial:
A broad term that refers to items published in a series but the items are separate and standalone. Examples include indexes, yearbooks and some journals.
Version of Record (VoR) :
The fully published version, the most authoritative source of the text.
Working (research, discussion) papers:
Pre-publication not peer-reviewed versions of academic articles, book chapters, or reviews which are are in progress, under submission, or in press and forthcoming elsewhere.
If the Bodleian Libraries don't have the journal you are looking for, we may be able to source it through Oxford's inter-library loan service.
If the Bodleian Libraries don't have the journal or article you are looking for, you can make a recommendation by completing the form below (Oxford Single-Sign On required).
