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Jewish law: Journals

Jewish law journals & finding articles on Jewish law

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

Articles of interest may also be published in "generalist" law journals. The major providers of these for holders of an Oxford SSO are:

Finding Open Access journals, articles, pre-prints and working papers:

IsLR: Israel Law Review Israel 300 I30

JLA: The Jewish Law Annual [incomplete] Jewish J59a

RHD: Revue historique de droit français et étranger France 300 R210

RIDA: Revue internationale des droits de l'Antiquité 3e ser.:t.1(1954)-t.46(1999); Ancient Gen 300 R20

NB Journals which you may have expected to be in the Law Bod, but are elsewhere ...

DI: Dine Yiśraʼel Leopold Muller Memorial Library

ZAR: Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library First Floor R.x.82a

Please ask a member of staff for directions when you visit the Law Bod.

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

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.

Some of the journals you may need to consult are listed below - use the full title to search SOLO, and be prepared to visit other libraries in Oxford!

BA: Biblical Archaeologist

BDD: Journal of Torah & scholarship

BZ: Biblische Zeitschrift

CBQ: Catholic Biblical Quarterly

E-I: Eretz-Israel

HTR: Harvard Theological Review

HUCA: Hebrew Union College Annual

JAAR: Journal of the American Academy of Religion

JAOS: Journal of the American Oriental Society

JBL: Journal of Biblical Literature

JESHO: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient

JJS: Journal of Jewish Studies

JNES: Journal of Near Eastern Studies

JNSL: Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages

JQR: Jewish Quarterly Review

JSJ: Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period

JSOT: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

JSS: Journal of Semitic Studies

NTS: New Testament Studies

PAAJR: Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research

PAOJS: Proceedings of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists

RA: Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale

RB: Revue Biblique

RQ: Revue de Qumran

Shenaton: Shenaton Ha-mishpat Ha-ivri

TL: Theologische Literaturzeitung

TZ: Theologische Zeitschrift

U-F: Ugarit-Forschungen

VT: Vetus Testamentum

VTS: Supplement to Vetus Testamentum

ZAW: Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

ZNW: Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

Journal/Article related terms you may encounter in your research

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.

Related Bodleian Guides