Finding a Journal Article on a Topic
If you are looking for resources on a specific topic, there are several tools you can use.
1. Searching by keyword. Change the collection you search to Online Journals to reduce your results.
2. Searching by subject. Change the field you would like to search to subject to reduce your results.
Remember: The catalogue also includes Law Books and Serials in Print. If you restrict your search to Online Journals, these holdings will not appear in your results list.
Search content Trove has brought together from libraries, museums, archives, repositories and other research organisations. Run an Advanced Search by subject.
UlrichsWeb: Global Serials Directory
An international serials directory which covers more than 900 subject areas. Click on Advanced Search, and search by subject (Keyword).
Journal databases such as AustLII, Lexis Advance and Westlaw Australia enable users to search by subject and/or keywords. Access from the Law Library website Research Databases by Type - Journal Articles page.
- Lexis AdvanceAbove the red search bar is a link to Advanced Search forms, select the secondary materials link.
Fill in the 'terms' field
- Westlaw AustraliaSelect Secondary Sources from the landing page and click on Advanced Search. Type your keywords into the "terms" fields. Westlaw also includes the Australian Legal Journals Index. Re-run your search in this publication for refined results.
- Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) This link opens in a new windowAustLII has a collection called Australasian Legal Scholarship Library, which holds over 150 law journals and legal scholarship databases, and is freely available.
- AGIS Plus Text (Informit)Informit's Attorney General's Information Service (AGIS) is a comprehensive index tool for finding Australasian legal articles.
Note: RMIT’s Informit database has ongoing problems with a delay in indexing full-text titles of Lexis and Westlaw Australian journals. For best results, always re-run searches within the legal databases themselves.
- Current Australian and New Zealand legal literature indexFor comprehensive coverage of articles from 1973-1987
- Gale OneFile: LegalTracLegalTrac provides indexing for major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals. Each title included in LegalTrac is selected on the basis of criteria provided by a special advisory committee of the American Association of Law Libraries. For Australian content, refine search results via the filter your results 'Search Within' link and type Australia.
Find journal articles on a specific case
The following information relates to finding articles on Australian cases. For information about other jurisdictions, check the 'Foreign, Global and Comparative' list of research guides on the law library website.
Search for the case using a case citator. Once you have located the record for the case, look for the links to journal articles about the case. Each of the case citators label these links differently. Following is a summary:
- Lexis AdvanceUsing Quick Find - place your case citation into the 'Case Citation' field.
From your result, there'll be a table list of 'Publications referring to this case'
- Westlaw AustraliaSearch for a case on Westlaw Australia by typing the the citation or party names in the search bar. You can also search via Advanced Search in the Citation field.
From your result, select the tab 'Citing References' then Secondary Sources for a list of resources.
- Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) This link opens in a new windowSelect Lawcite from the red ribbon.
Place in your case citation within the citation field.
Below the table of Cases referring, review two tables - Law reforms and Law Journals
Cases in AustLII also link directly to materials (including journal articles) that have cited the case. Simple retrieve the case and click the NoteUp references link. You can then sort the results. Results include cases, journal articles and legislation.
- AGIS Plus TextAGIS Plus Text indexes a range of legal journals, including those published by Thomson and Lexis. The algorithms are not as good as they used to be so while we recommend re-doing searches in specific legal databases, AGIS Plus Text can be a good place to start for Australian legal articles.
The Advanced Search option includes a field labelled 'Legal Cases'. Select the drop down arrow next to 'All Fields', scroll down and select 'Legal Cases'.
Note, this will only detect articles that have been indexed as being about a case. If your search does not yield any results, try searching for the case using other fields such as 'All Fields and Full Text'.
If there is no link to the full text article in the database, search for the journal's name under Title in the Library catalogue.
Often citations to journals will include the journal name in abbreviated form. If you are not sure what the abbreviation stands for, search for the abbreviation using a tool such as the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
Finding a Journal Article on Legislation
The following information relates to finding articles on Australian legislation. For information about other jurisdictions, check the 'Foreign, Global and Comparative' list of research guides on the law library website.
- Lexis AdvanceIn the Quick Find box, select the Legislation tab
Place in the Act you are looking for, wait for the drop down.
Place in section number too if you like.
Find the result, locate your section, next to your section is a link 'view legislation citator'
Scroll down to find the Secondary Materials table - Journals will be listed within here - Westlaw AustraliaFrom Westlaw's landing page, select Secondary Sources. Then select Advanced Search via the link alongside the top search bar. Type the name of the Act into the Legislation Cited (title) field.
- Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) This link opens in a new windowSelect Lawcite from the red ribbon.
Type the title of the Act and relevant section into the Legislation Considered and Section fields.
Select Search.
The journal articles citing the section of the legislation are in a table at the bottom of the search results.
You can also type legislation into an advanced search form, accessible via the drop down menu alongside the search bar. Select the Australian Law journals database before running your search.
Looking for Subject or Jurisdiction Specific Journal database?
Looking for Subject or Jurisdiction Specific Journal Database?