Research Guides: Choosing a Topic for Your Journal Article: Identify Your Topic

Advice on Topic Selection / Development

Stalking the Golden Topic: A Guide to Locating and Selecting Topics for Legal Research Papers
By Heather Meeker, 1996 Utah L. Rev. 917 (1996)
Lexis Law School - Law Review & Journal Practice Center
Includes webinars on topic selection and preemption checking and cite and substance checking utilizing various Lexis + resources.
Westlaw: Guide to Law Review Research
Provides advice on topic selection, preemption checking, topic development and more.

Current Awareness - General Topics

Up-to-the-minute legal developments are monitored most effectively by using a variety of electronic current awareness sources. Bloomberg Law, Lexis, Westlaw and a number of Internet resources provide daily updates on both federal and state legal developments and also monitor foreign and international legal developments in a timely manner. Follow the paths suggested below.

General Sources

Bloomberg Law: Law Review Resources
Provides advice on identifying and researching a journal topic using resources available on Bloomberg Law. Includes a Circuit Splits Chart and Circuit Splits Court Opinion Search.
Lexis Law School - Law Review & Journal Practice Center
Includes webinars on topic selection and preemption checking and cite and substance checking utilizing various Lexis + resources.

VitalLaw This link opens in a new window
VitalLaw offers various current awareness publications, including news and blogs covering a variety of practice areas.
Westlaw This link opens in a new window
Follow this path from the Content Types menu > Secondary Sources > Legal Newspapers & Newsletters.
Law360 This link opens in a new window
Law360 offers timely coverage and analysis of major litigation, and legislative, regulatory, and business developments affecting a wide variety of practice areas, companies, firms and industries. Coverage is both national and international in scope. Click on the University of Minnesota link in the top right corner of the home page to sign up for a customized daily newsletter.
Factiva This link opens in a new window
Search millions of newspapers, business magazines, and newswires with international and foreign language coverage with all editions of the Wall Street Journal. Financial information for publicly traded companies, stocks, funds, currencies, and common market indexes. Limited to 7 simultaneous users.

Sources for Finding Circuit Splits

Bloomberg Law: Law Review Resources
Provides advice on identifying and researching a journal topic using resources available on Bloomberg Law. Includes a Circuit Splits Chart and Circuit Splits Court Opinion Search.
Lexis Law School - Law Review & Journal Practice Center
Includes serveral resources specifically for locating and tracking circuit splits.

Following Federal & State Public Policy, Legislative & Regulatory Developments

Congress.gov
This site covers the latest developments in Congress.

CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
Includes CQ Magazine a weekly publication providing news and analysis of developments in Congress and CQ Researcher Plus Archive, featuring detailed reports on a wide range of political and social policy issues.
National Survey of State Laws This link opens in a new window
This HeinOnline database contains the online version of National Survey of State Laws. It, "provides an overall view of some of the most sought-after and controversial legal topics in the United States. Users are able to make basic state-by-state comparisons of current state laws." The 6th ed. (2008) and 5th ed. (2005) are also provided and allow users to compare the same laws as they existed in 2005, 2008 and 2015.

National Conference of State Legislatures
Provides reports and other resources for following state legislative developments (click on the Research tab).

Voxgov This link opens in a new window
Aggregates and provides access to a broad range of content emanating from all branches of the federal government (over 14,000 government websites). The content types available are described in the Help section of Voxgov and includes: official releases, legislation, congressional documents, regulatory documents, media advisories, speeches, Op-Eds, and social media (Twitter feeds, YouTube videos) and much more.
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse This link opens in a new window
"Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, at the University of Michigan Law School, brings together and analyzes information and documents about important civil rights cases across the United States. It is organized by case categories (child welfare to speech & religious freedom." The site is dedicated to injunctive rather than damages litigation. Each case includes important case documents (docket, complaint and other case documents).

Consult Legal Newspapers

The following legal newspaper is especially useful because of its currency and national scope.

National Law Journal This link opens in a new window
Provides in-depth coverage of legal issues and developments including federal and state litigation, extensive coverage of U.S. Supreme Court, and reports and analysis of legislative developments. Notable state and federal verdicts and settlements of national significance are also reported. Includes analysis by practitioners of legal and professional trends, and an opinion section featuring pieces written by prominent lawyers, judges, legal scholars and elected officials.

For regional, state, or local topics consult legal news sources from the relevant region or jurisdiction. Search legal news databases available in Bloomberg Law, Lexis, and Westlaw and limit your search or filter your results by state. Another helpful source of regional/local legal news is Law.com:

Law.com This link opens in a new window
Access news stories from 21 ALM Media legal and business news publications. National publications include: The American Lawyer, National Law Journal, Supreme Court Brief, Corporate Counsel, AmLaw Litigation Daily, and Legaltech News. Regional publications include: New York Law Journal, New Jersey Law Journal, The Recorder (Northern CA), Daily Report (Atlanta, GA), Texas Lawyer, Delaware Business Court Insider, Delaware Law Weekly, Legal Intelligencer (PA), and Daily Business Review (South FL). Access to popular surveys & rankings including the Am Law 100, Am Law 200, NLJ 500, Global 100, Go to Law Schools, Diversity Scorecard and others. U of M Law faculty, students & staff can register to sign up for newsletters.

Consult Blogs/Web Sites

The following blogs can help track news and developments in the law, including jurisdictional controversies. Other legal blogs can be identified by going to the Justia Blawg Directory.

SCOTUSblog
JURIST
Law Professor Blogs
LXBN: The LexBlog Network
How Appealing
"The web's first blog is devoted to appellate litigation."

A Recommended Guide

Finding and Developing Topics
Part of the Gallagher Law Library's, guide series, Writing For & Publishing In Law Reviews. Prepared by Mary Whisner, Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington School of Law.

Current Awareness - Foreign & International Topics

Need a topic involving international and/or foreign/comparative law? Browse the following blogs and websites for ideas and inspiration:

Critical Legal Thinking: articles for critical legal scholars on a variety of topics.
EJIL Talk!: blog of the European Journal of International Law. Podcast is here.
Foreign Policy Magazine: magazine/forum for discussion of American foreign policy and global affairs. Podcast is here.
Human Rights Watch: website.
I-CONnect: Blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law.
International Law Prof Blog: blog with posts written by law professors who teach international law.
International Law Reporter: blog highlighting new scholarship in international law.
IntLawGrrls: blog authored by women who teach and work in international law, policy, and practice.
Jurist: legal news source led by a law professor from the University of Pittsburgh; includes some international legal news.
Just Security: both a blog and a news source about international human rights and U.S. national security.
Lawfare: website about national security, primarily, but also the laws of war in an international setting. Podcast is here.
Opinio Juris: blog for academic debate about international law and international relations, posts written by experts.
TWAIL Review: Third World Approaches to international law (TWAIL) is a movement and a journal for scholars and practitioners of international law and policy who are concerned with issues related to the global South in its broad conception.
Verfassungsblog: Constitutional law blog - posts in German and English.
Volkerrechtsblog: blog about international law and legal thought.

Consult with Faculty Members

Once you have identified a possible legal topic for your article, it is a good time to consult with experts. Faculty members who write and teach this topic will be able to offer suggestions on emerging legal rules and issues that are ripe for commentary. Also, they will be able to identify topics within their area of specialization that have not already been well covered in the literature. If you are unable to locate a local scholar with whom to consult, try the following directory.

AALS Directory of Law Teachers
Call Number: Periodicals Per.A12 (Available online see below)
Publication Date: 1922- . Annual
Current edition in Reference Office. Earlier editions are available in Periodicals Stacks and on HeinOnline.