International conventions (or treaties) are essentially contracts between nations. They can be bilateral (between two nations) or multilateral (between many nations). Treaty research involves multiple steps:
- Identify all the treaties applicable to your topic area. This requires you to start research in books and articles.
- Find the treaty. Most international human rights treaties are on the web.
- Determine the status of the treaty. Is it still in effect?
- Determine the parties of the treaty. If your topic involves analyzing the United States, you will want to know if the United States is a party to the treaty. Sometimes that is available on the same website that provides the treaty's text. Other times, you will need to do deeper research. Ask me!
- Determine if the extent of RUDs (reservations, understandings, and declarations) taken.
For further help researching treaties, go to the research guide for it: here.