Using Westlaw For Law Review Citations: A Guide

can you use westlaw for law review citations

Westlaw is a valuable resource for legal research, offering access to law reviews and journals and case citations. It provides tools to facilitate legal citation, including its citator, Keycite, which allows users to view citing references for cases and law journal articles. Westlaw's Law Reviews & Journals collection offers full-text access to law reviews and journals, enabling users to search for specific articles by citation or keyword. Additionally, Westlaw provides a feature to generate formatted citations for legal cases, simplifying the process of creating references. Overall, Westlaw serves as a comprehensive platform for legal professionals and students, aiding in efficient research and citation tasks.

Characteristics Values
Access to law reviews and journals Yes
Ability to search by citation Yes
Ability to search by keyword Yes
Availability of full-text articles Yes
Citation tool Yes
Name of citator Keycite

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Using Westlaw's Law Reviews & Journals collection

Westlaw is a legal research platform by Thomson Reuters. It provides access to the most comprehensive collection of primary and secondary law sources. It also offers powerful generative AI capabilities, backed by the expertise of 650+ attorney editors.

Westlaw's Law Reviews & Journals collection provides full-text access to more than 600 law reviews and journals, including top publications like the Harvard Law Review. The collection covers a wide range of legal topics, with coverage beginning in the early 1980s for some of the most prominent law reviews.

The process of accessing citing references for a law journal article within the Law Reviews & Journals collection is straightforward. First, click on the "Citing References" tab to view all citations to a particular article. These citing references are then sorted by the type of content. This allows users to not only see which law journal articles cite a particular article but also to access other legal materials such as cases and court documents that cite to the article.

Westlaw's citator tool, KeyCite, is an essential feature for checking how subsequent cases have treated a specific case. It can also be used to check citations for cases, administrative decisions, statutes, and court rules. The Key Number System used by Westlaw assigns topics and key numbers to legal issues within cases, making it easier to locate cases related to specific legal topics.

Overall, Westlaw's Law Reviews & Journals collection is a valuable resource for legal research, providing access to a vast array of legal scholarship and insights.

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Viewing all citations to an article

Westlaw is a powerful tool that provides full-text access to law review and law journal articles. It also offers citation analysis tools that can be used to view all citations to an article.

To view all the citations to an article, start by clicking on the "Citing References" tab. This will display a list of all the citations to the article, sorted by type of content. You will be able to see which law journal articles cite the article, as well as other legal materials such as cases and court documents.

The process for accessing citing references for a law journal article is similar to accessing citing references for a case. Westlaw's citator, Keycite, allows you to check how subsequent cases have treated a case by viewing the citing references.

Additionally, Westlaw offers a feature called "Copy with Reference," which makes it easy to copy and paste relevant text along with its citation. When you highlight text within a document on Westlaw Edge, a menu will appear with the option to "Copy with Reference." This feature provides a variety of citation styles to choose from, ensuring that you always know the source of the information you are compiling for your research.

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Westlaw is a useful tool for law review citations and locating and citing a legal case. It provides full-text access to law review and law journal articles through its Law Reviews & Journals collection. Westlaw also has a citator tool called Keycite, which allows users to check how subsequent cases have treated a case by viewing the citing references.

To locate and cite a legal case, there are several components that make up a typical case citation. These include the case name, the neutral citation (where appropriate), and the law report citation. The name of the case should be in italics, with an unpunctuated italic 'v' to separate the names of adverse parties. A comma separates the neutral citation and the law report citation. For example, the standard case citation format in the United States is:

> Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

Here, 'Brown' is the name of the plaintiff, and 'Board of Education' is the name of the defendant. The numbers '347' refer to the volume number, 'U.S.' refers to the reporter, and '483' is the page number. The year of the decision is denoted by the numbers in the parentheses.

In England and Wales, the abbreviation "R" for rex (king) or regina (queen) is used for cases in which the state is a party, typically criminal cases or judicial review cases. If the case involves prosecution by the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions, the abbreviation becomes "AG" or "DPP" respectively. For example:

> Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, 573.

In this citation, 'Donoghue' is the plaintiff, and 'Stevenson' is the defendant. 'AC' refers to the report abbreviation, '562' is the first page of the report, and '573' is the specific page number being referenced. The year of the decision, 1932, is included in square brackets.

It is important to note that each jurisdiction may have its own specific format for citing legal cases. For example, in Australia, the standard case citation format may vary between courts, and commercial, academic, and court citation styles exist. In the European Court of Justice and Court of First Instance, the case registration number is given in roman numerals, followed by the case name in italics, with no punctuation between them.

When using Westlaw, one can obtain a Bluebook/ALWD legal reference by selecting or highlighting the very brief legal cite at the top of the court decision. A box will then open with several types of legal citations to choose from.

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Searching for law reviews and journals

Westlaw's Law Reviews & Journals collection provides full-text access to law review and law journal articles. The collection includes more than 600 law reviews and journals, with coverage beginning in the early 1980s for top law reviews, such as the Harvard Law Review.

To search for articles using keywords and phrases, use the JLR (Journals and Law Reviews) database. This database includes hundreds of law reviews, bar journals, and continuing legal education (CLE) materials. To access the JLR Database, type "JLR" into the search bar on the main page and choose "'Law Reviews & Journals' under Content Pages."

If you know the name of the specific law review or journal you are looking for, you can search for it by starting to type the name of the journal in the search box on the homepage. The journal should appear under "Content Pages." Click on the journal, and the next page will show you the 10 most recent articles. You can use the search box at the top to search the contents of the journal.

If you know the citation of the article, you can simply type it into the search box on the homepage. You can use abbreviations or type out the entire citation.

Additionally, Westlaw's citator, called Keycite, can be used to check how subsequent cases have treated a case by viewing the citing references for the case. The process for accessing citing references for a law journal article within the Law Reviews & Journals collection is similar.

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Using Westlaw alongside LexisNexis

Westlaw and LexisNexis are two of the main search databases used for legal research. While both are powerful tools for finding particular cases and leading researchers to other relevant law, there are some differences between them. For instance, LexisNexis has more total federal case law than Westlaw, and it has been found to have cases online faster than Westlaw around 79% of the time. LexisNexis also offers a rewards system, where users can collect points for daily searches, watching short videos, and answering questions about research techniques. These points can then be redeemed for items and gift cards.

Westlaw, on the other hand, has more citation formats available for copying and pasting, including Bluebook brief and law review format, and several state citation formats. Westlaw also allows users to filter for a particular court, whereas LexisNexis only filters for court level. Westlaw has a feature called WestSearch, which enhances natural language searching, and it also has the Key Number Outline and the ability to search by key number.

LexisNexis has powerful data visualization and predictive analytical tools, such as Ravel View, which can be used to uncover case connections, seminal opinions, and citing trends. Lexis Answers is another feature of LexisNexis that uses AI to interpret searches and deliver concise answers and comprehensive search results.

Both Westlaw and LexisNexis have tools for citation analysis. On Westlaw, the "Citing References" tab will show all citations to an article, including law journal articles, cases, and court documents. LexisNexis has a similar feature called "Citing Decisions", which shows graphical representations of the number of citing cases by court, analysis, and year.

In conclusion, both Westlaw and LexisNexis are effective tools for legal research, and the choice between the two will depend on personal preference or the standard platform used by the researcher's firm.

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Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can use Westlaw's Law Reviews & Journals collection to find law review articles.

You can search for law review articles by citation, keyword, or by the name of the journal.

Yes, you can use Westlaw's citator, Keycite, to find citing references for law review articles.

Yes, you can highlight the legal cite at the top of the court decision and select from several types of legal citations.

Yes, you can use Westlaw's citation tool to generate formatted citations for legal cases.

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