Use a legal encyclopedia for background and to help you get a sense of the vocabulary for your issue. These are an excellent place to start if you do not know much about a topic. Although great for background material, avoid citing to an encyclopedia as your source of authority for an argument. Why aren’t they considered very authoritative? They don’t supply deep analysis, they are not written by acknowledged experts in the field, and their citations to primary sources are limited.
There are two general legal encyclopedias: American Jurisprudence 2d (Am. Jur.) and Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.).
Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) on Westlaw
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Law students and faculty only. A national legal encyclopedia, covers state and federal legal topics from A to Z. General rules of law are summarized in blackletter law headings and expanded upon in the text. The book also provides the limitations and exceptions to the rules where appropriate. C.J.S. originally was supposed to supply exhaustive case citations. It is no longer exhaustive but you may find it does cover common law issues more in-depth than Am. Jur. 2d.
American Jurisprudence Second (Am. Jur. 2d) on Lexis
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Law students and faculty only. An encyclopedic text of both procedural and substantive American law, state, federal, criminal, civil and procedural. Consisting of over 430 topic headings (titles), Am Jur 2d articles collect, examine, and summarize the broad principles of American law and, at the same time, provide direct leads to supporting cases, related annotations, forms, proofs, and trial techniques. Am. Jur. 2d cites case law more selectively than CJS and provides more emphasis on Federal statutory material.
American Jurisprudence Second (Am. Jur. 2d) on Westlaw
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Law students and faculty only. An encyclopedic text of both procedural and substantive American law, state, federal, criminal, civil and procedural. Consisting of over 430 topic headings (titles), Am Jur 2d articles collect, examine, and summarize the broad principles of American law and, at the same time, provide direct leads to supporting cases, related annotations, forms, proofs, and trial techniques. Am. Jur. 2d cites case law more selectively than CJS and provides more emphasis on Federal statutory material.
Many states have legal encyclopedias that focus on state law. Ohio, for example, has Ohio Jurisprudence 3d.
Ohio Jurisprudence 3d
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This work is a statement of Ohio law, revised and rewritten in light of modern authorities and developments. It contains more than 400 titles on a range of legal topics that, taken together, systematically describe the entire field of Ohio legal doctrine.
Ohio Jurisprudence 3d on Lexis
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Law students and faculty only. This work is a statement of Ohio law, revised and rewritten in light of modern authorities and developments. It contains more than 400 titles on a range of legal topics that, taken together, systematically describe the entire field of Ohio legal doctrine.
Ohio Jurisprudence 3d on Westlaw
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Law students and faculty only. This work is a statement of Ohio law, revised and rewritten in light of modern authorities and developments. It contains more than 400 titles on a range of legal topics that, taken together, systematically describe the entire field of Ohio legal doctrine.
Index
Table of Contents
Table of Cases
Table of Laws & Rules
Desk Book
New Topic Service
Words & Phrases
Print copies of encyclopedias are updated by pocket parts or supplements.
Available to Law Students only (see a reference librarian if you do not have a CALI activation code).
Rule 15.8 and BT.1 of The Bluebook (22nd ed. 2025) covers the citation of encyclopedias.
The citation should include the following:
88 C.J.S. Trial § 192 (1955).
17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74 (1964).
14 Ohio Jur. 3d Civil Rights § 82 (2006).
New for the 21st edition of the Bluebook:
17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74, Westlaw. (database updated Aug. 2020).
1 Ill. Jur.Criminal Law & Procedure, Lexis (database updated June 2020).
Rule 22.3 of the ALWD Citation Manual (7th ed.) covers the citation of legal encyclopedias.
The citation should include the following:
88 C.J.S. Trial § 192 (1955).
17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74 (1964).
14 Ohio Jur. 3d Civil Rights § 82 (2006).
Rule 15.8 and B15.1 of The Bluebook (22d ed. 2020) covers the citation of encyclopedias.
The citation should include the following:
The citation follows the print except it should also include a citation to the database and when the database was last updated (or copyright if that is the only date supplied).
88 C.J.S. Trial § 192 (1955).
88 C.J.S. Trial § 192, Westlaw (database updated May 2025).
17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74 (1964).
17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74, Lexis (database updated 2025).
14 Ohio Jur. 3d Civil Rights § 82 (2006).
Use Id. or Supra. -- See R. 15.10 and R. 4
Rule 22.3 of The ALWD Citation Manual (7th ed.) covers the citation of legal encyclopedias.
The citation should include the following:
88 C.J.S. Trial § 192 (1955).
88 C.J.S. Trial § 192, Westlaw (database updated May 2025).
17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74 (1964).
17 Am. Jur. 2d Contracts § 74, Lexis (database updated 2025).
14 Ohio Jur. 3d Civil Rights § 82 (2006).
Rule 22.3 of the ALWD Citation Manual (7th ed.) covers short forms for encyclopedias.
Use Id. or when Id. is not appropriate use the citation above but leave out the publication parenthetical.
