A Basic Guide to International Environmental Legal Research

The best way to find periodical articles on international environmental law is by using some of the relevant full-text sources.  The following are in the order in which I would recommend you use them.

HeinOnline

Why Use this Source?

• The Law Journal Library contains more than 1,800 law and law-related periodicals.
• Coverage is from the first issue published for all periodicals and goes through the most-currently published issues allowed based on contracts with publishers.
• Search by article title, author, subject, state or country published, full text, and narrow by date. T
• he Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals indexes articles and book reviews appearing in over 500 legal journals and fifty collections of legal essays, Festschriften, Mélanges, and congress reports published annually outside the United States.
• Law review articles clarify issues, arguments on all sides, and the reasoning in those arguments. They also identify cases and other scholarship of particular importance and the fact patterns of those cases.

Finding it; Logging on

• Go to HeinOnline or use one of the links below. Click on the first item, Law Journal Library in the Subscribed Libraries list.
• Citation Navigator Use this when you have a citation to a law review article.
• The Field Search has a template with three blanks, menus for designating which field each blank will search, and a choice of Boolean and proximity operators.
• The Advanced Search allows you to use Boolean logic, proximity operators, and other advanced search tools to create free text searches.
• Browsing can be done by by publication title, state (U.S.), country, subject, or most-cited.

Lexis

Why Use This Source?

• Lexis has a large number of secondary sources including law review articles and international materials. 

Finding Things

• Go to Lexis and login (UC Law students and faculty only) and then look at the Secondary Materials. Alternatively, use the links below.
• On the Law Reviews & Journals page, you may search all publications by using the box at the top of the page or clicking on Advanced Search to the right and above the Search button. You can also select by scope (national, federal, or international) or by topic at the bottom of the page.

Westlaw

Why use this source?

• Westlaw has a large number of seconday sources including law review articles and international materials. 
• International Materials contains both primary and secondary sources from thirty three foreign countries and the EU. The jurisdictions vary greatly in the fullness of their databases. The UK is has case reports, statutes, statutory instruments, treatises, and current awareness item whereas  there are ten treatises for China and one journal for the Netherlands.

Finding Things

• Go to Westlaw and login (UC Law students and faculty only) and then look at the Secondary Sources. Alternatively, use the links below.
• On the Law Reviews & Journals page, you may search all publications by using the box at the top of the page or clicking on Advanced Search to the right of the orange Search button. You can also select by scope (national, federal, or international) or by topic.
• On the Texts & Treatises page, you may search all publications by using the box at the top of the page or clicking on Advanced Search to the right of the orange Search button. Immediately under Texts & Treatises the only item recommended is Wolters Kluwer (CCH). You can also select by topic although there is no media law topic. There are, however, others that may be related to your topic.; Searching treatises from a particular state is not recommended.

Summon contains a variety of quality information and access to content provided by the University of Cincinnati Library. To date, Summon content comes from 6,800+ publishers and 94,000+ journal and periodical titles, and 3+ million library catalog records. There are over 230 million items indexed in UCL’s Summon index —and UC Libraries is constantly adding new content!

There are many law journals, both domestic and international, that are devoted exclusively to environmental issues.  These titles include the following prominent publications:

Biannual Bulletin of Environmental Law, UNEP (1994 - 2006)

Journal of Law and the Environment (1985-1987)

New York University Environmental Law Journal (NYU) (1992- )

Pace Environmental Law Review (1982-   )

Southeastern Environmental Law Journal (1991- 2011)

Stanford Environmental Law Society & Journal (1978- )

Temple Journal of Science, Technology, and Environmental Law (2005- )

Tulane Environmental Law Journal (1988-   )

University of Baltimore Journal of Land and Development  (1990-   )

University of Denver Water Law Review (1997- )

Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (1996- )

Virginia Environmental Law Journal (1979-   )

West-Northwest Journal (Hastings) (1994- )

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review (1975- )

Wisconsin Environmental Law Journal (1994-2002)

Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy Working Paper Series (2004- )

Yearbook of International Environmental Law (2001- )

Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development

All of the above indexes and databases are helpful for locating international law and interdisciplinary journal articles relating to international environmental law.

Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal 

Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review

Columbia Journal of Environmental Law

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

Ecology Law Quarterly

Environmental Law (Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College)

Environmental Policy and Law

European Energy & Environmental Law Review

Fordham Environmental Law Review

Georgetown Environmental Law Review

Global Environmental Politics

Harvard Environmental Law Review & Harvard Environmental Law Review Forum 

Global Environmental Law Annual 

Journal of Environmental & Sustainability Law

Journal of Environmental Law

Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation

Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy

Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law

Journal of Law and the Environment