Finding Topics For Your Papers and Journal Articles: Topical Legal Sources

State and Local Government Resources

• —  GovSpot.com – State Government (http://www.govspot.com/state/)
• —  Public Library of Law – PLoL (http://www.plol.org)
• —  National Conference of State Legislatures – State Legislative Websites Directory (http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=17173)
• —  Multistate.com – Resource for State and Local Government Relations (http://www.multistate.com)
• —  Law Librarians’ Society of the District of Columbia – Comprehensive list of contact information at (http://www.llsdc.org/state-legislation)

50 State Surveys

• NCSL 50-State Legislative Tracking Web Resources   Current state legislative information on a wide variety of legal topics.
• Lexis Advance  Many multi-jurisdictional surveys, topics include Comparative Negligence and many others. Browse by title.
• WestlawNext  By topic, and links to statuory and regulatory surveys.  Under Secondary sources.
• Subject Compilations of State Laws Allows users to look up 50-state surveys on various topics.  Each Compilation covers law review articles, judicial opinions, and links to websites. Law Library Stacks KF1 .S83 and on Hein Online.

State Legislative History Information

• —  State Legislative History Research Guides on the Web 
•   State Legislature Websites (http://www.ncsl.org/aboutus/ncslservice/state-legislative-websites-directory.aspx)
• —  National Conference of State Legislatures – Bill or Statute Summaries & Databases 

Subject specific sources are the best way to identify a topic, once you know the general area.  If your journal has a specific theme or orientation, or specializes in the law of a particular jurisdiction, choose resources that are devoted to that area to identify possible topics.  Similarly, if you have an idea of what kind of law you would like to practice after graduation, choosing a topic (and learning about the relevant research resources associated with that area of law) might make for a good, interesting and publishable paper.

Bloomberg BNA publishes current U.S. legal materials including topical newsletters that summarize recent case law and other developments by topic, and considered authoritative.  You can use these materials to spot developments by agency or topic.  These are best used via your subscription to Bloomberglaw.com.

Westlaw Legal Solutions Blog Updated daily and contains summaries of judicial, legislative, and administrative actions in a particular area of law.  Locate under Secondary Sources

Lexis Advance Emerging Issues   Locate by browsing sources. Provides information and analysis on new legal issues.

Google Scholar   Access to many working papers and e-journals; link to other articles that cite an article you have already found.  Use the advanced search feature for best results and to tailor your search to materials available at the UB Law Library with the "Library Link" utility under Scholar Preference settings.

Find ideas from blogs and writings.

Legal Scholarship Blog

This blog features law-related calls for papers, news about upcoming conferences, workshops and general legal scholarship resources.  This site is made available by the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the University of Washington School of Law.

Writing Competitions

Many competitions often offer publication to the winning entries and some also include a  a monetary award to the winner.  The University of Richmond School of Law  maintains a catalog of writing competitions.