Statutes (U.S. & state constitutions and laws ), Cases (judicial opinions issued by courts), and Adjudications (administrative agency materials) constitute primary sources in legal research. Publications like legal encyclopedias and academic journal articles constitute secondary sources for legal research.
Secondary sources are a great place to begin to understand the fundamentals of the law or legal topic you're researching. In addition, these secondary sources often lead you to the relevant primary sources. One type of academic journal that is especially useful for legal research is the law review. Law reviews and law journals are scholarly publications sponsored by law schools. The vast majority are managed by law students, yet the articles usually are written by professors with the exception of the "Notes" and "Comments" at the back of the issues that usually are written by the students.
Click on the picture below then scroll down the page, to find the databases that will help you explore topics related to law and criminal justice.
Use Nexis Uni to find case law and law review articles. Use the other databases to locate scholarly journal articles and in-depth research reports on a variety of topics that can help you understand your legal research topic more fully.
To connect to any of the research databases from off campus you will be prompted to log in just like you do for your MJC email and Canvas courses.
Scholarly publications, which are sponsored by law schools, analyze and interpret legal topics. These are a great resource for understanding your topic and discovering the relevant primary sources.
What if MJC Doesn't Have What I Need?
If you need materials (books, articles, recordings, videos, etc.) that you cannot find in the MJC Library catalog, use our interlibrary loan service.