Scholarly Research for Law Students
Step 2: Preemption Check
What does "preemption" mean?
There are two types of preemption.
First, you can't use your idea if someone else has already written an article, book, book chapter, or other work that presents what you want to say. In such a case, your idea has been "preempted."
Second, you can't use your idea unless it presents an "open issue," meaning a court case or statute has not resolved it. If your issue has already been decided, it is preempted by law.
What is a preemption check?
In a preemption check, you look for published and unpublished works to ensure your idea hasn't been covered by another work or preempted by law. You do the preemption check at the beginning of your research process.
Tips
- Even if you are preempted, you should be able to come up with an alternative way to frame your research question. For example, consider looking at a different jurisdiction or time frame.
- Many of the databases that you use in your preemption check will have significant overlap. You still need to search them all because each has some unique items.
- Try a combination of several different search techniques. For example, use both subject headings/tags and keyword searching.
- You'll often find helpful resources or have your research issues clarified by conducting a preemption check. Your paper will be a good start if you do a thorough preemption check!
What types of sources should you review in a preemption check?
Start by checking the relevant primary law materials to ensure that your topic has not been preempted by law. It may also help review American Law Reports, if applicable.
Then, to verify that another author has not preempted your topic, you will probably need to go beyond just searching Lexis+ and Westlaw. Instead, you should do the following. Keep track of any resources that look like they would be useful. Once have completed your preemption check, you can go back and use these resources to start your research.
- Search HeinOnline and other legal databases for published journal articles.
- Search non-legal databases for published articles.
- Check SSRN for unpublished articles.
- Look for books and book chapters.
Using HeinOnline
- HeinOnline: Law Journal LibraryContains more than 3,200 multidisciplinary scholarly journals, with an emphasis on law. Coverage for all journals is from inception through the most currently published issues allowed based on publisher contracts.
Searching
Here is a video that shows you four ways to search the Law Journal Library: by citation, title, author, or advanced search.
Scholar Check
Scholar Check is HeinOnline's citator. It lets you see how often your article has been cited by other articles in HeinOnline, how often it has been cited in cases, and more.
Citation Information
The Cite feature allows you to copy a Bluebook formatted citation to your article and download citation information for use in Zotero, Powernotes, Noodle Tools, or other citation management software.
MyHein Is an individual account that you set up. It is free. Having a MyHein account lets you keep bookmarked items in a foldering system. You can also use MyHein to set up alerts.
Overview
More Information
Saving Bookmarks to MyHein
Step 1: Select an item or items. Click on MyHein Options and select MyHein Bookmarks. Save.
Step 2: Log in to MyHein at the top right side of the screen. Select Bookmarks. You will see your bookmarked items, which can be printed, downloaded, etc.
How to Download and Print Documents
- HeinOnline: Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP)An index to articles and book reviews appearing in 800+ legal journals published worldwide.
Overview Video
Other Legal Article Databases
- LegalTracLegalTrac provides indexing for more than 1,200 major law reviews, legal newspapers, specialty publications, Bar Association journals, and international legal journals, including more than 200 titles in full text.
- Index to Legal Periodicals and BooksWilson's Index to Legal Periodicals indexes legal journals, law reviews, yearbooks, and bar association publications from 1918 to the present. Coverage also includes books and full-text of selected articles from the early 1990s to the present.
- Law Reviews and Journals on WestlawCoverage generally begins in the 1980s.
- Law Reviews and Journals on Lexis+Coverage generally begins in the 1980s.
Non-Legal Article Databases
What is LionSearch?
LionSearch includes books, e-books, research articles, newspaper articles, and other publications held by Penn State Libraries. You can get the full text of many articles.
Why would you use LionSearch?
LionCat helps you find both legal and non-legal articles. This should be part of both your preemption check and your general research.
How do you save items?
You can save items from your search results by clicking on bookmark icon next to the item. You will see a bookmark icon at the top of the screen. Use that to email saved search results or print them. Be careful--these items are only stored for the current session unless you sign up for a free RefWorks account.
Saving Items
What is Google Scholar?
Google Scholar provides access to published works, pre-published materials, and other information. There is also somewhat rudimentary citation information, which can help you identify additional useful resources. Professors often have a Google Scholar page listing their available work. Much of what you can find on Google Scholar is open access, but sometimes you will need to use your Penn State credentials to get an article. Still other items may not be available in the Penn State collection. In that case, you might want to put in an interlibrary loan request.
How do I link Google Scholar to my Penn State accounts?
You need to link Google Scholar to your Penn State account to make sure that you have access to all available resources. To do that, you can either search using the link above or log in to your Google Account and use this form to set Penn State as your library.
Using Google Scholar
SSRN/LSN
What is the Legal Scholarship Network (LSN)?
The LSN is a subsection of the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), which provides access to working papers written by professors.
Why would you search the LSN?
It can take a year or more for an article to be published in a law review or journal. For this reason, you should check SSRN/LSN to see if someone has already written an article on your topic that hasn't been officially published yet.
How is the LSN organized?
You can search the entire SSRN or just the LSN. (To limit your search to the LSN, run an advanced search and set the Network to Law.
Each professor maintains their page. After an article is published, sometimes the author will replace the working version of a paper with the final published article.
Why would you set up a free account?
You can search and browse most SSRN/LSN content for free, but you may have to pay to view some articles. In addition, to download items, you may have to set up a free account. Once you have an account, you can save items to a folder for later use.
Step 1: Set up a free account if you intend to download more than one or two articles. Then, select Advanced Search.
Step 2: Run a search limited to a particular network.
Step 1: Save the document to your library. (You must be logged in your account.) Notice that you can also download the document or view it in your browser.
Step 2: View the document saved in your library.
Books
Overview of Library Catalog
Use the Penn State Libraries Catalog. You can search for keywords, titles, and authors. You can also enter an advanced search.
The catalog features books (including ebooks), government documents, journals, newspapers, maps, archival collections, music, videos, and conference proceedings. However, if you need to find law reviews or newspaper articles, use LionSearch. LionSearch searches many types of materials at once. (For articles and news, you may also want to search a law database like Lexis+, Westlaw, or HeinOnline.)
Tips for searching the catalog
- Use AND if you want both terms. For example, cat AND dog brings up only those items with both these words.
- Use OR if you are looking for items with either term. Cat OR dog would bring up items with either cat or dog.
- Put phrases in quotes. For example, search for "personal jurisdiction," not personal jurisdiction.
- If you want an item that is at another Penn State library or currently checked out, click on the I Want It button. You will get an email when the item becomes available.
- Here is the full list of search tips.
Limit your Search to the Dickinson Law Library Collection
As a Penn State Dickinson Law student, you have access to the vast resources of the Penn State Libraries system. To borrow a book from another location:
- Locate the item in the catalog.
- Select the I Want It button.
- On the next screen, click Place Hold.
Usually, you will get an email notifying you that the item is available in five to seven days. Go to the Service Desk to check out the book. You will need your Penn State ID.
What is WorldCat?
WorldCat provides library records from all over the world. This tool is most helpful in identifying books, but it can also provide information on other resources.
Why would you use WorldCat?
Using WorldCat, you can identify books that aren't in the Penn State Library system. Requests for items in WorldCat automatically populate the fields in ILLiad, making interlibrary loan requests much easier.
Making an Interlibrary Loan Request Using WorldCat
Step 1: Run a search. Identify an item that is not in the Penn State Library system that you would like to request using interlibrary loan.
Step 2: Click on the link to make an interlibrary loan request. This will take you ILLiad, where many of the fields for your request will be automatically populated.
Step 3: Submit your request.
How to Get a Book from Another Penn State Library
Step 1: Select the I Want It Button.
Step 2: Click Place Hold. You will be notified when the item is ready to be picked up.
