QUICK GUIDE: PREEMPTION CHECKING
Preemption checking is the process of determining whether another author has written an article, comment, or case note on the topic about which you plan to write. This process determines if your chosen topic has been preempted and assists you in assembling a basic bibliography of sources for your research.
The preemption process entails checking indexes to legal journals and periodicals and other sources to see if your subject has already been written on.
TIP: Avoid using only the Westlaw and Lexis law review databases since they do not cover every journal and the sources they do include often do not contain every article printed in each issue. In addition, their databases only extend back only to the early 1990's.
- Current Law Index (CLI) (Indexes: K33 .C87)
CLI indexes over 800 legal reviews, journals, and legal newspapers. Coverage is 1980 to the present. LegalTrac is the electronic format and covers 1980 to present. LegalTrac has some articles in full text but is primarily citations.
- Index to Legal Periodicals and Books (ILP) (Indexes: K33 .I542)
ILP Full Text indexes over 750 law reviews, journals, and government publications and is equivalent to the print edition for the period 1981 to the present. Full text is also available for over 200 select periodicals back to 1994. ILP Retrospective is the online equivalent to the Index to Legal Periodicals print annuals for the period 1918-1981, providing the researcher with retrospective coverage of legal literature for that time period.
- Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) (Indexes K33 .I52)
IFLP indexes over 400 legal periodicals, selected articles, and book reviews dealing with public and private international law, comparative law, and the law of non-U.S. jurisdictions. Print covers from 1960 to present. The online version covers 1985 to the present.
- HeinOnline
Hein provides the full-text in PDF format of more than 1,200 law and law-related periodicals and other legal resources dating back to the 19th Century. HeinOnline is searchable by indivdual journal, author, and keyword.
- JACOB
Use JACOB to check to see if a book, a book chapter, or an essay within a larger work on your topic has been published. A keyword search on your topic is the most effective way to locate such materials.
- WORLDCAT
Because JACOB only includes holdings in the Burns Law Library, search WORLDCAT to locate a book, a book chapter or an essay within a larger work has been published.
If your topic includes non-legal subject matter be sure to consult the databases available through ALADIN. Select Databases by Subject to browse a list of relevant databases.
Be sure to periodically check these resources during your research and writing process to ensure that nothing new has been written on your topic in the intervening period. Westlaw has a CILP database that carries the most recent 8 weeks of law review table of contents. You can set up a WestClip search with this database to alert you of any articles published on your topic.
last updated: 7/3/07