You can use many of the same tools that you would use to find and access other journal articles to search and access legal journals:
However, there are some specialist databases that are effective in helping you find and access legal journals. These include Westlaw UK and Lexis®Library and HeinOnline.
You also need to understand the abbreviated form of citation that you may see used in many references to legal journal articles.
The “Journals” search provides access to full-text articles from many UK journals. This search also provides “Legal Journals Index” abstracts (summaries) of many more articles not available in full-text on Westlaw.
“International Materials” (available under “Services” from the Welcome screen) provides access many non-UK legal journals.
Look at the Westlaw UK Journals guide to learn how to use Westlaw to find articles:
The “Journals” search provides access to full-text articles from UK journals.
Use the Lexis+ UK Journals guide to learn how to find articles:
HeinOnline provides access to full-text PDF versions of articles from journals via its 'Law Journal Library'. HeinOnline’s journals can be accessed via SUPrimo. However, the 'Law Journal Library' offers more flexible options for searching.
From the 'Law Journal Library' main screen, either use the “Full Text” in the main search box or select “Advanced Search”. “Advanced Search” allows you to search by: Author/Creator; Article Title; and Text (free text) – among other options. (N.B. You can only search journals available on HeinOnline using this search.)
Several abstracting and indexing (A & I) services for law-related journals are available. These enable you to search a huge range of journals and other materials using a single search. They provide you with summaries (abstracts) of articles and you can then follow links to the full text (or use the citation information to locate the full text elsewhere).
These include the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts, Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS), Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), the British Humanities Index, the Social Sciences Citation Index and Scopus.
This link opens in a new window
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This link opens in a new windowIn addition, you can search and access many more legal and law-related articles using other databases:
You can access journals subscribed to by the Library via SUPrimo.
You can use the 'Library Collections' tab to search by journal title or the 'Articles + databases' tab* to search by article title or keyword:
This link opens in a new window* many legal journals are not included in SUPrimo's Articles + Databases search.
Printed legal journals are shelved on level 1 of the Library (within the electronic mobile shelving). They are shelved at subject classification 34 then alphabetically by title.
Use SUPrimo to find whether the Library holds a particular journal in print. Records retrieved give information about where the journal is located. (Links are also provided to available online versions of the journal.)
This link opens in a new windowYou may see legal journal articles cited with the journal title as an abbreviation or with the journal title in full.
You will find, particularly in legal textbooks and journals, that articles in legal journals may be cited in abbreviated form. For example:
Rebecca Probert, ‘Common-law Marriage: Myths and Misunderstandings’ (2008) 20 CFLQ 1
| Rebecca Probert, | ‘Common-law Marriage: Myths and Misunderstandings’ | (2008) | 20 | CFLQ | 1 |
| Author(s) | Article title | Date | Volume | Journal title (abbreviated) | First page |
(N.B. There is some variation in both this style of citation and in the abbreviations used for journal titles.)
To find out what a legal abbreviation means you can use the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations:
Rebecca Probert, ‘Common-law marriage: myths and misunderstandings’, Child and Family Law Quarterly, 2008, vol. 20, no.1, pp.1-22.
| Rebecca Probert, | ‘Common-law Marriage: Myths and Misunderstandings’, | Child and Family Law Quarterly, | 2008, | vol. 20, | no.1, | pp.1-22 |
| Author(s) | Article title | Journal title | Year | Volume | Issue | Pages |
The particular form of citation depends on the house style of the publisher or institution.
For more information about journal article references look at the main Journal Articles guide:
For more information about how to reference in your own work look at the Referencing guide:
1. Use: a) Westlaw UK ‘Journals’ search (Legal Journals Index)* or b) 'abstracting and indexing' databases for law-related journals to find the full abstract / reference to journal article. Then follow 
or other 'full text' link to the Full text article.
This link opens in a new window2. Use: a) Westlaw UK ‘Journals’ search (Legal Journals Index)* or b) 'abstracting and indexing' databases for law-related journals to find the full abstract / reference to journal article. Then decipher the journal abbreviation Raistrick's Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations or the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
Index to legal citations and abbreviations, 4th edn by Then use: online subscription services (Westlaw, Lexis+, HeinOnline)* and / or SUPrimo to find online or print version of the Full text article.
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Index to legal citations and abbreviations, 4th edn by