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Research Assistant Guide

Resources for Research Assistants

Preemption Check

If you have been asked to assist with a preemption check these resources can be helpful.

  • Current Index to Legal Periodicals (Temple Law access via HeinOnline)
    The Current Index to Legal Periodicals is published weekly, with brief synopses of recent publications grouped by topic. Although for preemption purposes it’s most efficient to to run a keyword search, browsing recent issues may give a sense of current scholarship in an area of interest.

  • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (Temple Law access via HeinOnline)
    The Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals covers 1960-2016. It is published yearly, with various indices (subject, geographic area, etc.) that can help narrow the search.

  • HeinOnline Law Journal Library (Temple Law access)
    Hein has 2,600 law and law-related periodicals in its collection that can be browsed by issue or searched. (The Advanced Search option includes limited proximity searching.)

  • Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (Temple University access)
    SSRN makes available abstracts for to-be-published works as well as published articles. For legal topics, browse the Legal Scholarship Network (under Social Sciences).  For interdisciplinary topics, check SSRN’s other subject areas.

  • Temple University Libraries Databases (Temple University access)
    For interdisciplinary work, relevant literature may have been published in a field other than law. The Databases by Subject guide lists databases for specific subject areas.

  • Lexis and Westlaw Law Reviews and Journals (Temple Law access)
    While Hein has a more comprehensive law review collection, Westlaw and Lexis have some titles not included in Hein and offer additional search capabilities.

  • Google Scholar (open access)
    Although the searching is less sophisticated than that in most commercial databases, Google Scholar searches can find materials unavailable through other routes.

  • Alerts
    Westlaw, Lexis, Hein, and Google, among others, allow you to set up alerts to track recent developments and newly available scholarship. 

  • Additional Law Library Guides (open access)
    Excellent library guides on preemption checking with additional tips and resources are available from Yale Law School’s Lillian Goldman Law Library and the Harvard Law School Library.