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Ready, Set, Research! Materials for Writing Your Research Paper

Current Awareness

Learning about new developments and hot topics can help with finding or focusing a paper topic.

  • Legal News Sites (Temple Law subscription)
    Bloomberg Law and Lexis provide access to a variety of legal news sources. Bloomberg allows browsing; both allow searching by keyword.

  • Government Agency Websites and Publications (open access)
    Government agencies – federal, state, or local – often provide information on recent legislative and policy developments. The U.S. Copyright Office, for example, tracks legislative developments, posts links to Congressional hearings, and publishes policy studies. A list of all federal departments and agencies, with links to their websites, is available at USA.gov.

  • Law360 (open access from Temple Law campus; text version also available on Lexis)
    Law 360 provides daily news in a variety of practice areas, including cybersecurity, banking, legal ethics, and much more. In addition, it includes analysis and opinions on current topics.

  • Seton Hall Circuit Review (Temple Law subscription via HeinOnline)
    This scholarly journal analyzes circuit splits and publishes scholarly articles on recent legal developments.

  • Legal Blogs (open access)
    Nearly every legal practice area has blogs devoted to it, usually authored by a lawyer or lawyers practicing in that area. Justia’s BlawgSearch sorts legal blogs by practice area, then lists them by popularity. Alternately, search for library guides in your practice area for suggestions or run an internet search for “[practice area] best blogs” to find blogs ranking other blogs.

  • Westlaw Bulletins & Topical Highlights (Temple Law subscription only)
    Westlaw publishes topical highlights (grouped by practice area) and bulletins (grouped by jurisdiction) to summarize recent legal developments. Most take the form of 1-2 paragraph summaries of recent cases. Updated almost daily.

  • Jotwell: the Journal of Things We Like (Lots) (open access)
    Jotwell's purpose is to provide a space where legal scholars identify and celebrate new legal scholarship via short (and easy-to-read!) reviews. Content is organized by subject, and the front page contains the newest posts. Jotwell is a great way to find interesting and cutting-edge issues to write about.