Secondary & tertiary materials

Library Search cannot search for articles from the law databases by article title. Instead, use Library Search to search for the journal title. Once you are in the correct database for that journal, you can then search for the article by title.

To source articles by title:

1. Solve the abbreviation of the journal title into full using Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
2. Search for the full title of the journal using Library Search
3. Source the journal on the correct database (eg HeinOnline, Informit, Lexis Advance, WestlawAU)
4. Search for the article by citation, title or author, or browse the volumes within the database

Tip: To find the correct page number within a journal, open the article as a PDF version.

Lexis+

To search for an article by title in Lexis+:

1. Under the "All content" dropdown, select "Secondary materials"
2. Enter the article title in the search bar, encased in quotation marks e.g., "Resolving the Dilemma of Legal Parentage for Australians Engaged in International Surrogacy"
3. Select "Search"
4. If necessary, narrow the search further by selecting the correct journal title under the "Publication" filter
5. Select the article title to open the article
6. If you need to find a section of the article by page number, open the article as a PDF.

Westlaw Australia

To search for an article by title in Westlaw Australia:

1. Enter the article title in the search bar on the Westlaw homepage, encased in quotation marks e.g., "Climate Conscious Lawyering"
2. Select "Search"
3. Select the article title to open the article
4. If you need to find a section of the article by page number, open the article as a PDF.

You can search for articles by topic within specific databases. As each legal database only gives search results from the journals they publish, you will need to repeat your search in each relevant legal database to ensure comprehensive coverage of a topic. You can also search for articles by topic using Library Search, but be aware that this will only return articles from multidisciplinary databases such as Informit and ProQuest, and will not return articles from legal databases such as Lexis+, Westlaw and AustLII.

Before searching by topic, ensure you are familiar with the legal research process:

Lexis+

To search for articles by topic in Lexis+:

1. Under the "All content" dropdown, select "Secondary materials"
2. Enter your search string in the search bar e.g., for the topic "The distribution of power between Commonwealth and state, your search string may be: (distribut! /5 power!) AND Commonwealth AND State
3. Select "Search"
4. Ünder the content filter, select "Journals"
5. You can also filter by:
   • Timeline
   • Publication
   • Legal topics
6. Select an article title to open the article

Westlaw Australia

To search for articles on a topic in Westlaw Australia:

1. Under the "Content types" menu, select "Law reviews & journals"
2. Add your search string in the search box e.g., for the topic "The distribution of power between Commonwealth and state, your search string may be: (distribut! /5 power!) AND Commonwealth AND State
3. Select "Search"
4. If necessary, you can filter the results by:
   • Jurisdiction
   • Date
   • Author
5. Select an article title to open the article

Library Search

To search for articles on a topic using Library Search:

1. From the Library homepage, enter your search string into the Library Search box 
2. Click Search
3. Under the "Content type" filter, select "Articles"
4. Results can be filtered by:
   • Availability
   • Peer-reviewed
   • Publication date
   • Subject
   • Author/creator
   • Language

Note: Not all of the results will give you access to the full text article. If this is the case, click on the Findit@Murdoch button, to see if we have access to the full text elsewhere.

To find out how to source journal articles considering an Act, see our Legislation guide:

To find out how to source journal articles considering a case, see our Case law guide:

Lexis+

1. Select "Advanced search" then select "Secondary materials" from the drop-down list
2. Enter the article title, surrounded by double inverted commas, into the search box
3. Select "Search"

Westlaw Australia

1. Under "Content types", select "Law Reviews & Journals"
2. Enter the article title, surrounded by double inverted commas, into the search box
3. Select "Search"

AustLII

1. Select "LawCite"
2. Complete "Article citation", "Article title" or "Author" fields
3. Select "Search"
4. Select the article title
5. Navigate to "Law Journal Articles Referring to this Article"
6. You may need to return to step 4 to select other entries for your article, as the results for articles relating to the article may differ.

Informit

1. Add the article title, surrounded by double inverted commas, into the search box
2. Under "Limit search", select "Full text"
3. Select "Search"

Library Search

This will include results from Gale OneFile: LegalTrac, HeinOnline, Informit, Kluwer Law and ProQuest.

1. Add the article title, surrounded by double inverted commas, into the search box
2. Select "Search"
3. Under the "Content type" filter, select "Journal article
4. Under the "Discipline" filter, select "Law"

Connected Papers

Connected Papers is a tool that lets you explore academic papers in a visual graph.

1. Add the article title, surrounded by double inverted commas, into the search box
2. Select "Build a Graph"
3. Select the paper you are researching
4. This should show you a graph and a list of connected papers.

1. Select "Secondary Materials" from the Advanced search drop-down menu
2. Add all the information you have to the search fields
3. Select "Search"
4. Under the "AU Secondary Materials" filter, select "Commentary".

Option 1 - Search by Act title

1. Select 'Secondary sources' from the "Content types" filter on the Westlaw Australia home page
2. Select "Advanced search"
3. Complete the "Legislation cited (Title)" field, then press "Search" (e.g., "Australian Citizenship Act 2007")
4. Expand "Publication name" in the filters on the left hand side of the results list
5. Click "Select a publication name"

6. Look carefully at the commentary titles listed under "Publication name". The principal commentary dealing with your Act is likely to be the one that holds the largest number of entries relevant to your search.

Option 2 - Search by topic

1. Under the "Content types" filter on the Westlaw Australia home page, find the "Secondary sources" heading then select "Commentary"
2. Browse the secondary sources library to find the publication most relevant to your topic. Click on the title to open the publication
3. Browse the contents list to find a relevant chapter or add your search terms into the search box at the top of the page. If you wish to search within a single chapter, tick the box next to the chapter then use the search box to search for your topic.

1. Enter your search terms in the search box on the CCH homepage and click "Search"
2. Under the "Content type" filter, select "Commentary"
3. If necessary, use the filters on the left of the screen to narrow your search down further by:
   • Practice area
   • Court
   • Case date range
   • Jurisdiction
4. Once your results look relevant, click on the title of the first result to open it (make sure your list is sorted by relevance)
5. Select "Open in a new tab"
6. You can find related information and narrow your search by looking at the links which appear in the left of the screen.

AustLII does not include legal commentary in the strict sense of the word. However, it does include journal articles.

Option 1 - Browse

1. On the AustLII homepage, select "Libraries" from the red banner 
2. From the list of Libraries, select the library most relevant to your topic
3. From the "Law Journals and Scholarship" list, select the most relevant journal
4. Sort the results list by date to list the results with the most recent first
5. The results list can then be sorted by:
   • Relevance
   • Database
   • Date
   • Title
   • Citation frequency
6. Note the search that Browse has conducted on your behalf. For example, if you selected the "Australian Legal Scholarship Concerning Aviation Law Issues" journal, the search string will be (airline or aircraft or aviation or aeroplane or casa or qanta or virgin blue or air new zealand or air pilot or airline), This search can be significantly broadened by adding the word airplane.
7. Change the search string to: (airline or aircraft or aviation or aeroplane or airplane or casa or qanta or virgin blue or air new zealand or air pilot or airline). Note the HUGE difference adding one word to the search makes!

Option 2 - By title

You can check to see if AustLII holds specific titles by clicking on "Journals & Scholarship" in the red ribbon. This will take you to an A-Z listing of journal titles included on the AustLII database. Use the tabs to navigate specific collections

A "Bills Digest" is a Parliamentary Library publication which provides an independent analysis of legislation before the Parliament. Bills Digests are written to support the work of the Parliament—specifically, to assist MPs in their consideration of bills and the preparation of responses and speeches relating to bills and associated policy. Bills Digests provide a separate and different perspective to the legislative material provided by the Executive (such as explanatory memoranda and second reading speeches).

A Bills Digest will often contain more background and a longer legislative history than an Explanatory Memorandum and will include reaction to the bill from other political parties and major interest groups.
Bills Digests are usually only prepared on government bills and are only prepared once a bill has been introduced into Parliament.

1. In ParlInfo, select the "Guided Search" tab
2. Select the "Guided Search" tab "Document relating to a Bill"
3. Add the name of the Bill (do not include the year or jurisdiction - just the topic words)
4. Add the Bill title to the "Enter search text" box
5. Add a date range
6. Click "Search"
7. Select the relevant Bill title
8. Click on the link to the "Bill home page"

9. Navigate to the bottom of the page and select "Bill's Digest".

Australian legal forms can be found in the Lexis+ and Westlaw databases.

Lexis+

1. From the "All Content" dropdown menu select "AU Forms & Precedents"
2. From the "Jurisdiction" dropdown box select the relevant jurisdiction
3. Enter a relevant search term in the search box
4. Select "Search".

Westlaw Australia

1. Under "Content types", select "Forms & Precedents"
2. Browse the Forms & Precedents Finder by practice area or by publication
3. Select relevant headings to view available forms and precedents
4. Alternatively, use the search box at the top of the screen to search the Forms & Precedents Finder

You may also like to consult:

Affidavit templates and guidance can be found on the Lexis+ database.

Templates

To find affidavit templates in Lexis+:

1. From the "All Content" dropdown menu select "AU Forms & Precedents"
2. From the "Jurisdiction" dropdown box select the relevant jurisdiction
3. Enter "affidavit" in the search box
4. Select "Search".

Guidance

To find affidavit guidance (including checklists and advice for drafting an affidavit):

1. From the "All Content" dropdown menu select "AU Guidance"
2. From the "Jurisdiction" dropdown box select the relevant jurisdiction
3. Add the following search string into the search box: affidavit /25 draft!
4. Select "Search".