1. Singapore Legal Resources
Journal Articles
Content by Lee Su-Lin 10 May 2018
© C J Koh Law Library

2. Copyright Statement
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the author. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.
No copyright is claimed in the text of statutes, regulations and court decisions quoted within this work. 2

3. Introduction
This tutorial was originally designed for the Legal Analysis, Research and Communication (LARC) course for first year law students (AY ).
It provides a basic introduction to searching for articles in law journals, particularly those with local content. 3

4. Contents Sources of law p.5 Secondary sources of law p.6
Law journals and reviews p.7
Finding print articles p.9
Finding articles on LawNet p.17 4

5. 1. Sources of Law
Sources
Primary
Secondary
Legislation
Case Law 5

6. 2. Secondary Sources of Law
Secondary sources are publications which refer and relate to the law, but are not themselves sources of law. These include:
Textbooks, casebooks, etc.
Legal encyclopaedias
Law journals & reviews
Research literature. E.g. Theses
Reference works. E.g. Bibliographies, citators, dictionaries, digests, directories, indexes, etc.
Secondary sources
assist in locating relevant primary sources of law
assist in the interpretation of relevant primary sources. 6

7. 3. Law Journal and Reviews
What are they?
Law journals and reviews
provide information on the latest developments in the law as well as comments and criticisms of the law
are published periodically.
E.g. Criminal Law Review
Harvard Law Review
Journal of Equity
Singapore Journal of Legal Studies 7

8. 3. Law Journal and Reviews
Article Citations
Citations are references to where you can locate articles.
Examples:
1. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.
2. David Feldman, “The Nature of Legal Scholarship” (1989) 52 Mod.L.Rev. 498.
Author
Title of article
Year the article was published
Volume number of the journal
Journal abbreviation
1st page of article 8

9. 4. Finding Print Articles
How to Find Print Articles
Step 1.
Search an index to legal abbreviations to find out which law journal the abbreviation stands for.
Step 2.
Search LINC for the title of the law journal to determine its location in the library. 9

10. 4. Finding Print Articles
How to Find Print Articles
E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.
Step 1. Use an index to legal abbreviations to find out which journal the abbreviation SAcLJ stands for:
Print: Index to Legal Citations & Abbreviations by Donald Raistrick (Ref: KB280 Rai 2013)
Online: 1) Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
2) Singapore Legal Abbreviations 10

11. 4. Finding Print Articles
How to Find Print Articles
Step 1. E.g. Use the Cardiff Index 11

12. 4. Finding Print Articles
How to Find Print Articles
E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.
Step 2.
Search for Singapore Academy of Law Journal in LINC to determine its availability and location in the library. 12

13. 4. Finding Print Articles
How to Find Print Articles
Step 2. (contd)
Search for Singapore Academy of Law Journal in LINC to determine its availability and location in the library. 13

14. 4. Finding Print Articles
How to Find Print Articles
Step 2. (contd)
Search for Singapore Academy of Law Journal in LINC to determine its availability and location in the library. 14

15. 4. Finding Print Articles
How to Find Print Articles
Step 2. (contd)
Search for Singapore Academy of Law Journal in LINC to determine its availability and location in the library.
Copies of Volume 9 (1997) can be found in the Bound Journals and Singapore–Malaysia collections. 50

16. 4. Finding Print Articles
How to Find Print Articles
Step 3. When you have retrieved volume 9, turn to p362 for the first page of the article. 16

17. 5. Finding Articles on LawNet
Searching LawNet
Full texts of journal articles are also available via databases.
Databases are particularly useful if you only have partial citations or are researching a particular topic.
Databases which contain local articles include:
HeinOnline
LawNet.
We will now provide a brief demonstration on how to use LawNet to find articles. 17

18. 5. Finding Articles on LawNet
Searching LawNet
On the Faculty of Law homepage (
select LawNet from the Resources listing. 18

19. 5. Finding Articles on LawNet
Searching LawNet
Then enter your NUS ID and password on the next page and click on the Login button. 19

20. 5. Finding Articles on LawNet
Searching LawNet
E.g. Where do I find articles on Euthanasia in Singapore?
After login, select:
2. Enter keywords in the box and click on search button
1. Reference Materials and tick relevant boxes 20

21. 5. Finding Articles on LawNet
Searching LawNet
E.g. Where do I find articles on Euthanasia in Singapore?
Select relevant article from the list. 21

22. 5. Finding Articles on LawNet
Searching LawNet
E.g. Where do I find articles on Euthanasia in Singapore?
Click here
for PDF
Journal citation 22

23. End You have reached the end of this tutorial.
If you have any queries, please or
speak to a librarian at the Law Library Information Desk:
Content by Lee Su-Lin Updated 10 May 2018
© C J Koh Law Library 23