LAW 770 - War and Security in Law, Culture, and Society - Fall 2025

Research and writing are important parts of being an attorney, and scholars in fields such as history and political science also conduct extensive research to produce scholarly outputs, including articles and books.  

Finding the answers to complex questions relevant to law, history, and other fields often requires review and analysis of a variety of sources including primary sources such as case law, statutes, regulations, constitutions, and other written materials. Secondary sources, including law review and other scholarly articles, books, and treatises can be an important component of your research. 

Successful researchers routinely rely on a combination of resources, some creative thinking, and the determination to persevere through times of frustration. You each possess the analytical skills and critical thinking abilities to become successful researchers. 

While research projects may differ by purpose and/or objective, you can map out an appropriately strategic research plan depending on what basic types of information you are looking for.    

• Exploratory Research
  • Exploratory research is open-ended, helps you define a specific problem, and usually involves detailed, unstructured search in which lengthy information are retrieved from a small group of resources. If you are looking to enrich your ideas and knowledge about the particular issue, you need to take the pearl-gathering approach. The best strategy to discover relevant information is turn to a decent number of resources, create a decent pool of select resources, and cast a wide net for search. If you do manage to track down useful information that is close to the topic at hand, take a look at elements such as subject headings, and use those to point you toward additional information. 
• Specific Research
  • Specific research is precise in scope and is used to solve a problem that exploratory research has identified. The search process is structured and formal in approach. If you are looking for the particular content or material, you need to conduct narrowly-focused research. The best strategy to pinpoint specific information is define the nature of source, identify the appropriate resource and find access thereto. 

• Is there a distinct issue or question you need more info about? Have you been asked to locate a specific document?

• Have you done research in this area before? How much background do you have? Do you need to use a secondary source to get familiar?

• Do you know where to find secondary sources on-topic? What primary sources are available?

• Use indexes, tables of contents, digests, and keyword searching to locate material that is on-point
• Are these sources authoritative? Do they lead to other relevant materials? Do they address the issue or question you are interested in addressing?

• Are the sources you found the most up-to-date? Have they been superseded by later law, newer scholarship, more recent editions of books, or other publications or editions?

Step 6: Repeat as needed.

​​​​​​Research strategy is not just a product or outcome but a process.

• Note creating an effective research strategy is not just a one-off analytic exercise but a way of thinking about your topic.
• Avoid a novelty trap and repeat evaluating and updating your strategy.

You can build your research strategy without too much pain.

• Do not start by trying to find the exact, very granular, very specific answer.
• Initiating a narrowly focused research will only cause you to spin your wheels in frustration.
• Do not try to plug in every facet of your search all at once.

Keep track of which databases you've searched and sources you've found.

• Even if you find nothing useful, you will have a record of the time you spent and the databases you used. 
• Document, organize, and annotate information as you find it.  For example, document:  
  • When you accessed the databases and sources,
  • The exact search terms and phrases you typed in,
  • The filters you used, 
  • The quality of the results, etc. 

1. Know and understand available legal resources and search options.

2. Discover the good, the better, and the best methods to access information, rather than fixating on an "answer".

3. Do not jump right into the first source that comes to mind but take a strategic approach and research as planned.

4. Skim the top documents from the results and run with it. 

5. Explore and evaluate legal research tools.

6. Keep a research log.

In this slide deck, Law Librarian David Yoo provides an overview of (1) understanding different types of research, (2) how to map out an effective legal research plan, and (3) how to design effective search terms terms using "natural language" and "terms & connectors" search methods.

Faculty Research Question?
Please submit a Faculty Request form.

Student Research Question?
Please submit a Student Research Question form. 

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