Legal Journals Index (LJI)
For Research in Law
WHAT IS IT?
Westlaw UK Journals provides an indexing and abstracting service called Legal Journals Index (LJI). This service,
unique to Westlaw UK, covers English language legal journals published in the UK and Europe. It offers over half a million
abstracts of articles from 1986 onwards, seamless integration to full-text journal articles where available, and direct links to
relevant case law and legislation within Westlaw UK Cases and Westlaw UK Legislation.
BEFORE YOU START
Before you start searching you may wish to consult the Guide to Searching Techniques available in your Learning
Resources Centre. This guide is designed to help you conduct online searches more effectively. It is also available, along
with other database guides, at http://lcss.glam.ac.uk/lrc/guides/edata/.
ACCESS
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Go to FINDit at http://lcss.glam.ac.uk/findit/. You will be prompted for your UNI username and password by the
Central Authentication Service.
From the Find Database tab choose a first letter W to find the link to Westlaw UK.
Click on the title link to connect to the “Native interface” of the database.
On the Search Westlaw UK page, click on Journals in the top navigation bar to take you to the general Search
screen for journals.
*IMPORTANT* Under Browse Abstracted Articles: click on the link to Legal Journals Index (LJI).
SEARCH
Search
Use the basic Search screen to find cases using the following methods, either separately or combined:
1) Enter your search term(s) in the Free Text box.
a. If more than one search term is entered, Westlaw UK automatically searches for documents that contain both words in
any order, e.g. single equality bill will search for occurrences of single, equality and bill within a document, but not
necessarily where they appear together. To search for these words as a phrase, use quotation marks e.g. “single equality
bill”.
b. Always enter a word in its singular form in order to find its plural as well, e.g. “pension fund” will also find “pension
funds”.
c. Truncation allows you to search for words that share a common stem by using a !. For example, vulnerab! would
search for any word containing the stem vulnerab (e.g. vulnerable, vulnerability, vulnerably).
2) Search by Article Title, e.g. Discrimination on grounds of belief
3) Search by Author, e.g. Jane Dalrymple
Check Terms in Context if you would like extracts that contain your search terms to be displayed in your results list.
‘Hover’ your mouse over
for a reminder of the correct format required to search these fields, or click on List of
Connectors for more search tips.
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Advanced Search
Click on Advanced Search if you wish to enter information in addition to Free Text, Article Title and Author to further
refine your search, such as:
1) Subject/Keyword: Copy and paste any suitable term you find in the List of terms. This is a listing of legal
subjects and keywords used to categorise the points of law found in cases and journals. The terms are derived from
Sweet & Maxwell's Legal Taxonomy.
2) Journal Title: e.g. Law Quarterly Review
3) Cases Cited (Party) and Cases Cited (Citation) allow you to search for journal articles that cite specific cases.
‘Hover’ your mouse over
for the correct format required to search these fields, e.g. Hedley Heller or [1964] AC 465.
4) Legislation Title: Use this to search for journal articles that discuss a particular Act of Parliament or Statutory
Instrument, e.g. Disability Discrimination Act 1995. You can refine this search further by using the Legislation
Provision No. option to provide the provision type and number, e.g. section 1
5) Publication Year, e.g. 2009
Browse
It is possible to browse By Publication Name: A-D, E-H, I-M, N-R, S-Z. Select a letter range to find the title you are
interested in. You will be provided with an alphabetical list of journals and their abbreviations within that range, e.g. New
Law Journal N.L.J. Once a title has been selected, you will then be able to perform a Basic Search, Advanced Search or
Browse By Year: within that title only.
REFINE YOUR SEARCH
 All results are displayed on the Search Results page. Click on Edit Search if you need to amend your search
strategy, or enter extra search terms in the field provided above to Search Within Results.
 To navigate backwards and forwards through your current search, use the ‘breadcrumb trail’ provided. This
displays the path you have taken to get to your current page, e.g. Home > Cases > Search Results > Document. Click
on the appropriate part of the trail to return to a particular stage of your search.
DISPLAY YOUR RESULTS
 Results are displayed in groups of 25 records per page in date order with the most recent first.
 Each result includes a Citation:, Subjects: covered and Keywords: assigned to the article.
 Documents: always provides a link to the Legal Journals Index Abstract. This is a brief summary of the article,
including direct links to relevant case law and legislation within Westlaw UK Cases and Westlaw UK Legislation.
 Documents: also provides a link to the Full Text Article where available.
 Once a document is open, use the arrows provided
to navigate through the rest of your results. Click
on
to return to documents already viewed.
 NB. If a Full Text Article is not available, use the Citation: to find the article. For example:
o Westlaw UK does not provide full-text access for the Citation: Bus. L.R. 2009, 30(2), 28-29.
o Click on the Legal Journals Index Abstract to confirm the full title of the journal. In this example, Bus. L.R. stands
for [Business Law Review].
o According to OPAC, Business Law Review is available in Cat.7 of the Law Library at Treforest LRC.
o Business Law Review is also available online electronically. Go to FINDit and click on e-Journals.
o If a print or electronic copy of the article cannot be found, you may request an Inter-library Loan.
DOWNLOAD
 To download your Search Results, click on the checkboxes for each record that you wish to
Print
or
E-mail.
 The Legal Journals Index Abstract, and the Full Text Article where available, can also be downloaded.
Save
HELP
 Online support is available by clicking on the Help link or Journals Help and Coverage. There is also a
Training Tutorial available.
 If you require any further help with your research, please contact your Information Librarian
http://lcss.glam.ac.uk/lrc/infolibs or use the details on our contact us page http://studentlibrary.glam.ac.uk/help
EXIT
 Please remember to Log Out from Westlaw UK when you have finished searching.
FEEDBACK
 If you have any comments or suggestions about this publication please email [email protected].
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