Before starting your research, it is important to spend some time analyzing the materials that you already have at your disposal. If you begin researching without being able to answer fundamental questions about the topic, it is unlikely you will have enough background knowledge about your topic to fully process the material that shows up in your research. It is better practice to review and process as much information as possible before you begin researching. Understanding your topic will allow you to develop an efficient research plan and a strong list of key terms that will help you locate sources.
After working through the above questions, ask yourself whether you feel confident you understand the legal landscape of your directed research project. If you do, you are probably ready to start researching! If you're still confused or have questions, this is a great time to pause and check in with a librarian. Make an appointment, email the reference librarians, or drop into the Zoom Reference Office.
Running a preemption check provides an examination of existing research, and serves as a foundation for your own research. It allows you to critically evaluate existing research, and puts your new thesis in context with the overall scholarly conversation. When conducting a preemption check, you should consider who are the leading scholars in the subject area, what has been published on the subject, what factors or subtopics have these scholars identified as important for further examination, what research methods have others used, what were the pros and cons of using those methods, or what other theories have been explored.
In short, running a preemption check means confirming whether someone else has already written an article on the same topic with the same thesis you are considering. During the preemption check process you will likely find articles that also address your topic. But don't conclude you are preempted unless after reading those articles you find that you have no new, worthwhile insights to offer. For instructions on conducting a complete preemption check, review this Preemption Checking Guide from the Dorraine Zief Law Library. The below Preemption Checklist will point you to locations to check to ensure your work is sufficiently original to be published. Also see the full list of SLS legal databases.
For the preemption search process you will use the same tools to locate preempting literature in law journals, law-related journals, or specialized scholarly journals: indexes, table of contents, or full text searches.
Preemption Checklist:
Indices / Law Periodicals: These indices are designed to provide you with a specific citation to a specific article. Once you have your specific citation, you can locate the cited literature in paper form by searching via the Articles+ feature of our catalog. If our library does not own the publication you seek, then you can request it via interlibrary loan.
Full Text Databases: Often, searches within databases that retain full texts of materials can prove fruitful.
Not Yet Published If material preempts your work but is pending not-as-yet-published scholarship, it won't show up in your database/period searches. To ensure you don't miss pending works, check the following resources.
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