Answers

Getting started with Legal Source

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Legal Source provides full-text access to hundreds of law journals and reviews covering criminal justice, international law, business law, constitutional law, and more. It includes unique titles not found in other databases, advanced indexing, and powerful search tools - ideal for legal research by students, faculty, and professionals.

Why use Legal Source?

• Extensive Content: Provides full-text access to over 1,100 active law journals and more than 350 law reviews. 
• Historical Coverage: Includes indexing and abstracts for legal periodicals dating back to 1908.
• Global Reach: Features prominent legal publications from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Diverse Subjects: Covers a wide array of legal disciplines, including:
  • Criminal and International Law
  • Environmental and Health Law
  • Family, Labour, and Ethics Law
• Research Tools: Integrated on the EBSCOhost platform, it offers advanced search filters, citation assistance, and a controlled thesaurus for precise legal terminology.

Note: You can find all these resources directly through the main Library Portal search.

How do I perform a basic search?

1. Enter keywords in the search box. Click the magnifying glass icon to view results.
   
   
    
2. As you type, suggestions will appear below. Click any suggestion to see its results.
   
   
    
3. After running a search, you can narrow down your results using filters. Just click the All Filters button to open the panel on the left.
   

    

There are loads of options to explore, but here are two great ones to start with:

• Source Type: Choose the kind of content you want, such as academic journals, ERIC documents, reports, or dissertations.
• Publication Date: Set a custom date range to focus on the most recent research or a specific time period​​​​​

Tip: Click Advanced Search for more powerful search options. This feature lets you combine multiple keywords using Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT to refine your results.

Want to learn more? Check out our FAQ: What are Boolean and advanced search operators and how do I use them to search for resources?

Viewing and Saving results

To explore an article, simply click on its title to view the abstract and more information. On this page you can: access the full text, save or add to project and download or email the resource using the toolbar options. 

To access the full text, you’ll typically see two format options, although additional formats may be available.

• PDF Full Text: Ideal for viewing the article as it appears in print. 
• Online Full Text: Great for quick reading and accessibility features.

Further guidance

Head over to EBSCOConnect for helpful guides and tips to make the most of this database!

If you would like more help, email us at Library@arden.ac.uk or book a librarian appointment 

Related FAQs

• What is natural language search and how do I use it?