Articles: Find Articles by Topic

Indexes organize articles under standardized subject headings so that researchers can quickly and easily identify the articles that provide a substantial discussion of their topic. Use an index when:

• researching well established topics that have been written about extensively
• researching broad topics (the index subheadings can help you narrow your focus)
• researching topics represented by ambiguous terms that can be used in multiple contexts (e.g. will)
• you only want to retrieve articles with a lengthy discussion of your topic

NOTE: Many article indexes do provide some full text access to publications. If the index you are using doesn't provide full text access to the article you need, see the box in this guide labeled I have a citation. Does Drake have the journal I need?

Because full text databases retrieve every article containing your search terms, they tend to produce a broader result than an index search. Use a full text search when:

• researching newer topics that haven't been written about extensively
• researching narrower topics
• researching topics that are represented by unique terms
• you want to find absolutely every article that mentions your topic, even if it just mentions it in passing

If you can't find the article using the journal finder search or the Drake Libraries' catalog, check the following free sources of law-related articles on the web.