Research Guides: EDUC 6560: Legal Problems in Higher Education: Legal Research Project

Legal Research Project

This page contains resources to help you:
(1) Identify a current event and legal issues related to it;
(2) Discover background information on the topic;
(3) Locate scholarly, peer-reviewed sources for your analysis; and
(4) Locate primary law (cases, statutes, regulations).

1. Identify a Current Event in Higher Education With Legal Implications

Consult these secondary resources to identify a current event in higher education with legal implications.

Chronicle of Higher Education This link opens in a new window
The Chronicle's online version features the complete contents of the latest issue; daily news and advice columns; thousands of current job listings;
discussion forums; and career-building tools such as online CV management, salary databases, and more. To access Premium features, you must be on campus or logged into the GW VPN, or else create a free personal account using your GW email address.

Education Week
Education news database specializing in K-12. Includes some current events in higher education--type "higher education" in the search box
Inside HigherEd
2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: Teaching and Learning Edition

Policy File Index This link opens in a new window
Use this database to find reports from public policy think tanks and research institutes. For example, reports on issues in higher education are published by entities like the Rand Corporation, the Brookings Institute, and the Center for American Progress. Remember to consider if the source is nonpartisan or reflects a political ideology.

Nexis Uni
Access to major newspapers from around the world, as well as legal news, law reviews, and case law; and the U.S. and state codes. Please use Google Chrome or IE browsers with this database.

2. Discover Background Information on a Topic

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
CQ Researcher Online features original, comprehensive reporting and balanced analysis on issues of major political importance. CQ Researcher is a particularly good source of bibliographies on current topics.
Congressional Research Reports This link opens in a new window
Use search term, "higher education" in the white box; below the box select "Congress" and in the pull-down menu you can limit to the current Congress
Open access version available here: https://crsreports.congress.gov/

American Jurisprudence 2d (Nexis Uni) - A comprehensive legal encyclopedia providing background information on a wide range of legal topics.

Encyclopedia of Law and Higher Education (EBOOK) by Charles J. Russo (Editor)
Publication Date: 2009
Search for background information on topics such as "privacy rights"
West's Encyclopedia of American Law (EBOOK) by Jeffrey Lehman; Shirelle Phelps
Publication Date: 2004
Search for "Colleges and Universities"
Gale Encyclopedia of American Law (EBOOK)
Publication Date: 2011
Covers today's leading cases, major statutes, legal terms and concepts, notable persons involved with the law, and important documents. Includes topics such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, physician-assisted suicide and more.

Also, see box about Library Books as Secondary Sources to find more academic sources

3. Secondary Sources: Scholarly Journal Articles About Law & Education

Use these library databases to search for peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles...

ERIC (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Education Source This link opens in a new window
Legal Source This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window

Tip: Try a combined search of the three databases below (ERIC, Education Source, and Legal Source) to simultaneously search for articles

Nexis Uni
Nexis Uni has the most comprehensive coverage of current legal journal articles.

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar indexes scholarly publications in a variety of fields, including law. To get links from Google Scholar to GW Libraries full text, even when off campus, go to Google Scholar > Settings > Library Links and add us. The video tutorial in this guide explains how to do this.

4. Finding Cases, Statutes, and Regulation

Nexis Uni -- U.S. Federal and State Court Opinions, Statutes, and Regulations

The best single resource for finding court opinions, statutes, and regulations is Nexis Uni. It offers the most comprehensive coverage, advanced search features, and also provides information on the status of the law (e.g., whether a court opinion has been overturned) through the Shepard's service.

Other Online Resources for Finding U.S. Primarily Law

In addition to Nexis Uni, there are a number of other sources for finding primary law. A few of the most useful resources for finding U.S. federal law are listed below:

United States Code (U.S.C.)

The Office of Law Revision Counsel, which publishes the United States Code, has an excellent website with a current version of the Code that can be searched or browsed by topic.

Court Opinions on Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a good resource for searching both federal and state court opinions. To search court cases, select the "case law" radio button below the search box.

U.S. Regulations

When a federal agency (e.g., Department of Education) proposes or promulgates a new administration regulation, it is first published in the Federal Register. New regulations are then published in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is a subject compilation of current federal administrative regulations. The good source for the Federal Register is federalregister.gov and the good source for the Code of Federal Regulations is the e-CFR.

EDUC 6560: Legal Problems in Higher Education

Secondary Sources: Library Books

Using Google Scholar