Make sure to perform a "preemption check" after you have chosen a topic for your law review article (i.e., making sure that someone else hasn't already written about your topic). There are several ways to do a preemption check, but the University of Chicago has compiled a helpful checklist.
Getting ready to write your student note? Wondering where to begin? Here are two links that might help you get started. For more assistance, ask a Reference Librarian.
LexisNexis' Starting Your Law Review Note
This tutorial aims to assist students in choosing a topic for his/her student note, comment or paper.
Westlaw's Guide to Law Review Research (PDF):
Explains how to use Westlaw databases and services to select a topic for a law review or journal article; perform a preemption check; develop a topic; check citations and quotations; and develop writing and editing skills.
Locating Paper Topics Using BNA Publications
BNA publications make it easy to find a cutting-edge topic or case on which to write.
Research Road Map: How to Prepare your Note, Cert. or Seminar Paper
Created by the Boston University School of Law Librarians Stephanie Burke, Rebecca Hewitt, and Raquel Ortiz. This guide is intended to assist students in selecting a topic, conducting a preemption check, checking primary and secondary sources, and updating research.
Other Articles:
Delgado, Richard. "How to Write a Law Review Article," 20 Univ. San Francisco Law Review 445 (1986).
Fajans, Elizabeth & Mary R. Falk. "Inspiration: Choosing a Subject and Developing a Thesis," in Scholarly Writing for Law Students: Seminar Papers, Law Review Notes, and Law Review Competition Papers, 4th ed. (2011).
Meeker, Heather. "Stalking the Golden Topic: A Guide to Locating and Selecting Topics for Legal Research Papers," 1996 Utah Law Review 917 (1996).
Volokh, Eugene. "The Intial Step: Choosing a Claim," in Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, and Seminar Papers, 3d ed. (2007)
_______. "Writing a Student Article," 48 Journal of Legal Education 247 (1998).
