The Library purchases high-quality online subscriptions to support your assignments. This page will help you get the most out of our legal resources.

Download the University VPN system to access these anytime, anywhere!


Getting Started

  • New students, now you are at University, your lecturers will expect you to use academic/scholarly legal sources - relying on Google or AI will not get you the highest marks.
  • Watch this introduction to the library video (forthcoming) and then try out the options below:

Sometimes it can be difficult to get started with your research as there are so many sources and so much you could read!

Look at the 3 sections below to learn how to find your core textbooks, how to search the Library Catalogue and how to explore our Legal Databases, Westlaw and Lexis. 

Remember to think about what you need to find and where and how to search for it:

  • Textbooks contain academic theories and background, as well as suggestions on which primary sources to look at. These can be can be found on your reading lists and in the Library catalogue.

  • Primary legal sources include cases and legislation and these can be found in Westlaw and Lexis.

  • Secondary legal sources include as journal articles, encyclopaedias and practitioner texts. These contain analysis and commentary and can also also be found in Westlaw and Lexis.

  • You may also want some additional sources such as law commission reports or government documents. You can find suggested links to these in our More Legal Sources section below. 

Use the information and help on this Subject page to help you navigate all these resources, and more!

Always start with suggested readings in your Moodle modules - your lecturers spend time deciding which resources to recommend:

  1. Check the 'Reading Lists' tab for any suggested resources and/or weekly lists
  2. See our Reading lists page for more information

Books provide an excellent overview of a topic and are a great resource when starting an assignment.

  • For printed books, you can borrow and return 30 items and these automatically renew (but are recalled if wanted by another user). Use our Click and Collect service to reserve books and look at our postal loan service.

  • Some law ebooks are also available which you can read online, search within and annotate. Some ebooks have limits on how many students can access at the same time and restrictions on downloading/printing. Please note that not all law textbooks are available electronically.

To find print books:

  1. Search the Library Catalogue

  2. Filter your search on the left-hand side to 'University Library'.

  3. For each book, note the floor, number and author code: FIRST FLOOR 346.42022 FIN

  4. Most law books can be found on Floor 1C in the 340s.

To find ebooks:

  1. Search the Library Catalogue

  2. Filter your search on the left-hand side to 'Online Resources'.

  3. Click on the title of the ebook to load the full record, and then 'Online access' to view.

Getting more help:

Always check the University's student guidance on the use of Generative AI.

  • Using AI in legal (and academic) work is a new and fast-changing area. For more information, read these news stories collated by the Law Society.

  • Examples of academic usage that might be considered appropriate are planning an assignment, generating ideas for further investigation, or helping find additional search terms or keywords.

  • Be aware that the information generated in AI tools is not always correct - especially for law! Treat AI-generated content with as much caution as materials from Google or Wikipedia and ensure you use it appropriately.

Understanding Legal Sources

Law uses a range of unique source types that you may not have come across before, but you will get very used to these over the course of your degree.  

This section is in progress - please check back again soon!

This section will cover 

  • Understanding Legal Citations
  • UK Case Law 
  • UK Legislation 
  • Legal Journals 
  • Official Publications/Hansard

What is a case?

Cases are disputes or issues between two different parties which are brought before legal courts for a decision.

  • The parties may be individuals or organisations or the state (known as the Crown in criminal cases).
  • There are many different courts that cases can be heard in.
  • The transcripts showing what the judge(s) said and decided for each case are known as judgments and are published in law reports.

Law reports and citations

In a law report, a case is referred to by:

  • the party names
  • the law report citation (which includes the year the case was reported, the volume number, the abbreviation for the law report series it appears in, and the starting page number)

    EXAMPLE: Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893] 1 QB 256

There are lots of different series of law reports, from different publishers, with some being more authoritative than others. It is important that you use the most authoritative law report available. The first one to use is always the Official Law Reports series (AC, KBD, QBD, Ch, Fam) produced by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. If that is not available, you can use either the Weekly Law Reports (WLR) or the All England Law Reports (All ER) - and then other specialist reports if required.

Neutral Citations

Newer cases, since 2001 also have a neutral citation. These do not refer to a particular law report series but instead act as a unique identifier for the case.

After the party names, neutral citations include the:

  • year the case was heard, the court abbreviation and case number

    EXAMPLE: Begum v Secretary of State for the Home Dept [2024] EWCA Civ 152

Where can I access cases?

Law reports are best accessed via our Legal Databases where you can read the full judgment as well as find related information.

Note that not all cases are reported! Many cases that are highlighted in the media are not legally interesting, so there is no need to report them. Cases are reported when judges need to interpret the law in a new or different way and need to set precedents (judges then follow these rulings in later cases). If your case is not reported, you will most likely find it in our Newspaper Databases instead. 

Legal Databases

  • Use our subscription legal databases Westlaw, and Lexis, to research cases, legislation, commentary and more across the UK, EU and internationally.
  • You can find further sources for your research such as The Law Journal Library and the English Reports in HeinOnline

How to Find Cases in Lexis and Westlaw
Demonstrates how to find UK cases using the two legal databases, how to locate permalinks, and also provides some referencing information.

How to Find Commentary in Lexis and Westlaw
Mentions the different kinds of commentary, demonstrates how to find commentary using the two legal databases, how to locate permalinks, and also provides some referencing information.

How to Find Journals and Journal Articles in Lexis and Westlaw
Demonstrates how to find journals and journal articles using the two legal databases, how to locate permalinks, and also provides some referencing information.

How to Find UK Statutes in Lexis and Westlaw
Demonstrates how to find UK statutes using the two legal databases, how to locate permalinks, and also provides some referencing information.

OSCOLA Referencing (LAW ONLY)

**From September 2026 we will be moving to OSCOLA 5th edition.  Resources are being developed.** 

Please find 4th edition resources below. 

**From September 2026 we will be moving to OSCOLA 5th edition.** 

Please find 4th edition resources below. 

The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) is designed to help the author to achieve consistency and to make life easier for the reader.

This video will cover referencing tips for students at any level. It will also show students where to go to find more help with referencing.

Includes updates for changes to citation of EU and retained EU Legislation following Brexit and other changes to citation of EU cases and legislation. Also provides examples for a source cited in a secondary source; a judgment citing another judgment; eBooks; Book reviews; Radio programmes; Speeches; Dictionaries; Podcasts, YouTube etc. Note: The suggestions on this page have not yet been discussed and approved by the OSCOLA editorial board.

Further resources for OSCOLA 4th edition:

Use this hierarchy to determine the best law report.

 

(pdf file 136 kb)

Citing Primary Sources - Statutes (video)

Includes information about pinpointing certain sections, section abbreviations, and where to find this information in the document.

Citing Primary Sources - Cases (video)
Includes information about reported and unreported cases, the legal report hierarchy, the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations, cases with and without a neutral citation, when to use [square] or (round) brackets, how to find law reports in a legal database, and citing judges.

Citing Secondary Sources - Books (video)
Includes information about whole books, books with one author/editor, books with more than one author/editor, corporate authors, no authors, and book chapters.

Citing Secondary Sources - Journal Articles (video)
Includes information about articles with one or more author, using [square] or (round) brackets, using the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations to abbreviate journal titles (when necessary), and referencing online journal articles.

Citing Secondary Sources – Webpages and Blogs (video)
Includes information about citing websites with different types of authors or no authors and citing blogs with authors or no authors.

OSCOLA 5th edition - TO BE USED FROM SEPTEMBER 2026 ONLY

The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) is designed to help the author to achieve consistency and to make life easier for the reader.

There are some minor changes but the overall idea of the referencing style remains the same, so do not panic! 

A few pointers are below, with pages numbers to the full guide, in case you want to view more information or see examples:

  • Ibid is no longer used: cross-references are used instead (p.6)
  • Court abbreviations: use KBD for King’s Bench Division and QBD for Queen’s Bench Division (previously these were KB and QB) (pp.19-20) 
  • Ebooks: if the page numbers are the same as the printed version then treat it as a printed book. If there is no printed version, include the ebook type. Where the ebook lacks page or paragraph numbers, include a chapter/section number (or name) (p.35) 
  • Websites: cite permanent links wherever possible (for published works a perma.cc is advised - this is not necessary for student assessments, just use the usual link). If there is a persistent link or a DOI, no date of access is needed. DOIs do not need to be in < > (but they are also not needed at all if the journal article is also available in hard copy). Do not cite PDF files or downloaded content (p.39)
  • Newspaper articles: don't need the city of publication (p.41) 
  • Command papers: include CP for those published since 2019 (p.42)  
  • Other secondary sources: various small changes to sources including social media posts, book reviews, lectures/speeches, theses, pinpoints for audio/video content (pp.33-44)  
  • International law: various changes (pp.45-62)
  • Retrospectively created medium neutral citations (those that predate 2001) should not be used (p.18) 
  • If tables of cases or legislation are required (NB this is usually only for longer pieces of work and not standard student assessments) these must now be indexed (p.12) 
  • Bibliographies of secondary sources should be A-Z by author surname and not split by source type. The Bibliography does not need to be indexed (pp.12-13) 

(This list was compiled using Naomi Hart's guidance)

Referencing Software

All reference generators make errors! But it is even worse for the OSCOLA style...

You must ensure you check and edit all your references before submitting your work.  

You can create general references through the "Cite" buttons in many Library products (EBSCO databases, Statista, Google Scholar and more...) but OSCOLA is usually NOT available or wrong

Advanced users may wish to view our referencing tools page for Endnote, Mendeley and Zotero but please note that even these high powered tools struggle with footnoting styles, and even more with legal resources. 

APA 7th Legal Referencing (combined honours students)

If you are taking modules from the Business School or the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, you will need to use APA 7 and NOT OSCOLA. Please confirm with your tutor which citation style you need to follow BEFORE you start writing. APA 7th and OSCOLA are two very different referencing styles and it is easy to become confused. 

Examples of how to reference UK legislation and cases, government webpages, reports and command papers as well as international legal sources.

For full APA guidance:

APA videos:

Can I use AI to generate references? 

Be aware that ChatGPT and other similar tools still invent some academic references. Using such fabricated information in your work is considered academic misconduct so you should always double check any AI generated references. They also make some mistakes with APA 7th style.

Referencing Software

All reference generators make errors! 

Ensure you check and edit your references before submitting your work.  View some common errors under our "Cite this" tools on databases section. 

There are many different ways to generate APA citations:

  1. Quick options - look for a "Cite" button in EBSCO databases, Ebook Central, Statista, Google Scholar and more...
  2. Advanced options - see our referencing tools page. The business librarian supports the use of Mendeley.

More Legal Sources

Here you will find recommendations for other legal sources for the UK, international and foreign jurisdictions.

UK Law and Government

  • The statutory independent body to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reform where it is needed.

  • Command and act papers from the UK Government.

  • The supreme legislative body for the UK, British Crown Dependiencies, and British Overseas Territories.

  • Non-ministerial body responsible for criminal prosecutions.

  • Ministerial department responsible for immigration, security, and law and order.

  • Ministerial department responsible for areas of constitutional policy, human rights law and information rights law.

Council of Europe

  • The Council of Europe is the continent's leading human rights organisation. It includes 47 member states, 27 of which are members of the European Union.

  • Complete list of the Council of Europe's treaties.

Part of the Council of Europe, which is a different legal system to that of European Union.

Part of the Council of Europe, which is a different legal system to that of European Union.

European Union Law

  • The online gateway to EU Law. It provides the official and most comprehensive access to EU legal documents including treaties, legal acts from EU institutions, preparatory documents related to EU legislation, EU case-law, international agreements, and EFTA documents.

  • Official website. Includes case law.

Foreign Jurisdictions

Other Useful Library Resources

Here you will find recommendations for other useful resources such as newspapers, statistics as well as general journal article searches outside of the law databases, video content and more:

  • When using newspapers, ensure you evaluate everything you find and try and stick to the broadsheets where possible. If you are not sure about the differences between broadsheet and tabloid publications, this guide will help. Broadsheets include The TimesThe Guardian and the Daily Telegraph. Tabloids include The Sun, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Mail. 

  • Full text articles from UK and international news sources - coverage varies but can run from the 1980s to today. As well as newspapers, you'll find news wires and BBC Monitoring reports.

  • PressReader lets you access UK and international newspapers, plus a wide range of magazine content. Everything is full colour with archives varying in length depending on the publication.

    Login guidance

  • The UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics. Responsible for collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population and society at national, regional, and local levels.

  • Official statistics from the UK Government.

  • Access to more than a million statistics from many different sources. Useful for finding industrial, economic and consumer market statistical trends.

  • Data from a number of years which you can download and manipulate into graphs etc.

  • The latest incarnation of the above

  • Australia’s national statistical agency. An official source of independent, reliable information.

  • The home of the U.S. Government’s open data.

  • The United States' primary source for criminal justice statistics. The mission of BJS is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.

  • Ireland's national statistical office and our purpose is to impartially collect, analyse and make available statistics about Ireland’s people, society and economy.

  • The agency ensures Canadians have the key information on Canada's economy, society and environment that they require to function effectively as citizens and decision makers.

  • Use this for quick general searches, noting the below:

    1. Think about your keywords, where you want to search and how you will filter your results. The Peer-Reviewed Articles option returns the most academic content. 
    2. Watch: Using the EBSCO Discovery Service video (7 mins) plus additional guidance for EBSCO login screens
  • Guidance from our business pages about using Google scholar to find articles

  • Large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature covering all subject areas.

  • Part of Web of Knowledge, includes records for thousands of scholarly publications. Search across three main citation databases (Science/Social Science/Arts & Humanities). Defaults to Smart Search - for advanced features click on Advanced Search instead. 

  • Policy Commons Global Think Tanks

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Access the world’s largest public policy database with 14 million resources from 24,000+ global NGOs and think tanks. Covers topics like education, health, international development, business, and more. There are a range of videos about using this resource here.

Top Tips

To ensure you get the best quality information as quickly as possible:

  1. Use " " around phrases to restrict your search to more relevant results: "corporate structure"
  2. Use a site: command to look for information from particular organisations or web addresses
  • Type site: and the domain you want and then add your search terms: site:gov.uk brexit "financial services"
  • The most helpful domains when locating business information include:
    • site:org.uk - get an industry perspective on a topic with results from UK organisations 
    • site:gov.uk - find government policy on particular issues
    • site:parliament.uk - very useful for locating parliamentary research reports

For more tips, see Karen Blakeman's Google Search Commands and Google Search Tips

  • An archive of UK television and radio programmes from free to air channels (1998 onwards). For use in the UK only. Find some great tips about how to use BoB in these short videos.

  • A unique collections of films including award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases on every topic imaginable. Content can be searched or browsed.

  • Online learning and training courses covering business and employability, as well as creative and technical skills.

  • Only available on campus or via VPN

  • Only available on campus or via VPN

  • Only available on campus or via VPN

  • Only available on campus or via VPN

  • Only available on campus or via VPN

  • Only available on campus or via VPN

  • Ideagen Audit Analytics tracks issues related to audit, compliance, governance, corporate actions and federal litigation from a broad range of public disclosures, including 60,000 SEC registrants; 7,000 Canadian SEDAR filers; 8,000 European companies; more than 5,000 insurance companies filing with the NAIC; over 17 million ERISA plans filing IRS Form 5500; and more. Access the US Audit and Compliance module, the US Accounting and Oversight module and the European Module all through one interface. 

    Register using the linked form - it takes 1-2 business days to approve your application and then you will be sent your login details and links to supporting guidance. 

  • Bloomberg

    Bloomberg is available in the Bloomberg Suite in the Richmond building or from two terminals on the first floor of the Library. 

    You can now reserve the Library terminals: BOOK A LIBRARY BLOOMBERG TERMINAL 
    You can select a 2 hour slot within the times that our reception desk is staffed.

    Getting Started on the Bloomberg Terminal
    For more detailed queries, ask for help from your module coordinator or supervisor. 

  • BoardEx

    Includes company data on director profiles, compensation, committees, networks and boards.

  • Access thousands of UK standards. For educational use only - excessive downloading or printing is not allowed. 

    How to download a standard 

    Students at overseas international partnerships are not licenced to use this resource.

  • Credo Reference

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Explore Credo for trusted reference sources like dictionaries - a great alternative to Wikipedia! 

    Watch these short videos to get started:

    1. Search tips
    2. Using the automated mind map
  • Leading weekly magazine covering global political, economic and business news. Includes archive back to 1997. App also available. 

    A full archive from 1843-2015 is available via Gale Historical Archive

    To access:
    1. Enter your University email address
    2. Select University of Portsmouth
    3. Sign in with your University username and password.
  • Previously known as Eikon/Refinitiv/DataStream, staff and students in Business and Law (BaL) can use this product for financial data and ESG information. Single licence only, please limit your usage to one hour at a time. Help is available within the product.

    How to access:
    1. Click on the link above and choose Apps on the left-hand side. You will see LSEG workspace listed. Click through to access and wait for the login box to load:
      • If the licence shows as already in use (student1) continue by clicking on Sign In.
      • If it shows as Disconnected, someone else is using the licence so please try again later.
    2. Excel will open at the same time with the Workspace add-in connected.
    3. When you have finished, sign out of LSEG Workspace and sign out of the virtual machine.

    Need help accessing? Try this FAQ.

  • Emerald Insight

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Access thousands of articles from our subscribed peer-reviewed journals on topics like health, management, HR, and marketing. 

  • Register using your UoP details to access the current FT, and the archive back to 2004, for business and commercial news as well as global financial markets, company and industrial sector information. You can also subscribe to newsletters or use the FT app.

    FT video

    Students at overseas international partnerships are not licenced to use this resource.

  • Search for and compare companies, industries, sectors, economies and cities across the world. Includes macroeconomic data, industry and company reports and analysis, business news, product launches and ads, and job analytics. 

    Library Basics Video Guide (further support videos are available within the database)

  • A collection of various legal sources useful for law (see individual links below), as well as international relations, political and historical studies, but with strong American bias.

  • Provides a comprehensive collection of industry reports on very specific sectors in the UK as well as further specialist reports. Also covers industries globally, in the US, China, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

  • These provide information and guidance on employment law, including cases, legislation and practical examples. 

    Access note: 

    Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and choose Access through academic institution and then select University of Portsmouth. 

  • Primary and secondary legal resources for the UK. Some international materials also available. 

  • Online learning and training courses covering business and employability, as well as creative and technical skills.

  • Detailed market research reports on a range of UK sectors including: automotive; beauty and personal care; lifestyles; drink, food and foodservice; health and wellbeing; leisure; media; technology; and travel. Also includes access to Mintel Trends which provides evidence-backed insights on how today's consumer thinks, feels and acts. 

    Video support:
    1. Navigating Mintel and Using Leap AI
    2. Using Mintel Reports and Using Mintel Consumer Data
  • Only available on campus or via VPN

  • Oxford English Dictionary Online

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    The most trusted source about words in English, containing definitions, plus very detailed word histories.

  • The new interface for S&P includes most Capital IQ (standard) financial data, as well as banking information, news and analytics and information on millions of private companies.  

    To access:
    1. Ensure third party cookies are enabled in your browser and sign in with your university username and password.
    2. If you cannot see the login screen and get an error message, check this FAQ.
    3. The S&P Pro Excel plug-in is available on the Library's two Bloomberg terminals, which are bookable. To install it on a personal device, check this FAQ
    4. If you wish to get a training certificate for this database, please register on the training platform and then access the Academy
  • Similar to Bloomberg but web-based and available off-campus this contains deep global company information and market research as well as real-time and historical information on companies, markets, transactions and people worldwide.  

    Most financial data can now be accessed in the new S&P Capital IQ Pro Platform.

    To access:
    1. Ensure third party cookies are enabled in your browser and sign in with your University username and password. 
    2. If you cannot see the login screen and get an error message, please check this FAQ
    3. If you want to use the S&P Standard Excel plug-in on a University or personal device, download it from AppsAnywhere (or check this FAQ).
  • Contains a wide range of case studies across different business areas.

    Video explaining Sage Business Cases

    FAQ: How to access a Sage Case Study from your reading list

    Lecturers: if you wish to access the teaching notes, please contact the Business Librarian for the instructor code and instructions.
     

  • Science Direct

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Access 1000s of Elsvier articles and book chapters from our subscribed content on scientific, technical, and medical research.

  • Large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature covering all subject areas.

  • Access to more than a million statistics from many different sources. Useful for finding industrial, economic and consumer market statistical trends.

  • Specialist database with articles, research reports, podcasts, interactive data and case studies covering advertising and more. Also includes some Euromonitor company profiles and strategy briefings.

  • Part of Web of Knowledge, includes records for thousands of scholarly publications. Search across three main citation databases (Science/Social Science/Arts & Humanities). Defaults to Smart Search - for advanced features click on Advanced Search instead. 

  • Primary and secondary legal resources for the UK as well as EU materials and Westlaw International. 

    Help with Login screens