LexisNexis Academic: The Basics

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LexisNexis is one of the best databases for finding articles from international newspapers, and for finding articles about law. The tutorial below will teach you the basics of finding articles from international newspapers and articles on law. You can also read the directions below the video.

LexisNexis can be a little bit tricky. Please ask a librarian if you need help!

To get to LexisNexis:

  1. Put your mouse over Research Tools.
  2. Click on Databases.
  3. The link for LexisNexis is always the fourth one down.  Click on it to enter the database.

To search for articles from international newspapers:

  1. Click the News tab in the upper left corner of the screen.
  2. Scroll down to the Sources menu.  Choose Major International Newspapers.
  3. A list of newspapers appears below the menu.  If you only want to search a specific newspaper, click its title.
  4. Enter keywords in the "Search terms" boxes.  Combine them using AND, OR, NOT, and other commands.
  5. Specify dates if necessary.
  6. Click Search.
  7. Note:  LexisNexis will give you an error message if you get a very large number of results.  If this happens, go back and add more terms to your search.

To search for articles on law:

  1. Click the Legal tab in the upper left corner of the screen. 
  2. Go to the Sources menu.  Most of the time you will want "US Law Reviews and Journals, Combined," but you can choose from many other options too.
  3. Enter keywords in the "Search terms" box.  Combine them using AND, OR, NOT, and other options.
  4. Specify dates, if desired.
  5. Press Search.
  6. Note:  LexisNexis will give you an error message if you get a very large number of results.  If this happens, go back and add more terms to your search.

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