Skip to Main Content

Law subject guide: Research strategies

Ethical AI

Know your AI by Kate Thompson. CC-BY. Image is a circle, with words on the outside: Is it the right tool for the job? Evaluate and understand its limitations. There is no substitute for human expertise, judgement, and reasoning. Inside the circle is a flower shaped venn diagram with 7 petals and the overlapping centre: Ethical AI. The 7 petals are: Transparency and academic integrity: Where did the data come from? Can you explain how you used AI to inform your critical legal decisions? Verify and acknowledge your sources. Reliability and accuracy: Are you confident the data is true? What are the risks? Your job? Someone’s freedom? Cross-reference or ‘triangulate’ your information with reliable sources. Bias: AI models can perpetuate societal bias and discrimination. An ethical lawyer will evaluate for fairness, equity and access to justice. Equity: Does everyone have the same access? Is it fair to use the AI? Privacy: Take appropriate measures to protect sensitive data: your own, and others’. Do not share information with consumer grade AI models. Confidentiality is a critical aspect of law. Data Sovereignty: Whose data is it? Are you allowed to use it? Is it appropriate for you to use it? This is particularly important in relation to indigenous data. Sustainability: Large language and image-based models can use vast amounts of energy and water to generate computations. They may also have high carbon emissions and create e-waste. Do these environmental issues impact your decision to use the AI? Do you need to use AI?

The legal research process

 

Evaluating Sources

Be confident about accuracy and authority by accessing content from commercial databases, textbooks, and primary sources.

Beyond these resources, you will have to evaluate the quality, authority and accuracy yourself.

Watch this video about SIFT. Stop. Identify. Find better coverage. Trace. 

Legal Research Texts

These texts offer practical advice in research and writing, with a strong NZ law focus.

Database Guides

These short and simple videos introduce you to the mechanics of searching for legal resources. You can also ask for help, at the Desk.

Legal research guides

The Research and Writing Guide, and the three step-by-step Legal Research Skills guides are also available on Blackboard. LAWS398 > Course Documents.

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Publishing Tips

undefined

 

Copyright ownership, Open access, and publishing in Law Journals.

Copyright Experiences wiki: This is a US resource that focuses specifically on law journals and is a place where legal academics can share experiences they’ve had when negotiating copyright with law journals and other legal publishers.

Copyright, authors rights and open access. This is post on the SLAW site, Canada's online legal magazine. The post includes helpful links to tools to help assist your decision-making.

 

Want to publish in an Open Access Law Journal? This website from the American Bar Association has a good list.

Free Online full-Text Law Reviews/Journals

 

Consult this locally developed comprehensive guide  into research, publishing, and impact.

https://otago.libguides.com/research_publishing_impact

Keeping up to Date

There is no panacea for keeping up to date with NZ law in academia. 

Try this range of resources and you'll at least be well informed!

To keep up to date on secondary sources, you can also set up Table of Contents (ToCs) alerts for many journals. Search for the journal via Library Search. Each publisher will have a unique but easy set-up process. You cannot set up ToCs for journals  via Westlaw or Lexis.