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What is the Difference?
Primary legal sources are the actual law in the form of constitutions, court cases, statutes, and administrative rules and regulations.
Secondary legal sources may restate the law, but they also discuss, analyze, describe, explain, or critique it as well. Secondary sources are used to help locate primary sources of law, define legal words and phrases, or help in legal research.
In short, anything that is more than the actual law is considered a secondary source!
Secondary Source Examples
Law reviews and journals
- Virginia Law Review, Yale Law Journal
Legal dictionaries and encyclopedias
- Nolo’s Plain English Law Dictionary, Gale Encyclopedia of American Law
News Sources
- New York Times, Newsweek
Research Resources
Primary Research Resources
- Case Documents: United States Supreme CourtSearch for United States Supreme court cases.
- Laws: United States CongressSearch the legislation of Congress.
- Laws: The Ohio LegislatureSearch the legislation of the Ohio House and Senate.
- Case Search: Ohio Supreme CourtResource for Supreme court of Ohio cases.
- Cases and Codes on FindLawIncludes resources and links for both state and federal laws and information on constitutions, statutes, cases and more.
- Case Summaries on FindLawSearchable database from 2000 to the present of U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Circuit Courts, and selected state supreme and appellate courts case summaries.
- Nexis Uni (Formerly Lexis Nexis Academic)Federal or state cases available. Use the guided search and select "cases".
Secondary Research Resources
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowMore than 4,000 scholarly and general news publications.
- Newspaper Source This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Read selected full text for over 180 regional U.S. newspapers, international newspapers, newswires, newspaper columns, and other sources. Includes indexing and abstracts for national newspapers and full text television & radio news transcripts from CBS News, FOX News, NPR, and more. - Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Uni) This link opens in a new windowTo search the news, use the guided search and select "news" and/or "law reviews".
- America's News This link opens in a new windowIncludes the complete electronic editions of more than 1,500 U.S. and local news sources, including politics and government policies.
Primary Source Examples
Constitution (either federal or state)
- United States Constitution, Ohio State Constitution
Statutes (laws enacted by legislatures); municipal codes (enacted by local councils)
- United States Code, Cuyahoga County Code, Ashtabula Municipal Code
Cases (opinions handed down by courts)
- United States and state appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court and Ohio Supreme Court
Rules and Regulations (established by administrative government agencies)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
Treaties
- Geneva Convention, North American Free Trade Agreement
Primary and secondary definitions and examples adapted from Highland College Library's Introduction to Law: Primary and Secondary Sources