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Sir Alex Ferguson Library Guides

Forensic Investigation

Library databases and advice for students studying forensic sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Introduction to information sources

There are lots of different types of information and places to find it. Some examples include:

  • Books
  • Journal articles
  • Professional blogs
  • Conference papers

Most modules have a Resource List (reading list) which tell you the key books, journal articles and other resources you need to use.  You can find this on each of your modules on GCU Learn. Some of the source types might be new to you.

Resource Lists are a starting point. You won't always to be told what to use. 

This guide will help you identify key source types, the benefits of each and where to find them.

Books

Academic books are written by subject experts. You don't read them from start to finish. Use the contents page at the start of the book or the index at the end to find the topic you are looking for.  Academic books can be in print or as e-books. The content is the same. You can search an e-book to find what you need.

Popular books are updated and republished regularly. These different versions are called editions. Depending on your subject, you might need the most recent edition of a book.

It takes a long time for a book to be written and published so you will also need to use other more recent sources such as journal articles and reports.

You can use books to:

  • Get an introduction to a new topic
  • Find background information
  • Find frameworks, theories, concepts and definitions
  • Learn how to do a task for example doing a research project or creating a poster presentation

Our main source for finding books and e-books is Discover. You can search for a particular title or a general topic.  See our Discover video guides.

Journal articles

Journals are academic magazines that focus on a specific subject area. These are made up of shorter journal articles. They are published more frequently than books, for example monthly or four times a year. 

Journal articles are short but complex and take time to read and understand. Like books, they are written by subject experts such as academics, researchers or professionals.

There are two main types of journals:

  • Academic journals: written by and aimed at academics and researchers 
  • Trade publications: written by and aimed at professionals working in a specific sector

There are also different types of articles:

  • Reporting the results of an experiment or study (original research)
  • Reviews (bringing together previously published evidence on a topic)
  • Editorials (opinion pieces)
  • News
  • Book reviews

Many academic journals are peer-reviewed. This means that articles are checked and approved by experts in the same field (peers) before they are published.

You can use journal articles to:

  • Find up to date research
  • Find examples of how theories, frameworks and concepts from books are put into practice

You are expected to use journal articles in your work as they are a key source of academic information.

There are many ways to find journal articles. Where you search depends on how much information you need, how much time you have and what you are studying.

  • Discover. Along with books and e-books, Discover searches most journals available from the library. It is useful for a quick search but it is not subject specific.
  • Subject databases. A database is an online collection of information which can include journal articles, reports and other information types. They are usually subject specific which means it is easier to find relevant information. They also have extra options which makes searching more accurate.

Video (2:41) - tour of a scholarly journal article

This short video describes the main sections in most journal articles.

Conference papers

Conferences are meetings where academics and researchers present and discuss the latest ideas and developments in their subject. They are not always research-based - sometimes they focus on projects or practice in an area. The text of these presentations are sometimes shared as conference papers.

It is not always possible to get the full text of a conference paper - sometimes you can only find a short abstract.

You can use conference papers to:

  • Find new ideas or methodologies in a subject
  • Find experts in a subject
  • Find content that is not yet published in journals

Some presentations at conferences will become full-length journal articles in future. However, writing and publishing a journal article takes a long time and can be expensive, so in some cases information will only exist as a conference paper.

Conference papers can be published in journals, collected in a book or uploaded onto websites. Sometimes the content is only a short abstract or isn't available at all, so you would need to contact the author directly. In other cases the content is a poster presentation which is not available to view.

You can also check social media if you are looking at a particular organisation - conferences often have hashtags on Twitter where attendees share ideas and content.

Reports

Reports are published by many organisations including companies, institutions and charities. They often contain up-to-date information that isn't covered in academic sources like books or journal articles.

Older reports may be available in print, but nowadays most reports are published online. Your best options are to either use Google or, if you know the particular organisation, find their website directly.

Legal sources

How to find case law

You can find case law on legal databases. You will need some details of the case in order to find it.

Law report series

Case law is published in law report series. Some series are general, for example Session Cases; others cover a narrow area of law, for example Building Law Reports. Significant cases are written up in more than one law report series. It is important that you read the case report specified by your lecturer because different law reports will present the case differently. You find the correct case report by searching using the full citation.

Case citations

A case citation directs you to a specific case report in a law report series.  The format is :

Defender v Pursuer     Year of publication   Law report series   Starting page number of report

Here's an example:

Morrison v Robertson 1908 SC 332 

So this means the case was Morrison against Robertson, it was published in 1908 in the Session Cases series and starts on page 332. 

Case law abbreviations

Law report series are often abbreviated. For example Session Cases is shortened to SC. 

Cardiff Legal Abbreviations is a free online resource which allows you to search for the abbreviations of the full title of English language legal publications.

Case law databases

You have access to four databases for case law:

Where to find legislation

You can find UK legislation on the government website legislation.gov and also on legal databases Westlaw and Lexis+.

Westlaw and Lexis+ are updated more frequently than legislation.gov and make it easy to find related case law and analysis. This means you can easily see how the legislation is being interpreted by the courts.

How to search

Search using the title of the act. For example:

Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 c.46

The year is the year the act became law ('date of commencement' or 'date of Royal assent'). C.46 is the chapter number. The chapter number is a running number which starts at 1 at the beginning of every year. So this is the 46th act to be given Royal assent in the year 1995.

Acts of the Scottish Parliament look similar, but use asp (Act of the Scottish Parliament) rather than c. For example: 

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 asp 6

Often the act title is used without the chapter or asp number. You only need the title and year to find the legislation.

What are tribunals

There are many different types of tribunals. They can be administered by:

  • local authorities
  • government departments 
  • His Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service

Tribunals can cover issues such as:

  • immigration and asylum
  • mental health
  • care standards
  • employment

Where to find tribunal decisions

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