Secondary sources provide detailed background information on a country's history, political system, culture, and legal system. Secondary sources also contain citations to relevant primary sources, including cases and legislation. 

Start with NUsearch, the library catalog for Northwestern University, to see what materials we have available in the campus library system. You can conduct basic keyword searches or use the Advanced Search function to search for specific items.

If you need a particular item that we don't own, you can search for it in WorldCat and then submit an interlibrary loan request.

Google Scholar is another excellent tool for locating scholarship on dispute resolution topics.  You may use the search box below to perform an initial search.

A useful strategy for enhancing the functionality of Google Scholar is to link your search results with the Northwestern University Libraries collection.  Once this is done, "FindIt @ NU" links will appear next to many of your search results.  Selecting these links will connect you with Northwestern University online resources providing the full-text of the article.  The brief video below demonstrates how to complete this process.

Both Westlaw and Lexis offer robust collections of law reviews and journals.  There is much overlap between the two resources, but certain publications are only available in one or the other.  Use the links below to access each.

Publications and reports from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and state governments are useful sources to help you understand international law topics and situations in specific countries. Examples of NGOs include Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Examples of IGOs include the United Nations (UN) and the Council of Europe (COE). 

Country reports refer to documents produced by governments, IGOs, or NGOs that describe the human rights situation in a country. Some country reports summarize a wide range of human rights issues within a country, while others focus on specific issues. 

Google Advanced allows you to run targeted searches across regular Google and limit your results to certain file types (e.g., .pdf) and/or search across a particular website (e.g., https://www.hrw.org) or domain (e.g., .edu, .org, .gov). The .int domain is reserved for international treaty-based organizations, UN agencies, and organizations or entities with observer status at the UN. The .org domain is often used by non-profit organizations, but can now be used by anyone. Using Google Advanced is particularly helpful when searching across government or NGO websites because these type of websites often lack great search functions.