Research Assistant: Organizing Research

Tools such as Zotero or Mendelay (below) can help you quickly generate a reference list.

LibKey Nomad is a browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi browsers. The extension connects researchers to library-licensed and open access full text articles referenced on scholarly websites like PubMed, Wikipedia, and publisher pages. 

Download LibKey Nomad

Upon installing the browser extension, start typing LMU Loyola Law School to select our institution. Start searching the web! Articles with one-click download with appear with a download button. Consult this user guide for additional guidance and explanation of buttons. 

Research logs collect resources, citations, notes, and other essential information to help organize large research projects. Many RA projects are of a large enough scope to require a research log. Here are some aspects to include:

• Search terms/phrases used to access the source.
• Usefulness: Indicate what help the resource provided. Also indicate if it wasn’t helpful, so that you know you’ve been there and don’t need to go back.
• Relevant citation(s): Copy the relevant citations that you obtained from the resource (ex: useful footnotes).
• Date accessed: The date that you accessed the resource
• Check for updates:
  • Secondary Sources – when was it last updated?
  • Primary Law – is it still good law?
• Any other information you would like to save!

Research logs can be created in Excel or Word format, depending on which method makes the most sense to you. 

Many tools exist to help you save and organize your search results, consolidate duplicates, and produce a final reference list in (semi-accurate) Bluebook format.