Analysis: Books, Articles, Etc.

Although traditional, paid databases generally contain the most comprehensive collections of journals and other secondary sources, a number of sites provide useful content for free.

Book, Article, and Working Paper Databases

• The Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law Library is a library catalog that includes links to many free, downloadable PDF versions of articles and books, searchable through the Electronic Journals Library and eBooks Catalog.

• Thousands of articles and conference papers on human rights topics are available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).

• Google Scholar contains a searchable database of scholarly articles and books, including on human rights topics.

• Use Google book’s Advanced Book Search to find digitized books on human rights topics.

• Search among thousands of human rights student papers, working papers and conference papers available through the bepress Legal Repository.

• The Georgetown Law Faculty Working Papers cover a range of legal issues, including international human rights.

• The library catalog WorldCat contains links to downloadable articles (some available free of charge).

• The Yale Law School Legal Scholarship Repository includes student and faculty papers.

Law Journals

• The Harvard Human Rights Journal provides free access to all content.

• The Human Rights & the Global Economy eJournal is a free online journal.

• The Washington College of Law’s Human Rights Brief is an international human rights and humanitarian law journal and is available free online.  Request a free print subscription here.

• The Human Rights Law Review provides free access to select articles on its website, and occasionally provides free access to a sample issue, after registering with Oxford Journals.

• Register for free access to select articles and a sample copy of the International Journal of Transitional Justice.

• The Journal of Human Rights Practice provides free access to select articles.

• The International Journal of Refugee Law provides free access to select articles, as well as free access to one issue, after registering with Oxford Journals.

• The Journal of Conflict and Security Law provides free access to one issue, after registering with Oxford Journals.

• The International Journal of Constitutional Law provides free access to one issue and to special issues, after registering with Oxford Journals.

• The European Journal of International Law provides free access to one issue.

• The Journal of International Dispute Settlement is currently providing free access to select articles and to its first edition online.

• The Journal of International Criminal Justice provides free access to editor’s choice articles and a free sample issue.

• The Yale Human Rights & Development Law Journal provides free access to all content.

• The International Criminal Justice Review occasionally provides free access to a sample issue.

• The International Criminal Law Review occasionally provides free access to a sample issue.

• The Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law provides free access to select issues.

• The Columbia Human Rights Law Review provides free access to articles in recent volumes, and provides previews to articles in older volumes.

• The Human Rights Quarterly provides free access to select issues.

• The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals provides free access to editor’s choice articles and a free sample issue.

• The Tulsa Journal of Comparative and International Law provides free access to all issues published between 1993 to 2008.

• It can also be worthwhile to browse the article abstracts in the archives of journals such as those published by Oxford University Press for a review of current topics and perspectives. Most journals provide paid access to individual articles without requiring a journal subscription.

Other Reports

IJRC’s custom Google Search tool allows visitors to search human rights bodies’ web sites simultaneously for press releases, policy statements, State reports, and commentary.

For resources on human rights conditions around the world, see the Human Rights Conditions section of the Online Resource Hub.

For reports, statements, decisions, and recommendations produced by human rights bodies, see the Jurisprudence & Document Databases section of the Online Resource Hub.