How to Locate a Full-Text Article in the Index to Canadian Legal Literature (ICLL)

If you are looking for Canadian content, the Index to Canadian Legal Literature (ICLL) is a good resource to consult as it contains references to articles and cases. ICLL can be found in the WestlawNext database under the Finding Tools section.  

Screenshot of where to locate the Index to Canadian Legal Literature in the WestlawNext database

If the citation is blue or hyperlinked, it means the full-text article is available directly through the database as we see in the example below. To access the article, just click on the link.  

Screenshot of a hyperlinked citation from WestlawNext

What happens if it’s not hyperlinked? In this case, you will need to navigate to the article to obtain the full-text. Let’s use the following example: 

Screenshot of an example in WestlawNext that does not have a hyperlinked citation

To locate this article, note the following information from the citation and follow the general steps below: 

Title of the journal: J.L. & Equality (i.e. Journal of Law & Equality) 

Year: 2019 

Volume number: 15 

Page numbers: 69-94 

Go to the Law Library home page and select Find a Journal on the homepage  

Screenshot of the Find a Journal button on the Osgoode Law Library website

Browse or search for the journal

Screenshot of how to search or browse for a journal

Select the option that falls under the appropriate date range

For this particular example, selecting the HeinOnline or Scholars Portal option is appropriate since the article is from 2019 

Screenshot of the Journal of Law and Equality entry and the access options via HeinOnline and Scholars Portal

Click on one of the access options and navigate to the article by volume or year, followed by the title and page numbers.

In this case, I selected the HeinOnline option and navigated to Volume 15 (2019) to find the article.

Screenshot of the Journal of Law & Equality from HeinOnline highlighting volume 15 and the article

Click on the hyperlink or PDF icon to access the full-text article. 

Screenshot of the article link highlighting how to access the full-text and PDF version

I hope that provided a good overview on how to locate an article if it is not readily available in the ICLL database. If you have questions or have trouble finding the full-text version of an article, please email the Reference Desk at lawref@osgoode.yorku.ca and we will be happy to assist you.