LibGuides: Law: Tools

Academic Legal Tools

Students and staff at Erasmus University have access to many resources like articles and handbooks. Most sections of the Library Guide provide an overview of the available resources for a specific legal field, grouped by subject.

This section is different: it lists the tools to use these resources.

Content integrators are platforms providing access to legal materials from the platforms of a multitude of (Dutch) publishers. These platforms index the publishers' platforms and either provide direct access or link to the materials on the publishers' platforms.
Library catalogues for searching and finding materials
Guides and manuals on how to write and cite
Dictionaries for translations and Encyclopedia for background information
Metrics to measure impact.

The library also provides instructions on using these tools; guides on how to search catalogues, practical writing and citing tips, how to prepare for research, the how to use metrics for both reviewing and publishing. Please visit our Information Skills.

Legal Intelligence This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Legal Intelligence is a content integration system, making it possible to question legal databases, such as InView Essential, SDU Opmaat, SDU NDFR, Boom, Paris, Den Hollander, Rechtspraak.nl, Overheid.nl, Wetten.nl and Eurlex, simultaneously.
Off-campus access to Legal Intelligence via SURFconext. Click Login voor het hoger onderwijs. You will be asked for your ERNA-ID.

Related database: rechtsorde.nl
Rechtsorde (RO) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Rechtsorde is a search engine that provides access to the sources of legal publishers such as Kluwer, SDU, Boom, deLex and Paris. Includes the Nederlandse Documentatie Fiscaal Recht (NDFR).
An AI-Module was added in 2024 and can be used optionally.
Access to Rechtsordevia SURFconext. Click Inloggen voor HBO of universiteit. You will be asked for your ERNA-ID.

Related database: Legal Intelligence

Recht.nl
Recht.nl is a commercial website that focuses primarily on legal professionals (lawyers, government lawyers, corporate lawyers etc.) and on lecturers and students.
more...less...
Recht.nl offers a free subscription to students and lecturers affiliated with a university or university college.

sEURch Academic search engine & catalogue of Erasmus University Library in one. Also shows material that is available at other libraries in the world.
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Praktizijnsbibliotheek Gateway to Dutch law literature of more than 30 publishers, complement to the big Dutch portals. Note: it is not possible to request publications.
- This link opens in a new window
more...less...
To access the website and library of the Praktizijns-Sociëteit click log in (upper right corner) and Login (button).
Peace Palace Library Catalogue of the Peace Palace Library in The Hague. Provides an overview of sources in National and International Law
- This link opens in a new window
more...less...
Catalogue of the Peace Palace Library in The Hague. Provides a good overview of paper and electronic sources in National and International Law

When a library or institution does not own the sources needed, there are 3 options; private purchase, institutional purchase, and Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

ILL is the system through which libraries exchange documents and resources in their collection. The system is limited by pre-arranged agreements regarding the services, which differ from library to library.

The Erasmus University Library also participates in this system: Borrowing from another library

Leidraad voor juridische auteurs - 2022 edition Guidance for legal authors. Footnotes, source references, literature lists and abbreviations in Dutch-language publications.
- This link opens in a new window
more...less...
Inview Essential

Also available through the link is the Summary to the Leidraad voor Juridische Auteurs - 2022
Hulp bij het schrijven Author tool and instructions for authors from the Dutch legal publisher Wolters Kluwer.
Anonimiseringsrichtlijnen Rechtspraak.nl Anonymization guidelines given by Rechtspraak.nl
Richtlijnen voor de jaarverslaggeving The Richtlijnen voor de jaarverslaggeving voor middelgrote en grote rechtspersonen (RJ) (Guidelines for annual reporting for medium-sized and large legal entities) is a reference book for accountants. This contains the rules and standards for annual reporting, written for the providers, users and inspectors. The publisher of the guidelines is Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving (Council for Annual Reporting).
- This link opens in a new window
more...less...
Available via Rechtsorde. Off-campus access to Rechtsorde.nl via SURFconext.
Click Inloggen, then WO en HBO hier inloggen. You will be asked for your ERNA-ID..
Modellen voor de Rechtspraktijk Modellen voor de Rechtspraktijk offers standard documents prepared by specialists that you can use in legal practice.
- This link opens in a new window
more...less...
Off-campus access to Inview Essential via SURFconext. Click Inloggen in Inview Essential (button) and select the option Login voor Student/Medewerker. You will be asked for your ERNA-ID.
Juridische afkortingen en annotatoren This list of abbreviations used in legal citation is maintained by the Sanders Law Library.
OSCOLA - Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (4th edition) The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities handbook is freely available as an e-book through this link, courtesy of the Faculty of Law at Oxford University
more...less...
CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 UK

Fulltext e-book
OSCOLA - Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities - Citing International Law (2006) Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (2006) section on citing international law.
more...less...
The 4th edition of Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities does not have a dedicated section on citing international law.
Therefore this section, made available by Oxford University Faculty of Law, should be leading.
Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide Over the course of two years, law librarians from across Canada worked together to create the COAL-RJAL Guide. The English version of the Guide is now freely available and hosted on CanLII (2024 CanLIIDocs 830), and the French version is in progress. The Guide is intended to be used throughout the legal field and incorporates feedback contributed by reviewers from Canadian courts, law firms, law journals, law societies, and law schools.
more...less...
This work is licenced under the CanLII user licence which includes the right of the User to make copies of the work for legal research purposes, in the practice of law or in the exercise of their legal rights.

Juridisch-Economisch Lexicon This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
The Juridisch-Economisch Lexicon is a Dutch/English and English/Dutch dictionary of legal and economic terms. Numerous example sentences make it easier to choose the right term.
Select Inloggen. You will be redirected to a login page. Choose Student/Medewerker to log in via SURFconext with your ERNA-ID.
Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary collection of (subject) dictionaries and encyclopedias, timelines and quotations, plus thesauri and guides to English grammar and usage.

Finding law dictionaries

Go to the sEURch box below. Type in (or copy and paste):
SU=(law dictionaries) then hit the Search button.
The search results are returned in a new browser tab or window. This search will find all items tagged with the subject heading Law--Dictionaries. Filter on format eBook for online dictionaries. Sort search result by Date (Newest first) to see recent eBook titles.

Max Planck Encyclopedias of Public International Law Within this resource there are two modules: the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL) and Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (MPEiPro), a new module which launched on September 5th, 2019.
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
more...less...
The Max Planck Encyclopedias of Public International Law use the Oxford Law Citator, which provides links between items published on OUP's online services, as well as to other externally referenced sources.
- EPIL contains peer-reviewed articles on every aspect of public international law and includes cases and topics such as compliance, amnesties, international administration of territory, gay rights, war and peace, international economic law, debt crisis and monetary unions and zones.
See the EPIL guided tour.
- EiPro collects information and knowledge about many aspects of international procedural law, situating adjudicative means of dispute settlement at its core. Negotiation, mediation and conciliation as well as political and administrative procedures form part of the Encyclopedia’s scope.
Encyclopedia of Private International Law The Encyclopedia consists of three inter-linked pillars, enhanced by search and cross-linking functionality. The first pillar consists of A-Z coverage of the scope and substance of Private International Law in the form of 247 entries. The second pillar comprises detailed overviews of the Private International Law regimes of 80 countries. The third pillar presents English language translations of the national codifications and Private International Law provisions of those countries.
- This link opens in a new window
International Encyclopaedia of Laws The peer-reviewed monographs of the International Encyclopaedia of Laws (IELs), hundreds of which are currently available and many more projected, provide practical information and valuable insights into both national and international legal frameworks in 25 practice areas, written by over 1,200 leading experts from all over the world. Academics and practitioners who handle transnational matters will greatly appreciate each monograph’s clear explanation of distinct terminology and application of rules.
- This link opens in a new window

Scopus This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Scopus is a multidisciplinary abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature (journals and books). The search results also contain links to preprints (2017 onwards) and research data.
Date range: 1788 - 1970 (abstracts included where available); 1970 - present (records including references)
Related databases: Web of Science, Dimensions
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Web of Science is a citation database, covering academic journals worldwide in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, and conference proceedings. It provides cover-to-cover indexing, from 1975 till present.
The EUR license to Web of Science Core Collection consists of:
- Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) --1975-present
- Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) --1975-present
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) --1975-present
- Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (CPCI-S) --1990-present
- Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Social Science & Humanities (CPCI-SSH) --1990-present
- Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) --2005-present
Date range: 1975 - present
Related databases: Scopus, Dimensions
Altmetric Explorer This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
The Altmetric Explorer lets you perform analyses and generate reports for Altmetric attention data - how have research outputs been shared, discussed and reused online?
Altmetrics (alternative metrics) are an alternative for or complement to traditional citation impact metrics. Altmetrics especially capture online attention - how have research outputs (articles, data sets, etc) been shared, discussed and reused online -, for example on X, on Bluesky, in scholarly blogs or policy documents, in newspapers.

After running a search query for research outputs, you can browse through the Explorer's analysis tools to view detailed demographics, attention over time, individual mentions, and more.

Related database: Dimensions

Dutch Civil Law (DCL) Created by Hendrik Goossens, a Dutch sollicitor (http://www.advocatengoossens.nl/), this website contains Unofficial English translations of select Dutch law.