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When it comes to legal topics for research papers, students have plenty of options. Whether you're interested in exploring issues related to criminal, corporate, or constitutional law, there are many topics from which you can choose. The first step is the selection of a subject that you find exciting and engaging. This part will provide the foundation for excellent law research paper topics. Students need to understand law topics they can work on by exploring what a perfect legal research topic covers. In this article by our law essay writing service , we provide engaging, easy, unique, and trending legal topics to help you choose one which fits your interests. We have also classified different legal topics into their respective branches: business, banking, finance, civil rights, constitutional, corporate, criminal, international, education, immigration, entertainment, employment, family, environmental and animal laws. This post will act as a stepping stone to writing a successful paper in any of these legal fields. Let us begin by understanding legal research paper topics.

What Are Legal Research Paper Topics

Legal research paper topics focus on analyzing and interpreting laws and their historical development. The papers will look into legal issues, including constitutional, criminal, civil rights, labor, international, and environmental laws. These topics can provide an exciting and essential lens through which you can analyze and discuss various policies. Such knowledge is crucial in helping students identify changes that a country has gone through over time, develop an understanding of the legal system, and build solid arguments on legal issues. You will need to identify how to select a topic for your paper, which is why our professional paper writers suggest searching for legal topics for research paper thoroughly before you begin writing.

What Makes a Good Legal Research Topic?

Good law research paper topics can be framed around a legal issue, case study, or legislative development. You want to select an excellent legal research topic that meets the following criteria:

• Relevance: The topic should be relevant to current events, policies, or practices.
• Uniqueness: Choose a unique and interesting topic so your research will stand out from the rest.
• Manageable scope: Ensure you select an area with adequate learning resources for the intended project.
• Accessibility: Ensure that you can easily access resources related to the topic.
• Practicality: Select a topic that can be applied to real-world scenarios.
• Clarity of purpose: Identify the goal of your research and make sure your chosen topic aligns with it.
• Accountability: Choose a topic where research results can be verified and replicated.
• Sustainability: Consider the long-term implications of the chosen topic to ensure it will be relevant in the future.

How to Choose Topics in Law?

In the process of selecting law topics , it is essential to consider a personal purpose for which you are writing. For example, are you looking to inform, explore, or argue a position? Once you have identified the goal, you can choose an appropriate topic more easily.

Step 1:  Start familiarizing yourself with relevant acts and legislations as well as legal concepts through internet and library research. This will help you narrow your focus while identifying a potential topic.

Step 2:  Do extensive research to determine current legal issues related to your topic. Use various sources such as books, newspapers, magazines, websites, databases, etc.

Step 3:  Make sure you select an area or concept that is manageable in scope and has enough resources for your intended project.

Step 4:  Think of how you can make your topic more exciting or unique. Questions that should be considered include "What point of view could I take?" or "How can I approach the topic differently?"

Step 5:  Brainstorm and develop a list of possible law research topics to choose from. Once you have identified several potential issues, evaluate them based on your research to determine which topic you should select.

Properly following these steps, you can find a good law research paper topic that is interesting and relevant to the specific field. In case you require expert assistance with the writing process upon topic selection, feel free to approach our academic writing service. Our writers are well-versed in different fields, including law, and can produce outstanding studies upon ‘ write my research paper for me ’ request.

Law Research Paper Topics

Law project topics allow students to choose from matters related to legal issues. These topics are often comprehensive in scope and require extensive research for the student to make a convincing argument in their papers. Look at this list of potential law research paper topics that students can use to write their essays:

• Right of self-defense in the United States.
• Immigration regulations and their impact on society.
• Use of DNA evidence in criminal justice systems.
• Anti-discrimination regulations in different countries.
• Intellectual property rights protection in the digital age.
• Cybercrime and its impact on businesses.
• Impact of tax laws on companies.
• Freedom of expression in the media.
• Juvenile justice: a comparison across different countries.
• Corporate social responsibility and its effect on business reputation.
• Human rights versus national security.
• Use of technology in law enforcement.
• International trade and its impact on globalization.
• Social media censorship regulations.
• Human trafficking as a modern form of slavery.

Interesting Legal Topics

Different students have different interests, and legal topics are no exception. Your own ideas can be an excellent starting point for you to decide which path to take for the research. Below are some interesting law topics we have written for you to choose from:

• Worldwide legal systems: structures, history, principles, and processes.
• Legal theory and its implications in genetics.
• Legal developments in technology, including implications and trends.
• Legal concepts between countries, including similarities and differences in systems and principles.
• Legal effects in cyber security and liabilities associated with data protection.
• Legal issues related to gender equality.
• Legal developments in international human rights and legal obligations.
• Legal frameworks and regulations governing environmental protection.
• Legal issues related to corporate governance and protections for shareholders.
• Developments in labor laws , including theories of worker protection.
• Legal frameworks driving international trade and underlying economic regulation principles.
• Legal concepts related to intellectual property and rewards for innovators.
• Legal issues pertaining to constitutional regulations and implications of executive power.
• Legal developments in taxation and obligations concerning taxes imposed by the government.
• Theories developed through legal precedents and decisions from various jurisdictions.

Trending Legal Topics

Today, with changes in laws, technology, and other factors altering the legal aspect of everyday life, we find a significant number of trends that affect legal decisions. Students are looking for great topic ideas for law research paper that will help them connect their essays to everyday changes and attain a good grade. Whether it's a recent legal issue or an emerging topic law, there is plenty of material available to explore when looking for a topic to write about. Please see some current law topics that may inspire your next research paper:

• Impact of social media on legal decision-making.
• Proposals to overhaul immigration regulations.
• Drone regulations and their implications on companies' investment in technology.
• Growing influence of artificial intelligence on the legal profession.
• Digital copyright laws and their impact on innovation.
• The role of genetics in criminal justice proceedings.
• Impact of climate change on international regulations.
• Pros and cons of legalizing recreational marijuana.
• Differences between state and federal regulations regarding gun control.
• How technology is changing the legal practice.
• Privacy issues in the workplace.
• Recent changes in tax laws and their impact.
• Role of technology in criminal trials.
• Impact of social media on employment regulations.
• Growing use of alternative dispute resolution methods in the legal system.

Unique Law Research Topic

Uniqueness is everything for students in research papers since an outstanding topic can be a stepping stone to scoring high grades. If you are looking for law paper topics that will grab your reader's attention while still attracting the professor's interest, look no further. We have compiled a list of 15 unique topics for law research paper as an easy way to get you started:

• The impact of corporate social responsibility in legal settings.
• Online privacy and cybersecurity: challenges and regulations.
• Legal implications of artificial intelligence development.
• The role of cybercrime in a digital age.
• An analysis of international human rights policies.
• Environmental regulations and their implications for global sustainability.
• The importance of the fourth amendment in the United States constitution.
• An analysis of the impact of tax laws on businesses.
• The role of technology in criminal law enforcement.
• Exploring the implications of intellectual property laws.
• The use of social media and its effects on privacy rules and regulations.
• Regulations governing cryptocurrency markets.
• Data protection regulations: a global analysis.
• Drug regulations and their impact on society.
• Exploring the role of international humanitarian code in conflict resolution.

These topics will surely get you started on an intriguing research paper! With their help, you will write a captivating essay to engage and inform your readers.

Easy Legal Topics for Research Papers

Choosing easy legal paper topics can help you develop a practical as well as an efficient research paper for your studies. However, students studying law-related courses can find it challenging to pick suitable legal topics for research paper. To make this task easier, here are some issues you can choose from to write an excellent law paper:

• Should the death penalty be banned?
• Acts regulating cyber crime.
• The right to privacy and digital security.
• Legal principles of animal protection.
• The role of the U.S. justice system in protecting the mentally ill.
• The impact of international conventions on national laws.
• Freedom of expression and censorship issues.
• Defining hate speech.
• Access to authorized services for underprivileged groups.
• Is domestic violence a private matter or a public issue?
• Drug abuse among juveniles and the role of the justice system.
• Ethical issues in medical law.
• Laws affecting refugees and asylum seekers.
• Human rights violations in war-torn countries.
• Efforts by the legal system to counter cybercrime.

Best Legal Research Topics in Different Law Branches

Law has a range of branches from which students can select ideas for their papers. Legal research topics for law students can be pretty challenging, especially when your professor requires you to tackle a topic in a specific branch. Branches for law topics to use in legal research paper highlighted in this blog include laws in business, banking and finance, civil rights, constitutional, corporate, criminal, international, immigration, education, entertainment, employment, family, environmental, and animal law topics. See below for the specialized categories of law topics for essays.

Business Law Topics for Research Papers

Business law forms the foundation for modern legal studies, providing frameworks that govern businesses and corporate operations. The business law research paper topics you select should be highly relevant to business and legal frameworks. Here are some legal topics to write about:

• Different business contracts and their legal implications.
• Business strategies for protecting intangible property rights.
• The role of corporate boards in business decision-making processes.
• Code of conduct for federal employees: rights and responsibilities.
• Businesses' responsibilities in recognizing as well as enforcing collective bargaining agreements.
• Business regulations limiting companies' ability to engage in anti-competitive practices.
• Legal considerations for corporate consolidation business deals.
• Business regulations when conducting business across borders.
• The moral implications of business decisions and policies.
• The importance of business regulations for organizations and institutions.

Find more  business law topics for research paper  by browsing one more blog.

Banking and Finance Law Topics

The banking sector is crucial for our economic system, and banking laws are vital to its proper functioning. Banks and financial organizations help us store, exchange, and manage money, and students in the banking and finance law field learn the regulations governing these activities. Let us look at these ten banking and finance law research topics that you can choose from:

• The impact of new technologies on financial regulations.
• Regulatory responses to banking crises around the world.
• How usury laws affect interest rates and redit accessibility.
• An analysis of recent bank mergers and aquisitions.
• Investigating a link between financial stability and monetary policy.
• An analysis of banking secrecy laws in different countries.
• The impact of money laundering regulations on financial systems.
• How terrorism financing regulations affect bank security.
• A comparative study of consumer protection laws in banking systems.
• Examining the effects of tax havens on the global banking system.

>> View more: Financial Research Topics

Civil Rights Topics of Law

The civil rights movement and the laws that followed have had a lasting impact on our lives today. Many of these issues remain relevant, so it is essential to research civil rights topics better to understand the complexities as well as implications of civil rights. Here are ten civil rights research paper topics to help you get started:

• The civil rights movement and its legacy.
• The role of civil disobedience in civil rights reform.
• Voting rights and racial discrimination.
• Education equality through civil rights regulations.
• Limitations to civil liberties within the bill of rights.
• Civil rights protection for LGBTQ+ individuals.
• Immigration laws and civil rights violations.
• Racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
• Women's civil rights issues.
• The role of civil engagement in civil rights reform.

Constitutional Law Research Paper Topics

Constitutional law is a complex and fascinating field of study that examines how constitutional rights are enforced, interpreted, as well as applied in different jurisdictions. Provided legal essay topics are an excellent starting point. If you're looking for constitutional law topics for research papers to write about, here are some ideas to get you started:

• The role of the Supreme Court in protecting constitutional rights.
• How states can limit constitutional rights and the applicability of constitutional principles to state regulations.
• The implications of constitutional amendments on protection for vulnerable populations.
• Examine the constitutional right to privacy in relation to technology and data collection practices.
• The constitutional framework for constitutional protections of religious freedom.
• The protection of constitutional rights in the context of police searches and seizures.
• An analysis of constitutional laws regarding the right to bear arms and gun control regulations across different states.
• Examine constitutional protections for freedom of speech and the implications of hate speech laws.
• The constitutional framework for reproductive rights, including access to abortion services.
• An exploration of constitutional regulations on voting rights and electoral integrity in different jurisdictions.

Combine this area with some historical facts for example. History research paper topics  that we created for students may help. 

Corporate Law Paper Topics

Research in corporate law can provide insight into the structure that shapes corporate entities, their operations, as well as corporate accountability. Here are ten corporate law research paper topics to consider for your next research project:

• How does corporate social responsibility (CSR) affect corporate performance?
• What systems are in place to ensure corporate accountability?
• Impact of financial regulation on corporate compliance and risk management.
• The legal implications of corporate mergers & acquisitions activities.
• Role of contract laws in governing corporate agreements.
• How does corporate tax law influence corporate decisions?
• Legal protections for corporate I.P. rights.
• Types of corporate fraud and misconduct and available remedies.
• Corporate law considerations for multinational corporate entities.
• Corporate securities regulation and its implications for corporate activity.

Criminal Law Topics for Essays

Criminal law focuses on studying the implications of criminal behavior and activities. These law research paper topics list can help you find a clear direction for criminal essays. Criminologists in practice and students can choose from the list of legal topics for essay we have outlined below:

• Criminal justice reform impact on indigenous people.
• How does the justice system treat people of different backgrounds and identity?
• Impact of immigration on criminal activity.
• Cybercrime: an analysis of law enforcement practices.
• Exploring sentencing policies for juvenile offenders.
• Assessing the effectiveness of restorative justice processes.
• Defense strategies in criminal trials.
• Role of media representations in shaping perceptions of crime.
• Future of capital punishment as a deterrent for serious crimes.
• The impact of dna technologies on criminal investigations and prosecutions.

>> Read more: Criminal Justice Research Paper Topics

International Law Research Topics

You can brainstorm different legal research questions from the branch of international law to help you choose one to focus on. This field covers international agreements, organizations, dispute resolution, as well as criminal justice issues. This makes it a wide-ranging body of research with many potential areas of study. Here are ten international topics for research papers to consider:

• The impact of globalization on international trade.
• How do international organizations contribute to peacekeeping and conflict resolution?
• How the law of the sea affects maritime disputes.
• How do international regulations protect global environmental resources?
• Organizations' role in establishing international legal norms.
• Legal obligations ensuring fair international trade.
• Laws and their role in addressing international criminal activity.
• Challenges arising from attempts to enforce international law in the developing countries.
• What is the importance of international law?
• Laws providing international protection to refugees.

Immigration Law Topics for Research Paper

Globalization has helped create a diverse population in many countries but intensified immigration. Exploring the following law research paper ideas will help you pick a good topic for your paper. Here are ten immigration law research paper topics to get you started:

• Immigration law and human rights.
• Challenges of establishing immigration regulations in the U.S.
• Immigration policy role in fighting terrorism.
• Unauthorized immigrants' impact on local economies.
• Refugee protection under international law .
• Family-based immigration policies.
• Challenges faced by immigrant students in K-12 education.
• The legality of immigration detention.
• Rights and responsibilities of undocumented workers.
• Impact of immigration regulations impact on national security.

Education Law Topics for Legal Research Papers

The legal field of education examines issues related to educational institutions as well as students themselves. It covers student rights, teacher/staff responsibilities, disciplinary procedures, school safety, harassment, and funding. You will definitely find education law fascinating after reading through these topics, which also gives you a chance to choose one topic that interests you most. Here are ten legal writing topics to explore in this field:

• The legal rights of school administrators and teachers.
• Student legal rights in disciplinary actions.
• Legal requirements for special education students.
• Parental legal rights and responsibilities in school matters.
• Legal aspects of student privacy issues in classrooms and online.
• Legal issues related to the use of technology in schools.
• Legal issues related to school safety and security.
• Legal implications of religious expression in public schools.
• Legal aspects of the No Child Left Behind act.
• Legal requirements for student access to educational resources.

There is one more blog in our library that will provide you with more ideas in this field. Browse different research questions on education and come up with something interesting. 

Entertainment Law Research Topics

Entertainment law covers the connection between entertainment, intellectual property rights, and business. Students need to have several law research paper topic ideas to explore legal issues surrounding entertainment. Here are ten entertainment law essay topics to explore:

• Impact of digital music streaming on copyright rules and regulations.
• Importance of privacy rights in social media.
• Legal implications of celebrity endorsements.
• Overview of film production agreements.
• Music publishers' role in the entertainment industry.
• A study of intellectual property rights and the impact on organizational creativity.
• Regulation of online gaming platforms from a legal perspective.
• Role of trademark regulation in sports broadcasting.
• How to protect a brand in entertainment industry from unauthorized use.
• Consumer protection laws and their impact on the music industry.

Employment Law Research Paper Topics

Writing a research paper on employment law provides an opportunity to explore current areas related to employment rights and responsibilities. The following are some potential employment law paper topics:

• The history and development of employment regulation in the U.S.
• Employment discrimination laws and their efficacy in reducing workplace discrimination.
• How employment laws affect contract negotiations.
• A comparison between employment regulations in the united states and other countries.
• State employment rules and their impact on employment practices.
• Legal implications of employment-at-will.
• Employment law and the impact of recent employment legislation.
• How employment code have changed over time to address employment disputes.
• The relationship between employment law and employment unions.
• How employment regulations have evolved to address remote employment arrangements.

Family Law Legal Topics to Write About

In everyday life, family law deals with relationships between family members, including marriage, adoption, and child custody. It covers various issues, from divorce to prenuptial agreements. If you are looking for legal topics for research paper in family law to write about, here are some suggestions:

• Legal process of adoption and its implications.
• Parent's rights in a divorce.
• Legal aspects of prenuptial agreements.
• Post-divorce legal issues: alimony, child custody, and visitation rights.
• Regulations governing surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology.
• Financial responsibilities during a divorce or separation.
• Legal rights of same-sex couples in adoption and divorce.
• Legal implications of domestic abuse.
• Grandparent visitation rights after divorce.
• Legal process of estate planning and inheritance in family law cases.

Environmental Law Research Paper Topics

Environmental law focuses on studying as well as implementing important environmental regulations, such as pollution control or wildlife conservation. These environmental research paper topics can guide writing an essay that will definitely help you get a good grade. Here are ten potential legal research paper topics to explore in this field:

• Global warming: legal implications in developed countries.
• Environmental regulations impact on private property.
• An analysis of the EPA's regulation of air quality.
• International regulations role in combating marine pollution.
• An examination of endangered species legislation.
• A comparison between the U.S. and E.U. environmental regulations.
• Economic implications of carbon taxes.
• An evaluation of international efforts to combat climate change.
• A study of U.S. environmental regulations and their impact on businesses.
• The use of international courts for resolving disputes related to the environment.

Animal Law Topics to Research

Animal law is increasingly gaining attention as animal rights lawyers and activists fight for recognition in the justice system. We consider animals an essential part of nature, and their protection has become vital. With this growing interest, research papers are becoming more popular among students as well as animal advocates. To help you get started on your animal law research paper topics, here is a list to explore:

• Animal sentience and its implications for animal law.
• Legal recognition of animal rights.
• Current status of animal welfare practices in the U.S.
• International animal protection laws and regulations.
• Judicial decisions on an animal cruelty case.
• Effectiveness of animal rights advocacy groups.
• Animal experimentation: ethical considerations and legal implications.
• What is the impact of the animal rights movement on society?
• The role of animal law in environmental protection.
• Animal hoarding and the legal consequences of owning multiple animals.

Final Thoughts on Law & Legal Topics for Research Papers

When it comes to legal research paper topics, there is no shortage of ideas. From criminal and civil laws to international issues, the legal field presents a wide range of potential topics for your research paper. Be sure to narrow down your topic to ensure that you can adequately cover the issue you are writing about in your essay. Additionally, consulting resources, including scholarly articles, is important as you conduct your research. Doing so will help ensure that your paper provides adequate as well as accurate information. With the right law research topic, you can write an effective as well as engaging essay to help you stand out in the profession.

Contact our professional writing service and get help with research paper writing from academic pros. Our experts have solid experience in academic writing and always deliver papers beyond expectations. 

Joe Eckel is an expert on Dissertations writing. He makes sure that each student gets precious insights on composing A-grade academic writing.

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50 Research Topics For Law Students In August 2022: Read Now!

If you are a law student and love research, here’s our flagship article. Our team has meticulously prepared a list of 50 top contemporary topics  for research in August 2022 across a number of legal subjects . Happy Researching!

Military law 1. Military Law v. Martial Law: A Comparative Study. 2. Authorities under Military Law in India. 3. Punishments under Military Law v. Civil Law: A Comparative Study. 4. Evolution of Military Law in India. Admiralty (Maritime) Law 1. Local laws v. Maritime Law: Which shall prevail? 2. Suez Canal crisis: What it cost the world? 3. 10 Things to Know Before Becoming A Maritime Lawyer 4. Enforcement of Maritime Law: A Critical Analysis 5. Relevance of South China Sea Globally. Bankruptcy Law 1. Efficiency of Fast track Resolution Process in India. 2. Authorities governing Insolvency and Bankruptcy in India: An Analysis 3. Cross-Border Insolvency in India. 4. Evolution of insolvency and bankruptcy laws in India: Landmark Judgments Business (Corporate) Law 1. Corporate Law Journals to Publish Your Research Paper. 2. Effective corporate governance laws: A Review 3. Top Research Journals for Corporate Law in India.

Civil Rights Law 1. Beef in India: A Study into Religious aspect 2. Drug abuse in India: A Critical analysis of Sushant Singh Rajput case. 3. Females of Islam: A Study 4. A critical analysis of Niqah Halala in Islam. 5. Maintenance to wives, children and parents in India: A Study through Landmark cases. Criminal law 1. Constitutional perspective of Criminal Procedure Code. 2. A critical Analysis of Plea bargaining Procedure. 3. Sex work in India: Morality v. Legality 4. Appeal, Review, Revision of Cases in India. 5. Rationale behind Death Penalty in India: A Critical Analysis. Entertainment law 1. Entertainment Law in India: A Jurisprudential Study. 2. An Introduction to Entertainment Law: A Basic Study. 3. Regulation of Pornography in OTT Platforms. 4. Royalties of Artistic Works in India: A Study 5. Regulations on Piracy and Pirated Works. Environment law 1. Indian environmental law for the sustainability of the resources and management: A critical assessment. 2. Politics v. Environment Law: A Study. 3. Important International Treaties on Climate Change. 4. Kyoto Protocol: Landmark Treaty on Climate Change.

Health law 1. Analysis of Insanity in Law. 2. Regulation of Donation of Organs in India and Globally. 3. Jurisprudence of Health law. 4. Right to Die: Law and Legislation. 5. Law and Biotechnology. Sports law 1. Sports Industry Law and Regulation: A Need of the Hour. 2. Relevance of sports law in India. 3. India’s Draft National Air Sports Policy 2022: A brief analysis. 4. Sports law and its aspect of Intellectual Property Rights. 5. Analysing the future of Sports Law in India. Moneylaundering law 1. Analysing India’s money laundering and anti-money laundering (AML) laws and regulations. 2. Hasan Ali Khan v Union of India: Case Analysis. 3. Analysing the legal issues in JKCA money laundering case. 4. Vijay Madanlal Choudhary & Ors. v. Union of India: Case Analysis. 5. The powers of the Directorate of Enforcement in Anti-Money Laundering cases.

YLCC would like to thank Akhila Sawan for her valuable contribution in this publication.

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Law Research Paper Topics: 150 Impactful Ideas for Law Students

Legal matters always tend to influence almost every kind of reader, which is an excellent opportunity for legal students. An impressive law topic helps you to create a strong foothold for your entire legal research paper. Thus, you cannot risk your research paper by choosing poor law research paper topics.

With so many variations in law subjects, students find it hard to select the most interesting legal topic. So in this article, you will get some of the best creative legal topics to write about. Keep reading this article for some unique and innovative law research paper topics.

But before moving forward to our selected legal topics to write about, let’s discuss some pre- topic selection tips. These tips will provide you with the initial guidance regarding the selection of your law research paper topics.

Table of Contents

Law Research Paper Topic Selection Tips From Our Expert Writers

Don’t let yourself fall into irrelevant, unnecessary law research topic ideas. They will only make an impression of “fillers, ” resulting in obsolete content. Your legal research paper topic must be able to demonstrate your ideas and concerns in a concise manner with excellent communication skills.

Analyzing Different Legal Research Paper Topics

Whether you are a business student looking for business research topics   or a law student searching for law research paper topics,   the most appropriate approach is a thorough analysis of your favourite subjects. Law subjects such as business law, administrative law, constitutional law, etc., include various interesting legal topics. Select the most interesting subjects and break them into different topics. You can start by analyzing:

• The current legal developments
• A novel case where courts have split on their exposition of the law
• Reading previous scholarly publications
• Suggestions b
• y your supervisors
• A thorough update on the current affairs
• Digging into different topic ideas

Mind-Mapping

Make a mind map of each of those pieces of information. Highlight the main points on a paper, and add their supporting details. By practicing this, you will get to understand a rough figure of how much information you can get on the following topic.

Check Reference Material from the Library

The increasing accessibility of internet usage has made it even more convenient for a large section of students. This method will ensure that your research topic consists of various information sources. It ensures that your research will not be interrupted due to the lack of resources.  

Novel Cases Topic Ideas

The most common approach for selecting a legal research paper topic is focusing on the cases raised as a novel law issue. To identify these topics, you can browse the legal developments. You can also go through the recent legal matters before the Supreme Court or the highest authorized courts in different nations.

Consider Your Daily Routines

Sit down calmly and think about the issues and matters in the world that don’t fit right with you. Is there anything that excites you? If yes, you can also consider those topics for your research.

We hope that you have found your ideal law research paper topic. However, if you still cannot decide on your topic, don’t worry- we have crystallized some of the advanced

150 Advanced Law Research Paper Topics

Business law topics for research paper.

Business law is a branch of civil law which deals with different rules and regulations which govern businesses. Research paper topics in business law are equally challenging and awarding as well.

So here’s a list of some exciting topics in business law that you can consider for your research paper.

• Detailed analysis of the copyright laws
• The impact of online retailing on international markets
• Study on white collar crime
• Conflicts of interests between private and public sector
• Shareholder rights
• The contract laws
• A detailed handbook on business law and the parliament
• Statutory research on employment law for business
• The trademark law and trade secrets
• A detailed study on the non-profit organizations
• The true nature of business law
• A concise survey of the business law of The United States
• The classification of business regulations in different nations
• The importance of business laws for institutions and organizations
• The formation and regulation of business law in the United Kingdom
• Comparative examination between the equity and doctrines of business law
• The role of the constitution in developing the business law
• Text, cases, and readings on international business law
• Business laws in the United States
• Relationship between business law and moral growth
• A detailed study on business law and moral growth
• Understanding the history of business law corporations and their developments

Constitutional Law Research Paper Topics

Constitutional law refers to the fundamental principles used by the government for exercising its authority. Here are some essential constitutional law research paper topics:

• Comparative examination between constitutional and administrative law
• A detailed study on constitutional law
• The doctrine of constitutional law
• The politics of constitutional law in the United Nations
• The nature of constitutional law in America
• Internet and its impact on freedom of speech
• The detailed study on the pros and cons of federalism
• The rights of victims of self-incrimination
• An evaluation of press freedom
• A critical analysis of press freedom in the United Nations
• Legal analysis on the flag burning issue
• A comparative examination of constitutional and state laws
• Comparison of constitutional law in America and India
• The pros and cons of constitutional law in different nations
• The politics and critical changes of the First Amendment
• Comparison between the bill of right for Britain and Australia

Also Read – Sociology Research Topic Ideas

International Law Research Topic suggestions

International law research topics include the study of rules, principles, and relations of different countries with one another and with its citizen or states.

This is the list of the most impressive international law research topics that you can use for your research paper:

• The limits of international law in theory and practice
• International law and its importance for businesses
• Why must countries respect international law
• The epochs of the international law system
• Why do nations and citizens obey international law
• Exploring the code-based ethics
• An introduction to international criminal court
• International jurisdiction
• The self-defeating international law
• Principals used to formulate international laws and proceedings
• International relations among different nations
• False confessions: causes and consequences on international law
• The issue of false confession in international law
• The traditional justifications- issues and consequence
• The international and national legislation
• Forecasting the future of international law via the internet
• The economic and spirit analysis of international law
• An economic analysis of international law and orders

Civil Rights Legal Research Topics

These rights guarantee equal social opportunities to all citizens regardless of caste, gender, sex, and race. Law topics for civil rights can develop great content. If you are someone who’s always been fascinated by civil laws, then the below-given list will surely be helpful to you.

• Civil justice in different nations
• The unhappy history of civil rights in the United Nations
• The journey of America from civil rights to human rights
• The oral history and the origin of the civil rights movements
• The forgotten promises of civil rights
• Study on civil liberties and racial discrimination
• The United Nations patriot right
• The state firearm laws
• The history of sexual discrimination and orientation in the United States.

Cyber Law Research Topic Ideas

Cyberlaw, also known as the IT law, deals with the internet’s relationship with information technology and electronic elements, such as computers and the internet.

Here are some of the current cyber law research topics, have a look at each before choosing any law topic.

• The role of cyber law and security in the United Nations
• The future of cyberterrorism and cybercrime
• Cybercrimes and their enforcement in America
• Global perception of cyber law
• The study of cyber laws in the United Nations
• Identifying the certainties of cyber laws and cybercrimes in the future
• The role of cyber law in the regulation of cyber crimes
• A study about awareness of cyber laws in the United Kingdom
• An analysis of cyber crimes and the enforcement of cyber laws
• The issues and challenges a government face with their cyber crimes

Commercial Legal Topics for Research Paper

Commercial law is a body of law designed to regulate the conduct of individuals and merchants and support businesses in making money in trade, sales, and commerce from their products and services.

• Commercials partnerships: the associated dangers and potential results
• pre-incorporation contracts: a company liability
• The effects of pre-incorporation agreements on German company law
• The significance of mediating the role of corporate social responsibility in organizational growth
• A detailed study on the US commercial laws
• The difficulties in the codification of commercial law
• A case study of the USA: what did the USA do in its power to stop corruption
• The effectiveness of commercial law
• Supporting the commercial law for supporting the commercial transactions in the US

Also Read – About our Research Proposal Writing Service

Research Paper Topic Ideas for Tax Laws

Law research on taxes can be an excellent opportunity to write an extraordinary paper. If you are considering taxes as your subject, you can view the following topics under this subject.

Here are some inspiring legal research topics to get started with your legal research:

• The research methods and taxation history in the United States
• A comparative study on the indirect and direct taxes in the United States
• The Future agenda and research strategies in comparative taxation
• The future agenda and myth of environmental taxation
• The Political economy of taxation in the US
• Introduction to taxation in the Indian government
• Structural analysis of comparative income taxation
• The power of tax in the economy
• The idea of the single taxpayer: setting new agendas for research
• The international exchanges ideas on taxation in the USA economy

Criminal Law Research Paper Topic Ideas

Criminal law, as distinguished from civil law. It is the body of law concerned with criminal offences and includes punishing individuals who commit them. Writing a research paper on criminal law will open numerous gates of opportunities for you.

Let’s have a look at these criminal law legal topics for your paper:

• A detailed study on Criminal psychology
• What is the reason behind different punishments for one crime
• The role of sociology in preventing criminal offenses
• The ethical and legal issues of criminal activities in the United Kingdom
• Domestic violence in modern times
• The impact of intensive bail supervision on repeat domestic violence offenders
• A study on criminal cartel offenses in the United Kingdom
• A handbook on DNA testing, fingerprints, and polygraphs
• Compulsory self-incrimination as a privilege
• Structural analysis of criminal violations of sexual abuse
• Criminologists in ancient times versus in modern times
• An analysis of cases and concepts of criminal procedures
• A worldwide perspective on the death penalty
• Public bail as a national disaster
• Criminal law in America versus in other nations
• Lie detector and the law behind it
• The dimension of male and female rape legislation

Also Read – Nursing Research Topics

Interesting legal topics for Medical law

Medical law is the body of law concerned with patients’ and medical professionals’ rights and responsibilities. The core of medical law focuses on confidentiality, negligence, and other torts regarding medical treatments.

We have provided some fascinating legal research topics to write about if you are interested in medical law.

Let’s have a look at them:

• Family and medical leave act (FMLA)
• An analysis of medical Malpractices
• Mental health laws in the United States
• Refusal of medical law and the common laws behind it
• Medical laws at the time of world war2
• Medical laws and ethics: Great debates behind it
• Law of abortion in the United States
• A systematic review of medical cannabis
• Almost a revolution in the mental health law around the world
• American health law around world war2

Environmental Legal Topics to Write About

We hope you must have found your law topic by now. If not, then don’t worry. We still have a few more interesting legal topics for your research paper. Let’s have a look at the below-given topics:

• The growth of environmental science towards a sustainable future
• The making of international environmental law
• The politics and policies behind international environmental law
• A detailed study on environmental and wildlife crimes
• Climate change and environmental laws in Great Britain
• Economic theory and environmental law policy in America
• International environmental law: crime, policy, and justice
• The biological weapons and policies by international environmental law
• How has global environmental law changed in today’s era
• The environmental law and climate changes in Australia
• Environmental regulations and policies in Canada
• How is the Uber industry affecting the ecology of America

Some Additional Interesting Legal Topics

Last but not least, we have crystallized some of your paper’s critical national and international law research topics. In this section, you will get a mixture of every kind of legal research paper topic. So if you are still confused about your research paper topic, look at the below-given law topic.

• Children custody in the Us law
• Multi banking law
• Policies and practices involved in education law
• Active and passive euthanasia: a right to die with dignity
• The current US environmental laws
• Organ donation: International and national practices regarding it
• Practices of organ donation in America
• Separation of banking and commerce in different nations
• Employment laws and policies in the United States
• The impossibility of religious freedom laws
• The  #Metoo movement and its consequences in different nations
• A comparative analysis of terrorism laws in different nations
• The anti-discrimination law The drawbacks of traditional jurisdictions
• Employment law for disabled individuals in the UK
• Forecasting the future with digital legislation
• Sexual harassment policy in America
• The right to religious freedom in International laws

Final Thoughts

You just finished reading more than 150 law research paper topics. To gain brilliant scores for your research paper, selecting an exceptional legal research topic is crucial. These unique lists of topics will surely help you score high grades in your academic research.

Our native experts from Edumagnate.com  have selected every topic according to current legal requirements. They can also help you with different legal research questions or some additional business law project ideas for your research paper. These questions or topics will help you to frame your research work into a big picture, making you stand out in the crowd.

In case you have any difficulty in writing a legal research paper, you can have a look at our article – A Detailed Guide to Write an Enticing Law Research Paper . This article will help you elaborate on legal research papers’ structure and format.

By Alex Brown

I'm an ambitious, seasoned, and versatile author. I am experienced in proposing, outlining, and writing engaging assignments. Developing contagious academic work is always my top priority. I have a keen eye for detail and diligence in producing exceptional academic writing work. I work hard daily to help students with their assignments and projects. Experimenting with creative writing styles while maintaining a solid and informative voice is what I enjoy the most.

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Harvard Empirical Legal Studies Series

5005 Wasserstein Hall (WCC) 1585 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA02138

Contact the Graduate Program

The  Harvard Empirical Legal Studies (HELS) Series  explores a range of empirical methods, both qualitative and quantitative, and their application in legal scholarship in different areas of the law. It is a platform for engaging with current empirical research, hearing from leading scholars working in a variety of fields, and developing ideas and empirical projects.

HELS is open to all students and scholars with an interest in empirical research. No prior background in empirical legal research is necessary. If you would like to join HELS and receive information about our sessions, please subscribe to our mailing list by completing the HELS mailing list form .

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the current HELS coordinator,  Tiran Bajgiran.

All times are provided in U.S. Eastern Time (UTC/GMT-0400).

Spring 2024 Sessions

Empire and the shaping of american constitutional law.

Aziz Rana, Wellesley

Monday, Mar. 25, 12:15 PM Lewis 214

This talk will explore how US imperial practice has influenced the methods and boundaries of American constitutional study.

Historical Approaches to Neoliberal Legality

Quinn Slobodian, Boston University

Thursday, Mar. 28, 12:15 PM Lewis 202

Fall 2023 Sessions

On critical quantitative methods.

Hendrik Theine , WU, Vienna/Univ. of Pennsylvania Monday, Nov. 6, 12:30 PM Lewis 202

Economic inequality is a profound challenge in the United States. Both income and wealth inequality increased remarkably since the 1980s. This growing concentration of economic inequality creates real-world political and societal problems which are increasingly reflected by social science scholarship. Among those detriments is for instance the increasing economic and political power of the super-rich. The research at hand takes a new radical look at media discourses of economic inequality over four decades in various elite US newspapers by way of quantitative critical discourse analysis. It shows that up until recently, there was minimal media coverage of economic inequality, but interest has steadily increased since then. Initially, the focus was primarily on income inequality, but over time, it has expanded to encompass broader issues of inequality. Notably, the discourse on economic inequality is significantly influenced by party politics and elections. The study also highlights certain limitations in the discourse. Critiques of inequality tend to remain at a general level, discussing concepts like capitalist and racial inequality. There is relatively less focus on policy-related discussions, such as tax reform, or discussions centered around specific actors, like the wealthy and their charitable contributions.

Spring 2023 Sessions

How to conduct qualitative empirical legal scholarship.

Jessica Silbey , Professor of Law at Boston University Yanakakis Faculty Research Scholar

Friday, March 31, 12:30 PM WCC 3034

This session explores the benefits and some limitations of qualitative research methods to study intellectual property law. It compares quantitative research methods and the economic analysis of law in the same field as other kinds of empirical inquiry that are helpful in collaboration but limited in isolation. Creativity and innovation, the practices intellectual property law purports to regulate, are not amenable to quantification without identifying qualitative variables. The lessons from this session apply across fields of legal research.

Fall 2022 Sessions

How to read quantitative empirical legal scholarship.

Holger Spamann , Lawrence R. Grove Professor of Law

Friday, September 13, 12:30 PM WCC 3007

As legal scholars, what tools do we need to read critically and engage productively with quantitative empirical scholarship? In the first session of the 2022-2023 Harvard Empirical Legal Studies Series, Harvard Law School Professor Holger Spamann will compare and discuss different quantitative studies. This session will be a first approximation to be able to understand and eventually produce empirical legal scholarship. All students and scholars interested in empirical research are welcome and encouraged to attend.

How do People Learn from Not Being Caught? An Experimental Investigation of a “Non-Occurrence Bias”

Tom Zur , John M. Olin Fellow and SJD candidate, HLS

Friday, November 4, 2:00 PM WCC 3007

The law and economics literature on specific deterrence has long theorized that offenders rationally learn from being caught and sanctioned. This paper presents evidence from a randomized controlled trial showing that offenders learn differently when not being caught as compared to being caught, which we call a “non-occurrence bias.” This implies that the socially optimal level of investment in law enforcement should be lower than stipulated by rational choice theory, even on grounds of deterrence alone.

Empirical Legal Research: Using Data and Methodology to Craft a Research Agenda

Florencia Marotta-Wurgler , NYU Boxer Family Professor of Law Faculty Director, NYU Law in Buenos Aires

Monday, November 14, 12:30 PM Lewis 202

Using a series of examples, this discussion will focus on strategies to conduct empirical legal research and develop a robust research agenda. Topics will include creating a data set and leveraging to answer unexplored questions, developing meaningful methodologies to address legal questions, building on existing work to develop a robust research agenda, and engaging the process of automation and scaling up to develop large scale data sets using machine learning approaches. 

Resources for Empirical Research

• HLS Library Empirical Research Service
• Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Research (IQSS)
• Harvard Committee on the Use of Human Subjects
• Qualtrics Harvard
• Harvard Kennedy School Behavioral Insights Group

Past HELS Sessions

Holger Spamann (Lawrence R. Grove Professor of Law) – How to Read Quantitative Empirical Legal Scholarship?

Katerina Linos (Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of Law) – Qualitative Methods for Law Review Writing

Aziza Ahmed (Professor of Law at UC Irvine School of Law) – Risk and Rage: How Feminists Transformed the Law and Science of AIDS

Amy Kapczynski and Yochai Benkler –(Professor of Law at Yale; Professor of Law at Harvard) Law & Political Economy and the Question of Method

Jessica Silbey – (Boston University School of Law) Ethnography in Legal Scholarship

Roberto Tallarita – (Lecturer on Law, and Associate Director of the Program on Corporate Governance at Harvard) The Limits of Portfolio Primacy

Susan S. Silbey – (Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Humanities, Sociology and Anthropology at MIT) HELS with Susan Silbey: Analyzing Ethnographic Data and Producting New Theory

Cass R. Sunstein  (University Professor at Harvard) – Optimal Sludge? The Price of Program Integrity

Scott L. Cummings  (Professor of Legal Ethics and Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law) – The Making of Public Interest Lawyers

Elliot Ash  (Assistant Professor of Law, Economics, and Data Science at ETH Zürich) – Gender Attitudes in the Judiciary: Evidence from U.S. Circuit Courts

Kathleen Thelen  (Ford Professor of Political Science at MIT) – Employer Organization in the United States: Historical Legacies and the Long Shadow of the American Courts

Omer Kimhi  (Associate Professor at Haifa University Law School) – Caught In a Circle of Debt – Consumer Bankruptcy Discharge and Its Aftereffects

Suresh Naidu  (Professor in Economics and International and Public Affairs, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs) – Ideas Have Consequences: The Impact of Law and Economics on American Justice

Vardit Ravitsky  (Full Professor at the Bioethics Program, School of Public Health, University of Montreal) – Empirical Bioethics: The Example of Research on Prenatal Testing

Johnnie Lotesta  (Postdoctoral Democracy Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School) – Opinion Crafting and the Making of U.S. Labor Law in the States

David Hagmann  (Harvard Kennedy School) – The Agent-Selection Dilemma in Distributive Bargaining

Cass R. Sunstein  (Harvard Law School) – Rear Visibility and Some Problems for Economic Analysis (with Particular Reference to Experience Goods)

Talia Gillis  (Ph.D. Candidate and S.J.D. Candidate, Harvard Business School and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Law School) – False Dreams of Algorithmic Fairness: The Case of Credit Pricing

Tzachi Raz (Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at Harvard University) – There’s No Such Thing as Free Land: The Homestead Act and Economic Development

Crystal Yang (Harvard Law School) – Fear and the Safety Net: Evidence from Secure Communities

Adaner Usmani (Harvard Sociology) – The Origins of Mass Incarceration

Jim Greiner (Harvard Law School) – Randomized Control Trials in the Legal Profession

Talia Shiff  (Postdoctoral Fellow, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and Department of Sociology, Harvard University) – Legal Standards and Moral Worth in Frontline Decision-Making: Evaluations of Victimization in US Asylum Determinations

Francesca Gino (Harvard Business School) – Rebel Talent

Joscha Legewie (Department of Sociology, Harvard University) – The Effects of Policing on Educational Outcomes and Health of Minority Youth

Ryan D. Enos (Department of Government, Harvard University) – The Space Between Us: Social Geography and Politics

Katerina Linos (Berkeley Law, University of California) – How Technology Transforms Refugee Law

Roie Hauser (Visiting Researcher at the Program on Corporate Governance, Harvard Law School) – Term Length and the Role of Independent Directors in Acquisitions

Anina Schwarzenbach (Fellow, National Security Program, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School) – A Challenge to Legitimacy: Effects of Stop-and-Search Police Contacts on Young People’s Relations with the Police

Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard Law School) – Willingness to Pay to Use Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Snapchat, and More: A National Survey

Netta Barak-Corren (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) – The War Within

James Greiner & Holger Spamann (Harvard Law School) – Panel: Why​ ​Does​ ​the​ ​Legal​ ​Profession​ ​Resist​ ​Rigorous​ ​Empiricism?

Mila Versteeg (University of Virginia School of Law) (with Adam Chilton) – Do Constitutional Rights Make a Difference?

Susan S. Silbey (MIT Department of Anthropology) (with Patricia Ewick) – The Common Place of Law

Holger Spamann (Harvard Law School) – Empirical Legal Studies: What They Are and How NOT to Do Them

Arevik Avedian (Harvard Law School) – How to Read an Empirical Paper in Law

James Greiner (Harvard Law School) – Randomized Experiments in the Law

Robert MacCoun (Stanford Law School) – Coping with Rapidly Changing Standards and Practices in the Empirical Sciences (including ELS)

Mario Small (Harvard Department of Sociology) – Qualitative Research in the Big Data Era

Adam Chilton (University of Chicago Law School) – Trade Openness and Antitrust Law

Jennifer Lerner (Harvard Kennedy School and Department of Psychology) – Anger in Legal Decision Making

Sarah Dryden-Peterson (Harvard Graduate School of Education) – Respect, Reciprocity, and Relationships in Interview-Based Research

Charles Wang (Harvard Business School) – Natural Experiments and Court Rulings

Guhan Subramanian (Harvard Law School) – Determining Fair Value

James Greiner (Harvard Law School) – Randomized Control Trials and the Impact of Legal Aid

Maya Sen (Harvard Kennedy School) – The Political Ideologies of Law Clerks and their Judges

Daria Roithmayr (University of Southern California Law School) – The Dynamics of Police Violence

Crystal Yang (Harvard Law School) – Empiricism in the Service of Criminal Law and Theory

Oren Bar-Gill (Harvard Law School) – Is Empirical Legal Studies Changing Law and Economics?

Elizabeth Linos (Harvard Kennedy School; VP, Head of Research and Evaluation, North America, Behavioral Insights Team) – Behavioral Law and Economics in Action: BIT, BIG, and the policymaking of choice architecture

Meira Levinson (Harvard School of Education) – Justice in Schools: Qualitative Sociological Research and Normative Ethics in Schools

Howell Jackson (HLS) – Cost-Benefit Analysis

Michael Heise (Cornell Law School) – Quantitative Research in Law: An Introductory Workshop

Susan Silbey (MIT) – Interviews: An Introductory Workshop

Kevin Quinn (UC Berkeley) – Quantifying Judicial Decisions

Holger Spamman (Harvard Law School) – Comparative Empirical Research

James Greiner (Harvard Law School) – Randomized Controlled Trials in the Research of Legal Problems

Michael Heise (Cornell Law School) – Quantitative Research in Law

James Greiner (Harvard Law School) – A Typology of Empirical Methods in Law

David Wilkins (Harvard Law School) – Mixed Methods Work and the Legal Profession

Tom Tyler (Yale Law School) – Fairness and Policing

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• A Research Guide
• Research Paper Topics

120 Law Research Paper Topics

How to choose a topic for your law research paper:.

Business Law Research Paper Topics:

• The impact of intellectual property laws on innovation in the technology industry
• The legal implications of data breaches and cybersecurity in the business sector
• The role of corporate social responsibility in shaping business law and regulations
• The legal challenges of international business transactions and cross-border disputes
• The impact of antitrust laws on competition and market dynamics
• The legal framework for protecting consumer rights in e-commerce
• The legal implications of employee privacy rights in the digital age
• The role of business law in regulating corporate governance and preventing corporate misconduct
• The legal challenges of regulating emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain
• The legal implications of environmental regulations on business operations and sustainability
• The role of business law in promoting fair trade and preventing unfair business practices
• The legal challenges of regulating online platforms and the sharing economy
• The impact of labor laws on employee rights and workplace regulations
• The legal implications of international trade agreements and their impact on domestic businesses
• The role of business law in protecting intellectual property rights in the creative industries

Criminal Law Research Paper Topics:

• The impact of mandatory minimum sentencing laws on the criminal justice system
• The role of forensic evidence in criminal investigations and trials
• The effectiveness of rehabilitation programs in reducing recidivism rates
• The ethical implications of using plea bargaining in criminal cases
• The relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior
• The use of technology in preventing and investigating cybercrimes
• The impact of racial profiling on the criminal justice system
• The legal and ethical considerations of the death penalty
• The role of eyewitness testimony in criminal trials
• The impact of drug policies on crime rates and public health
• The legal and social implications of juvenile justice reform
• The use of DNA evidence in exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals
• The role of criminal law in addressing domestic violence
• The impact of hate crime legislation on preventing and prosecuting hate crimes
• The legal and ethical considerations of surveillance and privacy rights in criminal investigations

International Law Research Paper Topics:

• The impact of international human rights law on state sovereignty
• The role of international criminal law in addressing war crimes and crimes against humanity
• The effectiveness of international environmental law in combating climate change
• The legal implications of cyber warfare in the context of international law
• The challenges and opportunities of international trade law in the era of globalization
• The role of international humanitarian law in protecting civilians during armed conflicts
• The legal framework for the protection of cultural heritage in times of armed conflict
• The legal implications of state-sponsored terrorism under international law
• The role of international law in addressing the refugee crisis and protecting the rights of refugees
• The legal aspects of territorial disputes and the role of international law in resolving them
• The impact of international investment law on foreign direct investment and economic development
• The legal framework for the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights under international law
• The role of international law in addressing transnational organized crime
• The legal implications of the use of force in self-defense under international law
• The challenges and opportunities of international law in regulating emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons

Law Enforcement Research Paper Topics:

• The impact of community policing on crime rates
• Racial profiling and its effects on law enforcement practices
• The use of body-worn cameras in improving police accountability
• The role of technology in modern law enforcement
• The effectiveness of intelligence-led policing in preventing terrorism
• Police use of force: examining policies and training methods
• The relationship between mental health and law enforcement interactions
• The impact of social media on law enforcement investigations
• Police corruption and strategies for prevention
• The role of law enforcement in addressing domestic violence
• The use of predictive policing algorithms in crime prevention
• The challenges and benefits of implementing restorative justice in law enforcement
• The role of law enforcement in combating human trafficking
• The impact of drug decriminalization on law enforcement efforts
• The effectiveness of community-based alternatives to incarceration in reducing recidivism rates

Constitutional Law Research Paper Topics:

• The impact of the First Amendment on freedom of speech in the digital age
• Analyzing the constitutionality of affirmative action policies in higher education
• The role of the Supreme Court in shaping the interpretation of the Second Amendment
• Exploring the constitutionality of warrantless surveillance programs in the United States
• The constitutional implications of the death penalty in the context of cruel and unusual punishment
• Analyzing the constitutionality of presidential executive orders and their limits
• The constitutional rights of non-citizens and the balance between national security and civil liberties
• The impact of the Fourth Amendment on privacy rights in the era of technological advancements
• The constitutionality of restrictions on religious freedom in the United States
• Analyzing the constitutional implications of the war on drugs and its impact on individual rights
• The role of the judiciary in protecting reproductive rights and the constitutionality of abortion laws
• The constitutional implications of the use of military force and executive power in times of war
• Analyzing the constitutionality of campaign finance regulations and their impact on free speech
• The constitutional rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and the evolution of marriage equality
• The balance between national security and civil liberties in the context of surveillance and intelligence gathering

Environmental Law Research Paper Topics:

• The role of international environmental law in addressing climate change
• The effectiveness of environmental impact assessments in ensuring sustainable development
• Legal implications of biodiversity conservation and protection
• The legal framework for regulating pollution from industrial activities
• The role of environmental justice in addressing environmental inequalities
• Legal challenges and opportunities in transitioning to renewable energy sources
• The legal implications of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture
• The role of environmental law in protecting and managing water resources
• Legal frameworks for addressing marine pollution and protecting marine ecosystems
• The legal aspects of waste management and recycling
• The role of environmental law in promoting sustainable urban development
• Legal challenges in regulating and mitigating air pollution
• The legal framework for protecting indigenous rights and traditional knowledge in environmental conservation
• The role of environmental law in addressing deforestation and promoting sustainable forestry practices
• Legal implications of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, in environmental governance

Family Law Research Paper Topics:

• The impact of divorce on children’s mental health
• The role of domestic violence in child custody disputes
• Same-sex marriage and adoption rights: A comparative analysis
• The legal implications of surrogacy and assisted reproductive technologies
• Parental alienation syndrome: Legal and psychological perspectives
• The effectiveness of prenuptial agreements in protecting individual assets
• The legal rights of grandparents in child custody battles
• The impact of substance abuse on child custody determinations
• The legal and ethical considerations of international child abduction cases
• The role of family courts in protecting victims of domestic violence
• The legal implications of cohabitation and common-law relationships
• The impact of social media on divorce proceedings and child custody disputes
• The legal rights of unmarried fathers in child custody cases
• The role of child support in ensuring the financial well-being of children
• The legal and ethical considerations of assisted suicide in cases of terminal illness within families

Employment Law Research Paper Topics:

• Discrimination in the workplace: Analyzing the impact of anti-discrimination laws on employment practices
• The gig economy and its implications for employment law: Examining the legal challenges faced by gig workers
• Workplace harassment and its legal consequences: Investigating the effectiveness of anti-harassment policies
• The role of social media in employment law: Exploring the legal boundaries of monitoring employees’ online activities
• Employee privacy rights in the digital age: Analyzing the balance between employers’ interests and employees’ privacy expectations
• The impact of minimum wage laws on employment rates: Evaluating the economic effects of minimum wage legislation
• Non-compete agreements and their enforceability: Assessing the legal limitations and implications of non-compete clauses
• Workplace safety regulations and their enforcement: Examining the effectiveness of occupational health and safety laws
• The legal implications of workplace drug testing: Analyzing the balance between employers’ interests and employees’ privacy rights
• The rights of employees with disabilities: Investigating the legal obligations of employers to accommodate disabled workers
• Whistleblower protection laws and their effectiveness: Assessing the legal safeguards for employees who report wrongdoing
• The legal implications of employee surveillance: Analyzing the boundaries of workplace monitoring and its impact on employee rights
• Employment contracts and their enforceability: Examining the legal requirements and limitations of employment agreements
• The legal obligations of employers in cases of workplace violence: Investigating the duty of employers to provide a safe working environment
• The impact of technology on employment law: Exploring the legal challenges posed by automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics in the workplace

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250+ Engaging Law Research Paper Topics

Hi there! When you start looking into law research paper topics, you find a whole world of amazing things to learn about. Maybe you are fascinated by criminal justice, maybe you care a lot about environmental law, or want to know more about human rights. The field of legal studies has so many interesting things to explore.

Think about digging into cyber laws, seeing how intellectual property rights affect things, or learning about international treaties. These topics aren’t just about rules; they’re about things that really matter in our lives every day.

You might be interested in talking about privacy laws in the digital world or how law and technology connect. Or maybe you want to see how courts shape our society or understand the challenges of immigration law.

As we go on this journey together, we’ll check out all sorts of cool law research paper topics. We’ll learn why they’re important in today’s world.

The Essentials Of A Good Law Research Paper Topic

Table of Contents

Choosing a good law research paper topic involves considering these aspects to ensure that the research is meaningful, feasible, and contributes to the legal discourse.

• Relevance: A good topic should be relevant to current legal issues, societal concerns, or areas requiring legal clarification or reform. It should address a gap in understanding or propose solutions to existing problems.
• Specificity: The topic should be specific enough to allow for in-depth exploration within the scope of a research project. A focused topic helps in conducting a comprehensive analysis and presenting coherent findings.
• Interest and Significance: It should pique interest and hold significance within the legal field or society at large. A topic that explores emerging areas, challenges existing norms, or offers innovative perspectives tends to garner attention.
• Feasibility: A good research topic should be manageable within the available time frame and resources. It should have accessible sources of information and data for analysis.
• Debatable and Researchable: An ideal topic should invite discussion and allow for various viewpoints or arguments. It should also be researchable, meaning there should be available literature, cases, statutes, or data for analysis and interpretation.
• Contribution to Knowledge: A good research topic contributes to the existing body of legal knowledge. It should offer new insights, propose novel approaches, or fill gaps in understanding within a particular area of law.
• Ethical Considerations: Take regard to the ethical effects of the research topic, ensuring that it aligns with ethical standards and respects legal and moral principles.

250+ Law Research Paper Topics

Now the wait is over we have classified more than 250 topics in 25 different categories and the topics are as:

Top 10 Law Research Paper Topics On Criminal Law

• The Evolution of Insanity Defense in Criminal Cases
• Cybercrime and Its Legal Implications
• Racial Disparities in Sentencing and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Responsibility of Corporations
• Plea Bargaining and Its Impact on the Legal System
• Hate Crimes Legislation and Enforcement
• Recidivism Rates and Rehabilitation Programs
• Significance of Forensic Science in Criminal Investigations
• Juvenile Justice System and Rehabilitation
• White-Collar Crime: Prosecution and Prevention

 Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Constitutional Law

• Freedom of Speech: Limits and Scope
• Separation of Powers: Checks and Balances
• Equal Protection and Discrimination Laws
• Privacy Rights in the Digital Age
• First Amendment Rights and Religious Freedom
• Due Process and Fair Trials
• Constitutional Interpretation: Originalism vs. Living Constitution
• Second Amendment and Gun Control Laws
• Executive Authority and Presidential Powers
• Judicial Review: Role of the Supreme Court

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Environmental Law

• Climate Change Mitigation Strategies and Legal Frameworks
• Environmental Impact Assessment Laws: Effectiveness and Implementation
• Biodiversity Conservation Laws and Practices
• Regulation of Air and Water Pollution
• International Environmental Treaties and Compliance
• Environmental Justice and Equity Issues
• Renewable Energy Regulation and Policy
• Wildlife Protection Laws and Habitat Preservation
• Waste Management Regulations and Challenges
• Land Use Planning and Environmental Regulations

Top 10 Law Research Paper Topics On Human Rights Law

• Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Recognition and Protection
• Gender Equality and Human Rights Laws
• Refugee Rights and International Law
• Freedom of Speech and Expression: Legal Boundaries
• Human Rights Violations in Armed Conflicts
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Legal Perspectives
• LGBTQ+ Rights and Legal Protections
• Child Rights and Protection Laws
• Anti-Discrimination Laws and Implementation
• Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Enforcement

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Cyber Law

• Cybersecurity Laws and Regulations
• Data Privacy and Protection Laws
• Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Age
• Cybercrime: Legal Challenges and Responses
• International Cyber Law and Governance
• E-Commerce Regulations and Consumer Protection
• Social Media Regulation and Online Speech
• Cyberbullying Laws and Online Harassment
• Internet Governance and Net Neutrality
• Emerging Technologies and Legal Implications

Top 10 Law Research Paper Topics On Intellectual Property Law

• Copyright Law in the Digital Era
• Patent Law: Innovation and Protection
• Trademark Protection and Branding Strategies
• Intellectual Property Rights in the Entertainment Industry
• Trade Secrets and Confidential Information
• Open Access and Intellectual Property Rights
• Biotechnology and Intellectual Property Law
• Globalization and Intellectual Property Rights
• Ethical Issues in Intellectual Property Law
• Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property Protection

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On International Law

• International Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflicts
• The Role of International Courts and Tribunals
• United Nations Law and Peacekeeping Operations
• International Trade Law and Global Economic Governance
• Refugee Law and Protection of Displaced Persons
• Environmental Protection in International Law
• Sovereignty and Statehood in International Relations
• Cybersecurity and International Legal Frameworks
• International Criminal Law and War Crimes Prosecution
• Treaties and Diplomatic Immunity in International Relations

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Privacy Law

• Data Protection Regulations and Compliance
• Surveillance Laws and Civil Liberties
• Privacy Implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Biometric Data and Privacy Concerns
• Online Privacy Policies and User Consent
• Privacy Laws in Healthcare: HIPAA and Beyond
• Privacy Breach Notification Laws
• Cross-Border Data Transfers and Privacy Regulations
• Privacy Challenges in Social Media Platforms

Top 10 Law Research Paper Topics On Immigration Law

• Refugee Rights and Asylum Policies
• Border Security and Immigration Control
• Family-Based Immigration Policies and Reforms
• Dreamers (DACA) and Immigration Law
• Detention and Deportation Practices
• Employment-Based Immigration and Visa Programs
• Integration Policies for Immigrants and Refugees
• Immigration Reform and Pathways to Citizenship
• Humanitarian Immigration Policies
• State and Local Enforcement of Immigration Laws

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Administrative Law

• Administrative Agencies and Regulatory Power
• Judicial Review of Administrative Decisions
• Rulemaking Process and Administrative Procedures
• Delegation of Powers in Administrative Law
• Accountability and Transparency in Administrative Actions
• Administrative Adjudication and Due Process
• Regulatory Impact Assessment and Administrative Efficiency
• Administrative Law Challenges in the Digital Age
• Administrative Discretion and Decision-Making
• Administrative Reform and Governance Structures

Top 10 Law Research Paper Topics On Family Law

• Child Custody Laws and Best Interests of the Child
• Divorce Laws: Alimony, Property Division, and Support
• Domestic Violence and Family Law Protections
• Adoption Laws and Processes
• Surrogacy and Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Family Law
• Same-Sex Marriage and LGBTQ+ Rights in Family Law
• Parental Rights and Responsibilities
• Grandparent Visitation Rights and Family Law
• International Child Abduction and Family Law
• Child Support Laws and Enforcement

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Employment Law

• Workplace Discrimination Laws and Practices
• Occupational Health and Safety Regulations
• Wage and Hour Laws: Fair Pay and Overtime
• Employment Contracts and At-Will Employment
• Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace
• Non-Discrimination Policies and Equal Employment Opportunity
• Workers’ Compensation Laws and Coverage
• Collective Bargaining and Labor Union Rights
• Age Discrimination in Employment
• Remote Work Policies and Legal Implications

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Health Law

• Patient Rights and Informed Consent Laws
• Medical Malpractice and Legal Liability
• Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Laws
• Health Insurance Laws and Regulations
• Telemedicine Regulations and Legal Implications
• End-of-Life Care and Legal Issues
• Mental Health Law and Rights of Patients
• Pharmaceutical Regulation and Drug Approval Processes
• Healthcare Ethics and Legal Dilemmas
• Public Health Laws and Disease Control

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Tax Law

• Taxation of Digital Economy and E-commerce
• International Tax Treaties and Cross-Border Transactions
• Taxation of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology
• Corporate Taxation: Loopholes and Reform Proposals
• Tax Compliance and Ethics in Tax Law
• Impact of Tax Policies on Small Businesses
• Taxation of Multinational Corporations
• Taxation of Capital Gains and Investments
• Estate Tax Laws and Inheritance Taxation
• Taxation of Nonprofit Organizations

Top 10 Law Research Paper Topics On Contract Law

• Formation and Validity of Contracts
• Breach of Contract Remedies and Damages
• Standard Form Contracts and Unfair Terms
• Electronic Contracts (E-Contracts) and Legal Enforceability
• Contracts in the Digital Age: Challenges and Solutions
• Contractual Interpretation and Ambiguity
• Contract Law and Consumer Protection
• International Contracts and Cross-Border Disputes
• Contracts and the Gig Economy
• Contractual Obligations in the Sharing Economy

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Tort Law

• Negligence in Medical Malpractice Cases
• Product Liability and Consumer Protection
• Defamation Lawsuits and Freedom of Speech
• Emotional Distress and Tort Law
• Strict Liability in Tort Cases
• Premises Liability and Property Owners’ Responsibilities
• Tort Reform: Effects and Implications
• Economic Torts: Fraud and Deceit
• Vicarious Liability in Tort Law
• Environmental Torts and Liability

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Property Law

• Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation
• Land Use Regulations and Zoning Laws
• Eminent Domain and Property Rights
• Real Estate Transactions and Property Law
• Adverse Possession Laws and Applications
• Landlord-Tenant Laws and Rental Property Regulations
• Community Property Laws and Division of Assets
• Indigenous Land Rights and Property Law
• Historic Preservation Laws and Property Rights
• Water Rights and Property Law

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Business Law

• Corporate Governance and Business Ethics
• Legal Challenges in International Business Transactions
• Intellectual Property Protection for Businesses
• Antitrust Laws and Business Competition
• Contracts and Commercial Law
• Employment Law in Business Operations
• Bankruptcy Laws and Business Restructuring
• Securities Regulation and Capital Markets
• Environmental Regulations in Business Practices
• Taxation of Business Entities

Top 10 Law Research Paper Topics On Securities Law

• Insider Trading Regulations and Enforcement
• Securities Fraud: Detection and Prevention Measures
• Securities Exchange Act and Market Integrity
• Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and Regulatory Compliance
• Corporate Governance and Securities Laws
• Regulatory Challenges in Cryptocurrency Securities
• Securities Litigation and Class Action Lawsuits
• Securities Regulation in Global Markets
• Investment Advisers Act and Investor Protection
• Regulatory Changes and Impact on Securities Markets

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Banking Law

• Financial Regulation and Banking Institutions
• Anti-Money Laundering Laws in Banking
• Fintech and Regulation in Banking
• Consumer Protection in Banking Services
• Bankruptcy Laws and Banking Institutions
• International Banking Law and Cross-Border Transactions
• Central Banking and Monetary Policy
• Digital Currencies and Banking Regulations
• Securitization and Banking Industry
• Banking Ethics and Corporate Governance

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Antitrust Law

• Monopoly Practices and Antitrust Regulation
• Mergers and Acquisitions: Antitrust Implications
• Price Fixing and Collusion in Antitrust Law
• Antitrust Enforcement in the Digital Economy
• Antitrust Law and Market Competition
• International Antitrust Cooperation and Challenges
• Antitrust Policy and Innovation
• Cartels and Antitrust Regulations
• Antitrust Remedies and Legal Precedents
• Antitrust Compliance Programs in Corporations

Top 10 Literature Research Paper Topics On Criminal Procedure

• Miranda Rights and Police Interrogation Procedures
• Bail Reform and Pretrial Detention Policies
• Plea Bargaining: Efficacy and Ethical Considerations
• Search and Seizure Laws in Criminal Investigations
• Right to Counsel: Access to Legal Representation
• Eyewitness Identification Procedures and Reliability
• Jury Selection and Impartiality in Criminal Trials
• Exclusionary Rule: Impact on Criminal Proceedings
• Sentencing Guidelines and Fairness in Criminal Justice
• Double Jeopardy and Protection against Self-Incrimination

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Civil Rights Law

• Historical Evolution of Civil Rights Legislation
• Intersectionality in Civil Rights: Gender, Race, and Identity
• Voting Rights Act and Electoral Disparities
• Police Accountability and Civil Rights
• Disability Rights and Accessibility Laws
• Employment Discrimination Laws and Practices
• Religious Freedom and Civil Rights
• Housing Discrimination and Fair Housing Laws
• Education Equity and Civil Rights in Schools

Top 10 Research Paper Topics On Technology Law

• Data Privacy Regulations in the Era of Big Data
• Cybersecurity Laws and Threat Mitigation Strategies
• Regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
• Internet Governance and Digital Rights
• Blockchain Technology and Legal Implications
• Telecommunications Law and Regulation
• Biotechnology Ethics and Legal Frameworks
• Regulation of Autonomous Vehicles and Drones

Top 11 Law Research Paper Topics On Legal Ethics

• Conflicts of Interest in Legal Practice
• Attorney-Client Privilege: Boundaries and Challenges
• Professional Responsibility in the Digital Age
• Ethics in Corporate Legal Departments
• Role of Ethics in Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Regulation of Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation
• Ethics in Government Legal Practice
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Legal Ethics
• Ethics Surrounding Pro Bono Legal Services
• Whistleblowing and Confidentiality in Legal Ethics
• Ethics of Legal Decision Making and Judicial Conduct

As we finish up law research paper topics, remember, laws are not just rules it’s how our society works. Each topic we talked about helps us understand things that really matter, like how technology affects our rights or how courts make a big difference.

The more we learn about these topics, the more we understand our world. So, stay curious and keep chatting about these cool law things with friends or dig deeper into research. Every question you ask and every topic you explore helps us figure out and change how our laws work in the future. Let’s keep going on this awesome journey of learning together.

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190 Unique Law Research Topics for Students to Consider

Table of Contents

If you are a law student, then obviously as a part of your studies you must write an excellent academic paper on any top law research topics. Right now, do you want to write a brilliant law research paper? Are you searching for the best law research topic ideas? If yes, then continue reading this blog post and get interesting law topics for your academic writing.

Law Research Paper Writing

A law research paper is a type of research paper that focuses on any legal topic in the world. The legal topics are nothing but the topic that deals with the legal issues that are resolved in the court.

In general, every country will have its own legal regulations and policies. More commonly, the basic rights and humanity will be the same for all the countries in the world, but specifically, you need to consider the cultural and historical peculiarities of a country while writing a law research paper.

Remember, the law is a sensitive subject and hence, when writing legal research papers, utmost care should be given. You shouldn’t add too much philosophy to it. Your research paper should answer your law essay topics properly with pure black-and-white facts.

You may think that writing a law research paper is easy. But actually, it is not. For writing an intense legal research paper, you must have a unique legal research topic. Particularly, when writing law papers, you should first research and find the legal questions relevant to your topic, analyze the various legal precedents, and present the answer to your legal question in the form of a memo by properly citing all the sources you have used for references.

Law Research Paper Topic Selection Tips

If you want to write a law research paper, then a good law research topic is what you need. Basically, the law is a complex subject, and hence choosing the right research topic from them is challenging. While selecting the legal research topic, be sure to keep the following tips in mind.

• Your topic should not be too broad.
• It should be informative to your audience.
• The topic should be catchy and relevant to modern law.
• It should contain relevant supporting materials online or in local libraries.
• The topic should deal with relevant legal precedents.
• It should answer all the legal essay questions.
• Your topic should have real-life cases to illustrate your points.

List of the Best Law Research Paper Topics

Law is a popular discipline among humanitarian sciences that have a wide range of research areas. Some common law research areas include business law, commercial law, environmental law, international law, medical law, constitutional law, cyber law, family law and so on.

As law is a broad subject with endless research topics, it might be difficult for you to choose the most interesting idea from them. So, to make things easier, we have sorted different categories of law and listed some outstanding law research topics for you.

Have a look at the below-mentioned list of law research paper topic ideas and identify aprofound legal research topic of your choice.

Business Law Research Topics

• What’s the true nature of business law?
• Equity and the doctrines of business law
• Morality and its relation to business law
• Business laws and the parliament
• The formulation of business regulations in Islam
• Why are business regulations essential for institutions and organizations?
• Business laws in Africa
• How crucial is the constitution for the creation of business law?
• Business law as a profession
• The classification of the business regulations
• Describe the Law of Contracts in the United States
• Discuss the fundamentals of UK contract law for businesses
• Critical evaluation of the role of the judiciary bodies in corporate law
• Disclose an insight into contract laws with respect to the application of verbal and non-verbal agreements
• Importance of collective bargaining agreements and laws on labor relations
• How to deal with corruption in business law?
• Discuss the difference between the EU and the UK after the implementation of the Brexit Contract Law
• Discuss the protections provided to the minority shareholders in the corporate law regime of India
• Compare and contrast the legal aspects of corporate M&A (mergers and acquisitions) in the United States and Australia
• Analysis of the role of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition in regulating the anti-competitive practices in the market
• Compare and contrast the legal aspects of e-commerce in the US and the UK
• Critical analysis of the role played by the Arbitration and conciliation act in resolving business disputes
• Compare and contrast the company law act in Australia and Canada
• Discuss how anti-money laundering laws of a country impact businesses
• Describe the implications of digital payment systems

Commercial Law Research Paper Topics

• What are the dangers and potential results of commercial partnerships?
• A comprehensive analysis of pre-incorporation contracts: How do they work?
• Reviewing the use of international commercial law in energy projects across the globe.
• Assessing the mediating role of corporate social responsibility in companies’ performance.
• Evaluating the commercial laws that should be used against dishonest managers.
• Reviewing the US commercial laws: What should be changed or added?
• Evaluating the regulations aimed at stopping corruption: A case study of the UK.
• Reviewing the implications of international commercial law in UK commercial laws.
• Assessing the effectiveness of international commercial law programs in UK universities.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of commercial law to support commercial transactions in the US.
• Critical analysis of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
• Discuss the benefits of Commercial Law
• Analyze the difficulties faced by businesses due to pursuing Regular or Commercial Lease
• Describe the effect of business law on commercial transactions and licensing
• Critical analysis of the labor law in Tanzania
• Develop a comparative study on international labor standards that regulate multinational companies in developing countries

Constitutional Law Research Topics

• The Internet and its impact on Free Speech
• The pros and cons of federalism
• What’s the freedom of the press?
• The desecration and flag burning
• A comparison between constitutions and state laws
• What are the rights of victims of self-incrimination?
• The pros and cons of Constitutionalism
• All about gun control and its history in the US
• What are the key changes that the First Amendment has brought?
• What changes did the Bill of Rights bring?

Criminal Law Research Topics

• Why does one crime have a set of different punishments?
• The roots of criminologists’ work and their work in modern times
• Can sociology have an impact on preventing crime?
• The ethical and legal issues related to criminal activity in your country.
• The real truth behind domestic violence
• What is quantitative criminology, and how does it differ from other types of crime?
• When does the international criminal court come into play?
• Analyzing the use of lie detectors in criminal justice: How effective are the lie detectors?
• A deeper look at the history of the death penalty.
• The key differences between male and female rape legislation
• Evaluating crime-related factors that should not be presented in a court of law.
• A thematic review of criminal theory: Exploring the link between crime and morality.
• What are the best ways to protect witnesses from retaliation in criminal cases?
• Is criminal profiling by law enforcement truly helpful in identifying serial killers?
• How does the criminal justice system keep an eye on police with body cameras?

Read more: Criminal Justice Research Topics Idea for students

Research Topics on Family Law

• Evaluating the impacts of the law on divorce: Has it increased the cases of divorce or reduced them?
• Review the important implications and reasons for changes to family law in the last 20 years.
• Assessing the factors that hinder couples from pursuing a divorce.
• The global issues and legal aspects of marriage and divorce of mentally unstable individuals.
• Explore divorce and social consequences across family law and religious perspectives.
• Analyze the legal foundations of parenting and civil partnerships.
• Assessing human rights in states that follow religious laws for families: A case study of India.
• Compare the divorce rights for women in Pakistan and the UK.
• How does culture impact decision-making on transgender marriages and divorce in the US?
• Evaluating the compatibility of child justice with family justice: A case study of the UK.

Cyber Law Research Topics

• The main cyber laws and enforcement today
• What are the skills of an excellent cyber lawyer?
• How can the government impact cyberterrorism?
• Cybercrime and cyberterrorism
• The penalties for cybercrime
• All about private data, revenge porn, blackmailing, and our internet privacy
• Is it the government’s job to analyze the flow of network traffic?
• Cyberlaw trends and how the online community sticks to them.
• The Internet Era and identity theft: Is it a crime of modern times?
• Categories of cybercrime and the main cybersecurity strategies against violators.

Read more: Interesting Cybercrime Research Topics To Deal With your paper

Research Ideas on Environmental Law

• The environmental influence on the rate of crime
• How has global environmental law changed today?
• The importance of environmental law for the health of current generations.
• Biological weapons and their regulations by international environmental law.
• Will the Uber industry impact the ecology in America?
• The current environmental regulations in the United States
• Sustainability and environmental compliance due to environmental law and economic reality.
• All about the environmental regulations in Canada
• Waste management in countries with a high economic level.
• Environmental law in Australia and climate change

Employment Law Research Topics

• A comprehensive review of employment contracts and job contracts in the US manufacturing industry.
• A legal viewpoint of employee mobility between European Union countries.
• Equal employment opportunities: Comparing gender differences in the UK and US regulations.
• Compare the UK laws before and after exiting the European Union.
• Reviewing legal perspectives of social work employment: A case study of California, USA.
• A comparative analysis of employment laws in the automotive industry in the US and UK.
• Analyze the impact of trade unions and their work in the UK.
• The convergence of employment laws and religion in the USA: A literature review.
• Evaluating the efficiency of workplace sexual harassment: A case study of the US and UK.
• A critical evaluation of the employment law of disabled individuals in the US.

Law Research Topics on Intellectual Property

• Evaluating laws for intellectual property rights protection on the internet.
• A comprehensive assessment of the economic impacts of intellectual property rights
• Evaluating the fair dealing in terms of copyright law: A case study of the US.
• How has EU law impacted the intellectual property regime in the UK?
• Can the emerging technological advancements operate smoothly with the current intellectual property laws in the US?
• Demystifying the relationship between intellectual property laws and EU regulations?
• Comparing and contrasting the intellectual property regimes in the UK and the US.
• Evaluating the implications of Brexit on the protection of intellectual property rights in the UK.
• Is the EU intellectual property law safe and fair for users and owners?
• Does the EU copyright law provide ample balance between the needs of inventors and users?
• Comparison of the institutions and regulations governing intellectual property in China and India
• An in-depth analysis of the UK’s invention and patenting system: Can the existing, rigid system stimulate innovation?
• Critical analysis of the development of copyright and moral rights in the legal system of Europe
• Infringement of foreign copyright and jurisdiction of the European Court
• Critical analysis of the economic rationale of Trademarks
• Analyze the emerging role of patents in innovation and intellectual property protection in the software industry
• Peer-to-Peer Technology: Analysis of contributory infringement and fair use
• Trademark protection is and ought to be the need of businesses to protect their brand value: Explain
• What do fair pricing and fair dealing with copyright regulations mean?
• Trade-Related Aspects of IP Rights: A Workable Instrument for Enforcing Benefit Sharing

International Law Research Paper Topics

• The principles used to formulate international criminal laws.
• Ethical systems and international relations
• Problems of code-based ethics
• How do different countries deal with false confessions?
• Different treatment of terrorism as a crime in different countries
• Diplomats and their protection of international morality.
• Did the US involvement in Iraq provide justice or violate the law?
• Laws on mental health in different countries
• The issues of traditional justification
• The question of ethics in the international legal context.
• International Human Rights Court Hearings: Evaluating the importance of precedence.
• What are the problems of enforcing international law in developing countries?
• Evaluating the efficiency of International Tribunals in solving war crimes.
• Digital and internet legislation: Forecasting the future.
• Assessing the relationship between public safety and civil liberties in international laws.

Medical Law Research Topics

• The common law towards refusal of medical treatment.
• Evaluating the laws governing organ transplantation: A case study of the US .
• How do ethics and medical law coexist?
• Ethics and Medical Laws in World War II
• Law application in medicine: Exploring the antecedents and practice.
• Evaluating the ethical and legal challenges of using biobanks.
• Exploring the legal aspects of electronic fetal monitoring.
• How do lawsuits affect medical practitioners’ commitment to offering lifesaving treatments?
• Unregistered medical intervention in the UK: What are the legal implications?
• Morality and law in the abortion debate.
• In accordance with international environmental law, biological weapons are prohibited.
• Will the Uber industry have an impact on American ecology?
• United States environmental laws are in effect today.
• Due to environmental legislation and economic reality, sustainability, and environmental compliance.
• anything about Canadian environmental laws.
• evaluating aspects of crime that shouldn’t be discussed in court.
• What are the best strategies for shielding witnesses in criminal cases from reprisals?
• A more thorough examination of the death penalty’s past
• Examining the connection between crime and morality is the focus of this examination of criminal theory.
• A case study of London’s examination into the difficulties in determining the type and distribution of crime.

A Few More Medical Law Research Ideas

• How to balance the rights of defendants and victims when using anonymity in sexual offense litigation.
• Slavery, prostitution, and human trafficking. the methods used globally to eradicate it.
• Is identity theft a modern-day crime? prevention of identity theft in the post-Internet era.
• criminality and psychology. Are some people more likely than others to breach the law?
• Social control theory against the self-control hypothesis
• False confessions and how they are handled in various nations.
• The environment’s impact on crime rates is one of the theories behind shattered windows.
• Similarities and disparities between mental diseases and crime in various nations.
• education, criminal behavior, and intelligence.
• From the beginning to the present, criminologists’ fieldwork.
• How does quantitative criminology differ from other types of crime? What is it?
• When is the use of the international criminal court appropriate?
• Examining the effectiveness of lie detectors in the criminal justice system:
• A more thorough investigation of the death penalty’s past.
• The main distinctions between male and female rape laws
• Assessing criminal-related variables that shouldn’t be brought up in court.
• What effects has EU law had on the UK’s system of intellectual property?
• Can the advancing technologies coexist peacefully with the US’s current intellectual property laws?
• Explaining the connection between EU rules and intellectual property laws?

Trending Law Research Topics

• Discuss the role of genetics in criminal justice proceedings.
• Write about the recent changes in tax laws and their impact on India.
• Differences between state and federal regulations regarding gun control.
• Discuss the growing influence of artificial intelligence on the legal profession.
• Explain the role of technology in criminal trials.
• Analyze international human rights policies.
• Write about the Freedom of expression and censorship issues.
• Discuss the Legal issues related to school safety and security.
• Analyze the regulation of online gaming platforms from a legal perspective.
• Write about the Legal implications of celebrity endorsements.

Wrapping Up

In order to get top grades for your law research paper, a peculiar topic is mainly needed. Especially, by choosing an idea from the list of 150+ law research topics suggested in this blog post, you can write a top-quality academic paper and make your work stand out in the crowd. In case you find it difficult to write a legal research paper, then immediately reach out to us for professional  Law assignment help . We have a team of academic writers who are experts in the field of law to assist you in completing your law research paper on any impressive topic as per requirements.

Simply, book your order and get an original law research paper beyond your expectations.

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Legal Research Strategy

Preliminary analysis, organization, secondary sources, primary sources, updating research, identifying an end point, getting help, about this guide.

This guide will walk a beginning researcher though the legal research process step-by-step. These materials are created with the 1L Legal Research & Writing course in mind. However, these resources will also assist upper-level students engaged in any legal research project.

How to Strategize

Legal research must be comprehensive and precise.  One contrary source that you miss may invalidate other sources you plan to rely on.  Sticking to a strategy will save you time, ensure completeness, and improve your work product. 

Follow These Steps

Running Time: 3 minutes, 13 seconds.

Make sure that you don't miss any steps by using our:

• Legal Research Strategy Checklist

If you get stuck at any time during the process, check this out:

• Ten Tips for Moving Beyond the Brick Wall in the Legal Research Process, by Marsha L. Baum

Understanding the Legal Questions

A legal question often originates as a problem or story about a series of events. In law school, these stories are called fact patterns. In practice, facts may arise from a manager or an interview with a potential client. Start by doing the following:

• Read anything you have been given
• Analyze the facts and frame the legal issues
• Assess what you know and need to learn
• Note the jurisdiction and any primary law you have been given
• Generate potential search terms

Jurisdiction

Legal rules will vary depending on where geographically your legal question will be answered. You must determine the jurisdiction in which your claim will be heard. These resources can help you learn more about jurisdiction and how it is determined:

• Legal Treatises on Jurisdiction
• LII Wex Entry on Jurisdiction

This map indicates which states are in each federal appellate circuit:

Getting Started

Once you have begun your research, you will need to keep track of your work. Logging your research will help you to avoid missing sources and explain your research strategy. You will likely be asked to explain your research process when in practice. Researchers can keep paper logs, folders on Westlaw or Lexis, or online citation management platforms.

Organizational Methods

Tracking with paper or excel.

Many researchers create their own tracking charts.  Be sure to include:

• Search Date
• Topics/Keywords/Search Strategy
• Citation to Relevant Source Found
• Save Locations
• Follow Up Needed

Consider using the following research log as a starting place: 

• Sample Research Log

Tracking with Folders

Westlaw and Lexis offer options to create folders, then save and organize your materials there.

• Lexis Advance Folders
• Westlaw Edge Folders

Tracking with Citation Management Software

For long term projects, platforms such as Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, or Refworks might be useful. These are good tools to keep your research well organized. Note, however, that none of these platforms substitute for doing your own proper Bluebook citations. Learn more about citation management software on our other research guides:

• Guide to Zotero for Harvard Law Students by Harvard Law School Library Research Services Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 155 views this year

Types of Sources

There are three different types of sources: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary.  When doing legal research you will be using mostly primary and secondary sources.  We will explore these different types of sources in the sections below.

Secondary sources often explain legal principles more thoroughly than a single case or statute. Starting with them can help you save time.

Secondary sources are particularly useful for:

• Learning the basics of a particular area of law
• Understanding key terms of art in an area
• Identifying essential cases and statutes

Consider the following when deciding which type of secondary source is right for you:

• Scope/Breadth
• Depth of Treatment
• Currentness/Reliability

For a deep dive into secondary sources visit:

• Secondary Sources: ALRs, Encyclopedias, Law Reviews, Restatements, & Treatises by Catherine Biondo Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 2552 views this year

Legal Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Legal dictionaries.

Legal dictionaries are similar to other dictionaries that you have likely used before.

• Black's Law Dictionary
• Ballentine's Law Dictionary

Legal Encyclopedias

Legal encyclopedias contain brief, broad summaries of legal topics, providing introductions and explaining terms of art. They also provide citations to primary law and relevant major law review articles.  

Here are the two major national encyclopedias:

• American Jurisprudence (AmJur) This resource is also available in Westlaw & Lexis .
• Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS)

Treatises are books on legal topics.  These books are a good place to begin your research.  They provide explanation, analysis, and citations to the most relevant primary sources. Treatises range from single subject overviews to deep treatments of broad subject areas.

It is important to check the date when the treatise was published. Many are either not updated, or are updated through the release of newer editions.

To find a relevant treatise explore:

• Legal Treatises by Subject by Catherine Biondo Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 2002 views this year

American Law Reports (ALR)

American Law Reports (ALR) contains in-depth articles on narrow topics of the law. ALR articles, are often called annotations. They provide background, analysis, and citations to relevant cases, statutes, articles, and other annotations. ALR annotations are invaluable tools to quickly find primary law on narrow legal questions.

This resource is available in both Westlaw and Lexis:

• American Law Reports on Westlaw (includes index)
• American Law Reports on Lexis

Law Reviews & Journals

Law reviews are scholarly publications, usually edited by law students in conjunction with faculty members. They contain both lengthy articles and shorter essays by professors and lawyers. They also contain comments, notes, or developments in the law written by law students. Articles often focus on new or emerging areas of law and may offer critical commentary. Some law reviews are dedicated to a particular topic while others are general. Occasionally, law reviews will include issues devoted to proceedings of panels and symposia.

Law review and journal articles are extremely narrow and deep with extensive references. 

To find law review articles visit:

• Law Journal Library on HeinOnline
• Law Reviews & Journals on LexisNexis
• Law Reviews & Journals on Westlaw

Restatements

Restatements are highly regarded distillations of common law, prepared by the American Law Institute (ALI). ALI is a prestigious organization comprised of judges, professors, and lawyers. They distill the "black letter law" from cases to indicate trends in common law. Resulting in a “restatement” of existing common law into a series of principles or rules. Occasionally, they make recommendations on what a rule of law should be.

Restatements are not primary law. However, they are considered persuasive authority by many courts.

Restatements are organized into chapters, titles, and sections.  Sections contain the following:

• a concisely stated rule of law,
• comments to clarify the rule,
• hypothetical examples,
• explanation of purpose, and
• exceptions to the rule  

To access restatements visit:

• American Law Institute Library on HeinOnline
• Restatements & Principles of the Law on LexisNexis
• Restatements & Principles of Law on Westlaw

Primary Authority

Primary authority is "authority that issues directly from a law-making body."   Authority , Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019).   Sources of primary authority include:

• Constitutions
• Statutes 

Regulations

Access to primary legal sources is available through:

• Bloomberg Law
• Free & Low Cost Alternatives

Statutes (also called legislation) are "laws enacted by legislative bodies", such as Congress and state legislatures.  Statute , Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019).

We typically start primary law research here. If there is a controlling statute, cases you look for later will interpret that law. There are two types of statutes, annotated and unannotated.

Annotated codes are a great place to start your research. They combine statutory language with citations to cases, regulations, secondary sources, and other relevant statutes. This can quickly connect you to the most relevant cases related to a particular law. Unannotated Codes provide only the text of the statute without editorial additions. Unannotated codes, however, are more often considered official and used for citation purposes.

For a deep dive on federal and state statutes, visit:

• Statutes: US and State Codes by Mindy Kent Last Updated Feb 16, 2024 1505 views this year
• 50 State Surveys

Want to learn more about the history or legislative intent of a law?  Learn how to get started here:

• Legislative History Get an introduction to legislative histories in less than 5 minutes.
• Federal Legislative History Research Guide

Regulations are rules made by executive departments and agencies. Not every legal question will require you to search regulations. However, many areas of law are affected by regulations. So make sure not to skip this step if they are relevant to your question.

To learn more about working with regulations, visit:

• Administrative Law Research by AJ Blechner Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 322 views this year

Case Basics

In many areas, finding relevant caselaw will comprise a significant part of your research. This Is particularly true in legal areas that rely heavily on common law principles.

Running Time: 3 minutes, 10 seconds.

Unpublished Cases

Up to  86% of federal case opinions are unpublished. You must determine whether your jurisdiction will consider these unpublished cases as persuasive authority. The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure have an overarching rule, Rule 32.1  Each circuit also has local rules regarding citations to unpublished opinions. You must understand both the Federal Rule and the rule in your jurisdiction.

• Federal and Local Rules of Appellate Procedure 32.1 (Dec. 2021).
• Type of Opinion or Order Filed in Cases Terminated on the Merits, by Circuit (Sept. 2021).

Each state also has its own local rules which can often be accessed through:

• State Bar Associations
• State Courts Websites

First Circuit

• First Circuit Court Rule 32.1.0

Second Circuit

• Second Circuit Court Rule 32.1.1

Third Circuit

• Third Circuit Court Rule 5.7

Fourth Circuit

• Fourth Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Fifth Circuit

• Fifth Circuit Court Rule 47.5

Sixth Circuit

• Sixth Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Seventh Circuit

• Seventh Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Eighth Circuit

• Eighth Circuit Court Rule 32.1A

Ninth Circuit

• Ninth Circuit Court Rule 36-3

Tenth Circuit

• Tenth Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Eleventh Circuit

• Eleventh Circuit Court Rule 32.1

D.C. Circuit

• D.C. Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Federal Circuit

• Federal Circuit Court Rule 32.1

Finding Cases

Headnotes show the key legal points in a case. Legal databases use these headnotes to guide researchers to other cases on the same topic. They also use them to organize concepts explored in cases by subject. Publishers, like Westlaw and Lexis, create headnotes, so they are not consistent across databases.

Headnotes are organized by subject into an outline that allows you to search by subject. This outline is known as a "digest of cases." By browsing or searching the digest you can retrieve all headnotes covering a particular topic. This can help you identify particularly important cases on the relevant subject.

Running Time: 4 minutes, 43 seconds.

Each major legal database has its own digest:

• Topic Navigator (Lexis)
• Key Digest System (Westlaw)

Start by identifying a relevant topic in a digest.  Then you can limit those results to your jurisdiction for more relevant results.  Sometimes, you can keyword search within only the results on your topic in your jurisdiction.  This is a particularly powerful research method.

One Good Case Method

After following the steps above, you will have identified some relevant cases on your topic. You can use good cases you find to locate other cases addressing the same topic. These other cases often apply similar rules to a range of diverse fact patterns.

• in Lexis click "More Like This Headnote"
• in Westlaw click "Cases that Cite This Headnote"

to focus on the terms of art or key words in a particular headnote. You can use this feature to find more cases with similar language and concepts.  ​

Ways to Use Citators

A citator is "a catalogued list of cases, statutes, and other legal sources showing the subsequent history and current precedential value of those sources.  Citators allow researchers to verify the authority of a precedent and to find additional sources relating to a given subject." Citator , Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019).

Each major legal database has its own citator.  The two most popular are Keycite on Westlaw and Shepard's on Lexis.

• Keycite Information Page
• Shepard's Information Page

Making Sure Your Case is Still Good Law

This video answers common questions about citators:

For step-by-step instructions on how to use Keycite and Shepard's see the following:

• Shepard's Video Tutorial
• Shepard's Handout
• Shepard's Editorial Phrase Dictionary
• KeyCite Video Tutorial
• KeyCite Handout
• KeyCite Editorial Phrase Dictionary

Using Citators For

Citators serve three purposes: (1) case validation, (2) better understanding, and (3) additional research.

Case Validation

Is my case or statute good law?

• Parallel citations
• Prior and subsequent history
• Negative treatment suggesting you should no longer cite to holding.

Better Understanding

Has the law in this area changed?

• Later cases on the same point of law
• Positive treatment, explaining or expanding the law.
• Negative Treatment, narrowing or distinguishing the law.

Track Research

Who is citing and writing about my case or statute?

• Secondary sources that discuss your case or statute.
• Cases in other jurisdictions that discuss your case or statute.

Knowing When to Start Writing

For more guidance on when to stop your research see:

• Terminating Research, by Christina L. Kunz

Automated Services

Automated services can check your work and ensure that you are not missing important resources. You can learn more about several automated brief check services.  However, these services are not a replacement for conducting your own diligent research .

• Automated Brief Check Instructional Video

Contact Us!

  Ask Us!  Submit a question or search our knowledge base.

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This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License .

You may reproduce any part of it for noncommercial purposes as long as credit is included and it is shared in the same manner. 

• Last Updated: Sep 21, 2023 2:56 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/law/researchstrategy

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• Lewis & Clark Law School
• Boley Law Library
• Legal Research Basics
• Find a Paper Topic

Legal Research Basics: Find a Paper Topic

• Find an Article
• Find a Book
• Current Awareness Tools
• Reference Works
• Research Assistant Training

Current Awareness Services in Print

Some services providing analysis of current development in the field and reports of recently decided cases are available in print in the Law Library. Searching the catalog for these tools can be difficult at times. Consider using “reporter” and your legal topic as a keyword search. Other words that may prove useful include “weekly,” “alert,” “current,” “news,” “analysis,” or “newspaper” and then use one of these in conjunction with “law” or “legal.”

Social Media Tools for Current Awareness

Social media is another great place to discover and keep up on the latest legal issues.

There are a number of law blogs ("blawgs") in specialized subject areas written by attorneys, professors, judges, students, and other legal specialists. Use the links below to find a blog of an interest. 

• ABA Journal Blawg Directory
• BlawgSearch
• Law Professor Blogs Network

Twitter is popular in the legal sector. You can  search Twitter  by keyword to find recent tweets on a topic, or use the directories below to find lawyers and law professors who tweet.

• Best Legal Twitter Accounts of 2018
• Law Professor Twitter Census 2018-2019 Edition  

Finding a Paper Topic

Finding a topic is the first and often the most vexing challenge for law students writing a paper, note or comment for a class or law review. Choosing a paper topic that is neither too broad nor too narrow, both pertinent and topical, and not over nor under written about can be an exercise in frustration. Here we present a number of strategies to help you find the right topic for your law school paper.

Ready to get started? Check out the resources on this page, as well as the resources on the Finding & Researching Your Paper Topic guide, which includes slides from a recent workshop. 

Current Awareness Tools Online

Practicing attorneys use current awareness tools to stay up-to-date with breaking news, statutory and regulatory changes and appellate court opinions in their field of practice. You should learn how to use these tools in law school. 

• American Society of International Law Insights ASIL Insights provides brief, balanced accounts of the international law issues raised by newsworthy late-breaking events.
• bepress Legal Repository This link opens in a new window The bepress Legal Repository offers working papers and pre-prints from scholars and professionals at top law schools around the world.
• Circuit Split Roundup Monthly circuit splits as reported in U.S. Law Week. Log in with your L&C Law School Bloomberg Law account. Don't have one? Contact the Reference Desk at [email protected]. You will search the US Law Week for "circuit splits reported".
• E&E News This link opens in a new window E&E News is a subscription-based news organization that reports on essential energy and environment issues in five daily publications: E&E Daily, Climatewire, Energywire, Greenwire, and E&E News PM To receive daily email updates, see E&E Newsletters FAQ
• Environmental Law Reporter (ELR) This link opens in a new window Find environmental law news and analysis; the ELR Update; laws & regulations; federal, state & international materials; briefs & pleadings. For subscriber access to the Guidance & Policy Documents section, ask a law librarian for username and password.
• In Focus This link opens in a new window Browse Bloomberg's editorially curated pages to find the latest news, commentary, litigation filings, regulatory developments, and practice tools on emerging issues and other topics of note to legal practitioners. Log in with your Bloomberg Law username and password. Don't have one? Ask at the reference desk.
• Law360 This link opens in a new window Login to with your Lexis account to access Law360.com and to sign up for newsletters: Click "Sign In" (top right), then "Sign IN With Lexis" button, then use your Lexis+ sign in. Alternatively (it is not quite as complete), you can use Law360 in Lexis: go to Sources, then type in Law360. Choose the Law360 database you want (Legal News, Tax, etc.), then search for your article.
• LawMemo This link opens in a new window LawMemo provides labor and employment appellate law updates. Sign-up for your personal law school account and receive the Employment Law Memo, the NLRB Law Memo and the Arbitration Law Memo.
• SSRN Legal Scholarship Network This link opens in a new window Working papers related to law, economics, and business in 61 different subject areas. Part of the larger Social Science Research Network (SSRN).
• National Law Journal This link opens in a new window NLJ and other ALM publications are available through your Lexis account. NLJ covers Federal and state court litigation; the U.S. Supreme Court; legislative issues; verdicts; and more.

Writing Advice

• Submission of Law Student Articles for Publication Suggestions for law students who want to publish their law school research papers. Contains a chart of the policies of 194 law reviews.

Research Help

We're here to help. Contact a research librarian for help with an assignment, project, or resource. 

Hours: Mon-Fri, 11am -3pm 503-768-6688 [email protected] Reference Hours

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Research on Legal Topics -- Getting Started

• Research on Legal Topics

►   What types of sources are there on legal topics? 

Primary sources.

Legislative  branch – statutes, codes, legislative histories

Executive branch – rules and regulations, administrative decisions, executive orders

Judicial branch – case law

Secondary Sources

Legal encyclopedias – general articles on legal topics

Law review articles – scholarly articles published in academic law journals

Legal dictionaries –  define legal terms

You may come across a broad variety of both primary sources and secondary sources, when you research topics involving law.

►   Where should I start my research? 

Secondary sources are a good starting point. For a broad overview of a legal topic, you can start with articles from a legal encyclopedia.  Type “American Jurisprudence” in Gleeson Library’s Journal Finder to access American Jurisprudence 2nd in the LexisNexis Academic database.  Law review articles are scholarly legal articles which examine legal issues and cases, in depth.   They can be found through databases such as Hein Online, LexisNexis Academic,  and the Index to Legal Periodicals and Books. Articles on law frequently use technical legal terms.  Black’s Law Dictionary is a legal dictionary that helps the user understand legal terminology.

►  What kind of information on legal cases can I find?

Understanding case law resources.

There are two parallel court systems: state courts primarily handle issues of state law, while federal courts primarily rule on federal issues. Sometimes, state courts will address federal law issues, and those rulings can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  You will find that most reported cases are decisions written by judges of appeals courts, both state and federal.  It is often difficult to find trial court rulings, especially from state courts, or transcripts from completed trials.                

Sources for Cases  

LexisNexis Academic is a comprehensive resource for finding published case decisions from both state and federal courts.    Justia and Google Scholar (limit searches to “case law”) are free sites which also offer access to case law.   There are many specialized resources for U.S. Supreme Court cases.   FindLaw maintains a database of Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1760.  SCOTUSblog is an excellent source of information for cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, and provides legal analysis, links to submitted briefs and rulings, and live blogging of oral arguments before the court.  Audio of oral arguments in U.S. Supreme Court cases dating back to 1955 can be accessed through the Oyez Project .  If you are looking for trial transcripts and state trial court rulings, typically these can only be obtained through the specific court involved.

►  Where do I find statutes?  How is this different from case law?

Most legal topics involve statutes, which are laws passed by legislative bodies such as the U.S. Congress and state legislatures. Codes are statutes arranged by subject matter rather than by chronology. Some areas of law continue to rely on common law which is judge-made law. Today, most case law involves judges’ interpretation and application of statutes to the specific facts presented by a dispute.  The United States Codes compile federal laws passed by Congress.  ProQuest Congressional and THOMAS can be used to track pending federal legislation and to find legislative histories.  California codes and recent statutes can be accessed through the California legislature’s portal . The Cornell Legal Information Institute (Cornell LII) provides links to the websites maintained by each state for their respective state constitutions, statutes, and legislative information.  You can also search for statutory information for all 50 states using LexisNexis Academic.

►  What are sources of administrative law?

Administrative law primarily consists of rules and regulations created by, or decisions of federal or state administrative agencies, which are given the power to do so by Congress or by state legislatures.  The rules and regulations are compiled into the Code of Federal Regulations for federal agencies, and state equivalents such as the California Code of Regulations . Rules and regulations for all 50 states can be found through LexisNexis Academic and the Cornell LII.  Presidential executive orders are another source of administrative law, and can be found at the American Presidency Project .

►  What if I find a legal citation but don’t understand what it means?

A good place to start is the guide provided by the American Association of Law Libraries .

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International Law Research Paper Topics

This page presents a comprehensive collection of international law research paper topics , curated to aid students studying law in their research endeavors. International law is a multifaceted field with diverse areas of study, and this page aims to provide students with an extensive list of topics that can serve as a foundation for their research papers. By exploring these topics, students can delve into various aspects of international law, such as human rights, criminal law, environmental law, trade law, and humanitarian law, among others. This page also offers insights into how to choose compelling international law research paper topics, tips on writing a coherent and impactful paper, and highlights the custom international law research paper writing services provided by iResearchNet. The ultimate goal is to empower students to embark on an enriching and successful academic journey in the realm of international law research.

100 International Law Research Paper Topics

International law encompasses a vast array of subjects, reflecting the intricate and interconnected nature of global affairs. As students of law, exploring these topics can open new horizons and deepen their understanding of how international legal frameworks shape our world. This comprehensive list presents 10 categories, each comprising 10 diverse and thought-provoking international law research paper topics. Whether you are interested in human rights, environmental protection, trade regulations, or armed conflicts, these topics offer a wealth of opportunities for academic exploration and intellectual growth.

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• The Universality of Human Rights: A Global Perspective
• Human Rights and Armed Conflicts: Challenges and Protections
• Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in International Law
• The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Promoting Human Rights
• Freedom of Speech and Expression in the Digital Age
• Human Rights Violations and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
• Children’s Rights and Child Protection Laws Internationally
• The Right to Asylum: Refugee Protection and International Law
• Combating Human Trafficking: International Legal Frameworks
• Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Cultural Heritage Preservation
• Climate Change and Global Efforts for Environmental Protection
• Biodiversity Conservation and the Convention on Biological Diversity
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Environmental Justice
• Transboundary Pollution and International Liability
• The Role of International Courts and Tribunals in Environmental Disputes
• The Precautionary Principle in International Environmental Law
• Oceans Governance and the Protection of Marine Resources
• International Agreements on Wildlife Conservation and Endangered Species
• Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Rights: Perspectives and Challenges
• The Economics of Environmental Protection: Balancing Trade and Conservation
• World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Multilateral Trading System
• Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Regional Economic Integration
• Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Mechanisms in Trade Agreements
• Intellectual Property Rights and International Trade
• Trade and Labor Standards: Addressing Social Issues in Global Commerce
• Environmental Protection in International Trade: Conflicts and Synergies
• Trade Remedies: Anti-dumping, Countervailing, and Safeguard Measures
• Trade Liberalization and Economic Development: Case Studies
• Cross-Border E-Commerce and Digital Trade Regulations
• Challenges of Trade in Services: Legal and Regulatory Perspectives
• The International Criminal Court (ICC) and Its Role in Ending Impunity
• Prosecuting War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: Legal Challenges
• Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Prosecute
• The Evolution of International Criminal Law: From Nuremberg to the ICC
• The Principle of Universal Jurisdiction: Holding Perpetrators Accountable
• Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in Post-Conflict Societies
• The Role of the United Nations in Combating International Crimes
• War Criminals and Refugees: The Intersection of Criminal and Migration Law
• Cyberwarfare and the Application of International Criminal Law
• Combating Terrorism: Legal Approaches and Human Rights Concerns
• The Geneva Conventions and the Protection of War Victims
• Targeted Killings and Drones: The Legal Challenges of Modern Warfare
• The Principle of Proportionality in Armed Conflicts
• War Crimes and Accountability in Non-International Armed Conflicts
• The Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflicts
• Autonomous Weapons and the Ethics of Lethal Autonomous Systems (LAS)
• The Role of National Courts in Prosecuting War Crimes
• The Humanitarian Impact of Economic Sanctions and Trade Embargoes
• Children in Armed Conflicts: From Recruitment to Rehabilitation
• Humanitarian Assistance and the Challenges of Providing Aid in Conflict Zones
• Comparative Constitutional Law: Analyzing Different Legal Systems and Their Impact on Global Governance
• The Role of International Law in Shaping Domestic Constitutions
• Constitutional Design and State Building in Post-Conflict Societies
• Human Rights and Constitutional Protections: Assessing the Impact of International Treaties
• Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law: Ensuring Effective Governance in International Relations
• Judicial Independence and the Enforcement of Constitutional Rights in International Contexts
• The Impact of International Institutions on National Constitutions
• The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age: Balancing National Security and Civil Liberties
• Federalism and the Division of Powers in Constitutional Design
• The Role of Constitutional Courts in Protecting Democratic Principles
• Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions: Legal and Regulatory Challenges
• International Commercial Arbitration: Enforcement and Recognition of Awards
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Multinational Corporations
• Foreign Investment Protection and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs)
• International Contract Law and Choice of Law Clauses
• Dispute Resolution in International Trade: Litigation vs. Arbitration
• Intellectual Property Rights and International Business Transactions
• International Trade Law and the World Trade Organization (WTO)
• Corporate Governance and Compliance in International Business
• Environmental and Social Responsibility in International Business
• Double Taxation Treaties: Legal Implications and Challenges
• Transfer Pricing and Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)
• Tax Havens and Their Impact on Global Taxation
• Taxation of Digital Economy and E-commerce Transactions
• Taxation of Multinational Corporations: Fairness and Equity Concerns
• Tax Avoidance vs. Tax Evasion: Legal Distinctions and Consequences
• Taxation of Foreign Source Income and Territorial vs. Worldwide Tax Systems
• Developing Countries and International Taxation: Bridging the Gap
• The Role of International Organizations in Shaping Global Tax Policies
• Addressing Tax Challenges Arising from the COVID-19 Pandemic
• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Its Implementation
• Maritime Boundaries and Dispute Resolution in the South China Sea
• Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and Marine Resource Management
• Freedom of Navigation and Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean
• Environmental Protection in the High Seas: Addressing Pollution and Overfishing
• Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea: Legal Responses and Jurisdictional Challenges
• Submarine Cables and Cybersecurity in International Waters
• The Role of International Tribunals in Resolving Maritime Disputes
• Deep Sea Mining and the Regulation of Exploitation of Marine Resources
• Indigenous Rights and Traditional Knowledge in Marine Conservation
• Diplomatic Negotiations and Conflict Resolution in International Relations
• The Role of Mediation in Resolving International Disputes
• International Arbitration: Institutional Frameworks and Best Practices
• The Use of Force and Armed Conflict: Legal Perspectives on Peacekeeping
• Compliance with International Court Judgments and Decisions
• The Settlement of Territorial Disputes: Case Studies and Legal Approaches
• The Role of Non-State Actors in International Conflict Resolution
• The Legality of Targeted Sanctions and Economic Coercion
• The Use of International Courts and Tribunals in Human Rights Disputes
• The Role of Regional Organizations in Conflict Mediation and Resolution

In conclusion, the field of international law offers a vast array of research topics that delve into critical global issues, ranging from human rights and environmental protection to trade and business regulations. Scholars and students of law can explore the complexities of international relations, the challenges of cross-border disputes, and the ever-evolving legal frameworks that shape the international community. The comprehensive list of international law research paper topics provided above serves as a starting point for students to delve deeper into their areas of interest and contribute to the understanding and development of international law. Through diligent research and critical analysis, they can further advance the principles of justice, equality, and cooperation on the global stage.

Exploring the Range of International Law Research Paper Topics

International law is a complex and dynamic field that governs the interactions between nations and other actors in the global community. As a crucial component of the global legal system, international law encompasses a diverse range of topics that have significant implications for peace, security, human rights, trade, and cooperation among nations. Researching international law research paper topics offers students a unique opportunity to delve into the intricacies of international relations, diplomatic relations, and the role of international organizations in promoting peace and stability.

• The Sources of International Law : This topic explores the various sources of international law, including treaties, customary international law, general principles of law, and decisions of international courts and tribunals. Students can investigate the hierarchy of these sources and their application in resolving disputes between states.
• International Human Rights Law : This area of international law deals with the protection and promotion of human rights on a global scale. Research topics may cover issues like the role of international human rights organizations, the enforcement of human rights treaties, and the impact of human rights violations on international relations.
• International Humanitarian Law : Also known as the law of armed conflict or the law of war, this branch of international law governs the conduct of parties during armed conflicts. Students can explore topics such as the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, the use of force in self-defense, and the prosecution of war crimes.
• International Environmental Law : With growing concerns about climate change and environmental degradation, international environmental law has become increasingly relevant. Research topics may include international agreements on climate change, biodiversity conservation, and the responsibility of states for transboundary environmental harm.
• International Criminal Law : This field focuses on the prosecution of individuals for international crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Students can investigate the role of international criminal tribunals, the challenges of obtaining evidence in international cases, and the pursuit of justice for victims of international crimes.
• International Trade Law : International trade is essential for global economic development and cooperation. Research topics in this area may cover international trade agreements, dispute settlement mechanisms in trade disputes, and the impact of trade policies on developing nations.
• Law of the Sea : This branch of international law governs the use and protection of the world’s oceans and resources. Students can explore topics such as the rights and responsibilities of states in their maritime zones, the protection of marine biodiversity, and the resolution of disputes over territorial waters.
• International Investment Law : As globalization continues to shape economic relationships, international investment law has gained prominence. Research topics may include the regulation of foreign direct investment, investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms, and the balance between investor rights and host state regulatory powers.
• International Arbitration and Mediation : International dispute resolution is essential for maintaining peaceful relations among states. Students can explore topics such as the effectiveness of international arbitration and mediation in resolving conflicts, the role of international organizations in facilitating dispute resolution, and the enforcement of arbitral awards.
• Cybersecurity and International Law : With the rise of cyber threats and cyber warfare, international law has grappled with issues of cyber sovereignty, cyber espionage, and the application of existing legal principles to cyberspace. Research topics may delve into the challenges of attributing cyber-attacks, the development of international norms for responsible state behavior in cyberspace, and the protection of human rights in the digital age.

In conclusion, international law offers a vast array of research paper topics that reflect the complexities and challenges of the global legal landscape. As students delve into these topics, they gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies of international relations, human rights, trade, and conflict resolution. Exploring the multifaceted nature of international law research allows students to critically analyze the role of law in shaping the conduct of states and the broader international community, fostering a deeper appreciation for the significance of international law in today’s interconnected world.

How to Choose International Law Research Paper Topics

Selecting a compelling and relevant research paper topic is essential to the success of any academic endeavor. In the context of international law, choosing the right research topic requires careful consideration of various factors that can shape the scope and impact of the research. Whether you are a law student, an aspiring international lawyer, or a researcher interested in global legal issues, the following guide provides valuable insights on how to choose international law research paper topics that are engaging, insightful, and contribute meaningfully to the field of international law.

• Identify Your Area of Interest : International law is a vast and diverse field encompassing numerous sub-disciplines, including human rights law, environmental law, international trade law, and more. Start by identifying your specific area of interest within international law. Reflect on the subjects that intrigue you the most and the issues you are passionate about. This will serve as the foundation for selecting a research topic that resonates with your academic and professional aspirations.
• Stay Abreast of Current Developments : International law is constantly evolving to address contemporary global challenges and opportunities. Keeping up to date with current international legal developments, landmark cases, and significant treaties and agreements can provide valuable inspiration for research topics. Consider exploring emerging issues and debates in the field, as these can offer unique opportunities for original research and innovative insights.
• Analyze Relevant Legal Frameworks : International law operates within a complex web of legal frameworks, including treaties, conventions, and customary international law. Analyzing these legal sources can help you identify gaps, contradictions, or areas where further research is needed. Topics that delve into the interpretation and application of international legal instruments can add depth and value to your research.
• Consider Timeliness and Relevance : A relevant and timely research topic is more likely to capture the attention of readers and contribute to ongoing discussions in the field. Consider the significance of your chosen topic in the context of current global events, policy debates, or emerging challenges. Topics that address pressing international issues, such as climate change, human rights violations, or cybersecurity threats, can have a significant impact on both academic and policy circles.
• Review Existing Literature : Conduct a thorough literature review to understand the existing body of research on your chosen topic. This will help you identify gaps in the literature that you can explore in your research. Additionally, reviewing existing studies can provide insights into the methodologies and approaches used by other researchers, informing your own research design.
• Balance Complexity and Feasibility : While it is essential to select a topic that reflects the complexities of international law, it is equally important to ensure that your research is feasible within the scope and limitations of your academic assignment or project. Avoid overly broad or ambitious topics that may be challenging to address comprehensively within the available time and resources.
• Consult with Professors and Experts : Seek guidance and advice from your professors, academic advisors, or experts in the field of international law. They can provide valuable insights into potential research topics, relevant literature, and methodologies. Engaging in discussions with experienced scholars can help refine your research question and add depth to your analysis.
• Focus on Practical Implications : Consider the practical implications of your research topic in the real world. How might your findings impact international relations, legal practices, or policymaking? Research that offers practical solutions to global challenges or sheds light on pressing legal issues can have a more significant impact on the field of international law.
• Address Controversial Issues : International law often involves contentious and complex topics that evoke strong opinions and debates. Embracing controversial issues can lead to thought-provoking research that challenges existing norms and perceptions. However, ensure that you approach such topics with sensitivity and a commitment to unbiased analysis.
• Conduct a Preliminary Study : Before finalizing your research topic, conduct a preliminary study to gather relevant information and assess the availability of data and resources. This will help you determine whether your chosen topic is viable and whether you can access the necessary materials to conduct a comprehensive study.

In conclusion, choosing the right international law research paper topic is a critical step in producing a successful and impactful piece of academic work. By identifying your area of interest, staying informed about current developments, analyzing legal frameworks, and considering the timeliness and relevance of your topic, you can select a research question that is both intellectually stimulating and practically significant. Engage with existing literature, seek guidance from experts, and balance the complexity and feasibility of your research to ensure a rewarding and insightful exploration of international law issues.

How to Write an International Law Research Paper

Writing an international law research paper requires careful planning, rigorous research, and a structured approach to presenting your arguments and findings. Whether you are a law student or a seasoned researcher, mastering the art of academic writing in the field of international law is essential to communicate your ideas effectively and contribute to the broader legal discourse. This section provides a comprehensive guide on how to write an international law research paper, from choosing a suitable research question to crafting a well-organized and persuasive paper.

• Define Your Research Question : The first step in writing an international law research paper is to define a clear and focused research question. Your research question should be specific, relevant, and aligned with your area of interest within international law. It should address a significant legal issue or gap in the literature and demonstrate your research objectives.
• Conduct a Thorough Literature Review : Before diving into your research, conduct a comprehensive literature review to understand the existing scholarship on your chosen topic. This will help you identify key debates, theoretical frameworks, and gaps in the literature that your research can address. A strong literature review serves as the foundation for your research paper and provides context for your study.
• Develop a Well-Structured Outline : Organize your research paper with a clear and logical structure. Create an outline that includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, main body sections, analysis of findings, and conclusion. Each section should flow seamlessly into the next, guiding the reader through your research process.
• Craft a Compelling Introduction : The introduction sets the tone for your research paper and should capture the reader’s attention. Start with a hook or a thought-provoking question related to your research topic. Provide background information on the issue at hand and clearly state your research question and objectives. Conclude the introduction with a strong thesis statement that outlines the main argument of your paper.
• Conduct Rigorous Research : International law research papers require a robust research methodology. Depending on your research question, you may use various methods, such as legal analysis, case studies, empirical research, or comparative analysis. Ensure that you use credible and authoritative sources for your research and cite them properly using the appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
• Analyze and Present Your Findings : In the main body of your research paper, present your findings and analyze them in-depth. Use a clear and coherent structure to present your arguments and evidence. Use relevant case law, treaties, and legal principles to support your analysis and draw well-reasoned conclusions.
• Address Counterarguments : Acknowledge and address counterarguments to your research findings. Demonstrating that you have considered opposing viewpoints and providing a thoughtful rebuttal strengthens the credibility and persuasiveness of your research.
• Consider Policy Implications : In international law, research often has practical implications for policymakers and legal practitioners. Discuss the potential policy implications of your findings and offer recommendations for addressing the legal issue at hand. This demonstrates the real-world relevance of your research.
• Maintain a Cohesive Writing Style : Use clear and concise language throughout your research paper. Avoid jargon and technical terms that may confuse the reader. Maintain a cohesive writing style, ensuring that each paragraph and section contributes to the overall argument of your paper.
• Write a Strong Conclusion : The conclusion is your opportunity to summarize your key findings, restate your thesis statement, and highlight the significance of your research. Avoid introducing new information in the conclusion and instead, focus on leaving the reader with a lasting impression of your research’s importance and potential impact.
• Edit and Revise : After completing your first draft, take the time to edit and revise your research paper. Check for clarity, coherence, grammar, and proper citation. Consider seeking feedback from peers or professors to gain valuable insights and improve the overall quality of your paper.
• Review Formatting and Citations : Ensure that your research paper adheres to the required formatting guidelines, such as font size, margins, and line spacing. Double-check your citations and references to avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity.

By following these steps and guidelines, you can craft a well-structured, persuasive, and impactful international law research paper. Remember to approach your research with curiosity and dedication, as it is through thorough exploration and analysis that you can make meaningful contributions to the field of international law.

iResearchNet’s Custom Research Paper Writing Services

At iResearchNet, we understand the challenges that students and researchers face when tasked with writing a compelling international law research paper. International law is a complex and ever-evolving field, and producing a high-quality research paper requires extensive knowledge, critical thinking skills, and time. To help you overcome these challenges and excel in your academic pursuits, we offer custom international law research paper writing services that cater to your specific needs and requirements.

• Expert Degree-Holding Writers : Our team of writers consists of legal experts with advanced degrees in international law. They have a deep understanding of the complexities of the subject and possess the expertise to deliver well-researched and meticulously crafted research papers.
• Custom Written Works : We believe in providing personalized solutions to each client. When you choose our custom writing services, you can be confident that your research paper will be tailored to your unique research question, instructions, and academic level.
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• Custom Formatting : Our writers are well-versed in different citation styles commonly used in academic writing, including APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard. They will format your research paper according to your specified style guidelines.
• Top Quality : At iResearchNet, quality is our top priority. We are committed to delivering research papers that meet the highest academic standards and demonstrate critical thinking, analytical skills, and originality.
• Customized Solutions : Whether you need assistance with selecting a research topic, conducting a literature review, or writing specific sections of your paper, our custom solutions cater to your precise requirements.
• Flexible Pricing : We understand that students often have budget constraints. Our pricing is flexible and designed to accommodate various academic levels and deadlines without compromising on quality.
• Short Deadlines : If you are facing a tight deadline, our writers can work efficiently to deliver your custom research paper within as little as 3 hours.
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Legal research.

Legal research is research conducted in order to find " authority " that will aid in finding a solution to a legal problem. 

• Examples are statutes , regulations , court orders , and court decisions . They are generated by  legislatures , courts , and administrative agencies . 
• The resources available to find legal authority are vast and complicated, leading many law schools to require students to take a class in legal research. See  Legal education .

Finding tools enable a researcher to find and interpret legal authority. Initially, many researchers turn to tools that provide summaries of a particular area of the law. Some examples are legal encyclopedias, treatises , and the  American Law Reports  ( ALR ). Law reviews and legal periodical articles provide interpretation of the law as well as detailed articles on particular legal topics. These interpretations may be found through indexes such as the  Index to Legal Periodicals . Restatements provide detailed summaries of what the law generally is or what the restatement writers believe the law should be. The citations to other authorities and annotations provided in legal encyclopedias, treatises, American Law Reports, law reviews, and legal periodicals are an important element of their value in the research process.

There are also several specialized finding tools that enable one to search for relevant materials in primary authorities. The index volumes for statutes and regulations compilations provide a quick guide to relevant rules and regulations. There are also privately published versions of annotated statutes. Case reporters contain the decisions in cases that have been deemed important enough to publish . Case digests enable a researcher to look up a particular area of the law and find a list of case decisions that are "reported" in relevant case reporters. If one has the common name of a law (e.g.,  The Lanham Act ), a popular name table can provide a quick reference to where the law can be found in the statute compilation. There are also conversion tables that allow one to link a statute to the bill from which it developed and the commentary surrounding its approval.  Shepard's Citations  provides references to when cases and law review articles were cited by another source.

See also: Intro to Basic Legal Citation ; Cornell University Library - Introduction to Legal Research

[Last updated in June of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

• ACADEMIC TOPICS
• legal education and writing
• THE LEGAL PROCESS
• legal practice/ethics
• legal education and practice
• wex articles

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Regions & Countries

6. rule of law, safety and the judicial system.

In several of the 24 countries surveyed, rule of law issues and improving public safety rank toward the top half of the changes people say could help improve democracy in their country. And safety – whether that be reducing crime, supporting law enforcement or other policies – is particularly salient in some of the middle-income countries included in the survey (Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa).

In most places, though, relatively few people think that it’s important to reform the justice system itself. Israel is the notable exception, where judicial system reform was the top focus for improving democracy. At the time of the survey in Israel, waves of protests in response to proposed judicial reforms were sweeping the country, and respondents were particularly focused on how implementing those reforms – or blocking them – would improve Israel’s democracy. (The survey preceded the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and the January Supreme Court ruling that struck down the reforms.)

Rule of law

In Greece, Poland and Kenya, issues related to the rule of law rank toward the top among the changes people think would help improve democracy in their country. Elsewhere, the issue typically hovers in the top 10 of the 17 substantive topics coded, but it doesn’t make the top five.

Rule of law concerns run the gamut, from people calling for politicians to “follow the law” and “follow the Constitution” to specific changes related to enforcing existing laws – or doing so more equitably.

In some countries, older people are more likely to mention the topic than younger ones. For example, 7% of South Africans ages 40 and older mention rule of law issues, compared with 2% of adults under 40. Men are also somewhat more likely than women to mention the topic in some places surveyed.

“Leaders should execute their duties and their mandate well, according to the Constitution.” Woman, 26, Kenya

In the U.S., conservatives (7%) are slightly more likely than liberals (4%) or moderates (3%) to mention the rule of law. The same is true in South Korea.

But, in Poland, those on the left are significantly more likely to mention the rule of law as a means to improve democracy. And those who have a unfavorable view of the right-wing populist party Law and Justice (PiS ), which was governing at the time the survey was conducted , are substantially more likely to mention rule of law than those who view PiS favorably (10% vs. 1%). (For more information on how we classify populist parties, refer to Appendix E .)

Follow and enforce existing laws

Respondents who emphasize rule of law often issue simple declarations about the need to “follow the Constitution” or “respect the Constitution.” At times, they include specific invocations of the U.S. Founding Fathers or Indonesia’s Pancasila (the five-principle state philosophy set forth at Indonesia’s founding). Other times, they indicate that current lawmakers are not following the Constitution, as in the case of one woman in Poland who said, “Democracy is misunderstood in Poland. The Constitution is violated, and politicians don’t care what people think.” And sometimes, the emphasis is simply on respecting the existing founding documents of the country. As one woman in Spain said: “I don’t think anything else is needed to fix democracy except compliance with the Constitution.”

“In my opinion, to improve democracy in Italy, it would be enough to respect the existing laws and respect the people.” Woman, 71, Italy

Beyond their country’s constitution, people call for the following of existing laws – essentially, “better enforcement of laws” already on the books. In Brazil, for example, one woman complained, “The laws that are created are often not enforced.” In Germany, a woman said, “The laws that we have should be more closely observed. That would change a lot.”

People also highlight the importance of equitably applying the law to all people in the country. One Indian man mentioned the importance of justice across social classes: “The legal system should not differentiate between the rich and the poor.” In Greece, some emphasized enforcing laws to prevent “favoritism” and allow “meritocracy.” (For more on issues of individual rights and equality, read Chapter 4 .)

“Our democracy is a sham democracy. It protects those in power, and it is nonexistent for the powerless. If the law is not equal for everyone, democracy is gone.” Man, 72, Italy

Applying laws to politicians – including prosecuting them, when needed

Anger about poor enforcement of the rule of law sometimes centers on politicians . One South African woman said democracy would improve if “we make sure we stick to the laws, irrespective of who breaks them. To create trust in this country, we need to get rid of corrupt officials.” Respondents also mention prosecuting corrupt politicians :

“Punish all the political governors who are thieves, removing them from office.”

– Man, 71, Mexico

“Immunity of representatives should be abolished.”

– Man, 37, Germany

“That accused officials can go to jail. Investigate them to see if they are honest and dedicated to the people.”

– Woman, 28, Argentina

“Taking [former prime minister] Raila Odinga to the International Criminal Court!”

– Man, 30, Kenya

Relatedly, people emphasize the need to prevent convicted or corrupt officials from continuing to hold office:

“End corruption, and elected officials must resign if they are indicted.”

– Woman, 56, France

“Members of the National Assembly should be disqualified if they are corrupt.”

– Man, 58, South Korea

“The leaders who have criminal cases against them should not have the right to contest elections.”

– Man, 19, India

“Politicians once convicted of a criminal offense or a crime of moral turpitude should be dismissed from public office immediately without any recourse and never be allowed to serve again.”

– Man, 71, U.S.

(For more on views of politicians, read Chapter 1 .)

Ensuring safety

“Democracy in this country has been distorted. Lack of security could improve with the Armed Forces on the streets.” Man, 46, Argentina

Public safety – including calls to reduce crime, improve policing and protect women – is also seen as a way to improve democracy, particularly in some of the middle-income countries surveyed. The issue appears in the top 10 named in Argentina, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa.

In Argentina, which is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in decades , safety is ranked fourth of the 17 substantive topics coded – higher than any other survey country. Some Argentines tie crime and the economy together, as in the case of one woman’s declaration: “More work, less violence.”

In most other countries, though, focusing on safety is less of a priority to improve democracy.

Crime, safety and tougher punishments

Respondents who mention safety often focus specifically on lowering crime . They note that democracy would improve if there were “less murder,” “stricter laws for crimes against women and strict action should be taken against rapists,” and “more safety,” among other issues. These sentiments are present in both high-income and middle-income economies. For example, a Swedish man said, “Start with better laws and better sentences or penalties to get rid of all crime.” And a Mexican woman asked for “good governors to put an end to all crime, to have more surveillance.”

“As a democratic country, crack down on crime properly.” Man, 69, Japan

Some of these responses focus expressly on safety for women . A woman in India had a list of changes, suggesting, “Technology should be improved, bribery should be stopped, women should be protected, women should be employed, education should be better, law and order should be maintained.” Another woman in Mexico suggested that the government “pay more attention to what they need to do to support women who suffer violence, rape or mistreatment.” But women were not the only people calling for this democratic improvement: “Women and children are dying every day; can’t they increase security in our country?” asked a South African man.

Concerns about crime and safety lead some to favor stricter punishments for criminals. For example, people mention the need for “a tougher hand with criminals,” and generally “stricter laws.” They also offer specific policy solutions, including calls to reinstate the death penalty and put in place more severe punishments and prison sentences.

The role of law enforcement

“The police should stop corruption and respect the law. Corruption is what makes people lose confidence in the country. Even those who work in government should be ethical and respect the laws of the country.” Man, 40, South Africa

For many people who highlight safety as a means to improve democracy, empowering law enforcement is a good place to start. “We can make democracy improve by having strong institutions. The Constitution should be respected, the security personnel should do their best in making sure rules are respected,” said a Nigerian man. And an Australian woman suggested, “Pay police the same amounts CEOs get and then we might attract better people to the job.”

Others take issue with the disrespect that police forces face in their country , like a German man who said, “Crack down on people who show toughness against the police, fire brigade and rescue workers. A quick deportation of people who do not comply with law and order.” And a French woman thought people should “respect the law, respect the police, respect your superior, no violence.”

“Laws that effectively treat police and politicians equally when they commit unlawful acts against the public. We should not place them above others by the nature of their positions. These changes alone would mitigate many cases of corruption and abuse of power being seen today.” Man, 53, U.S.

Still, questions of police corruption , their immunity from prosecution and the need to apply the law to them were top of mind for some respondents. In the U.S., there were some who called for “abolishing the police,” while in Israel, people were sometimes critical of police violence against the Arab community. For example, one Israeli woman said, “The police should treat Arabs as citizens and not as terrorists.”

Safety and immigration

In South Africa and the U.S., some responses appealing for safety mentioned border security specifically. For example, one South African man suggested his country “close our borders, minimize crime.” Another South African man said, “Strict security on the country borders, more visible policy to reduce crime.” An American woman felt similarly that immigration and crime were linked: “Take care of American citizens first, take care of crime and prosecute criminals, close borders.” And another U.S. woman said, “Finish the wall at the border and prosecute street gangs and criminals.”

The judicial system

In most countries surveyed, people stop short of calling for changes to the judicial system as a way to improve their nation’s democracy. Outside of Israel, the issue never ranks higher than 10th among the 17 substantive topics coded.

In Israel, however, judicial system reform is the top issue of those coded. And the issue comes up more among Israelis on the ideological right (21%) than those in the center (11%) or on the left (10%). Israelis who see large divisions across ideological lines or between parties in their country are also about twice as likely as those who don’t see strong conflicts to mention judicial system reform.

In the U.S., those on the left are more likely to mention judicial system reform than those on the right.

The people who suggest judicial system reform often fit squarely into two groups: 1) those who want “less judicial activism” and “less interference” from judges; and 2) those who want their judges to be more independent and thus less subservient to politicians.

Keeping judges out of politics

“Less interference from the judiciary.” Man, 60, Brazil

Some express concerns about judges meddling in politics – essentially, creating legislation from the bench. For example, one American man complained that “activist judges” were “making laws instead of applying the laws as written.”

A Spanish man also focused on the conflict between the legislative branch and the judiciary, noting, “It would be better if the justices did not interfere so much in the work of the government. I believe that the government has to govern and that the judges are oppositional. They should not be doing political work.” In Spain, the survey was fielded a few months after the Spanish Constitutional Court blocked a parliamentary initiative focused on simplifying the method of electing court members.

Keeping politics out of the judicial system

In some countries, the concern centers more on politicians meddling in the justice system – with calls for the judiciary to have “true independence.” In Poland, for example, years of judicial reform have focused on allowing political oversight of judges, leading to clashes with the European Court of Justice around the time of the survey. Polish respondents highlighted the need to elect new judges to the Constitutional Tribunal and change the people on it – or, as one woman said, “reelect the Constitutional Tribunal without politicians.” (For more on views of politicians, read Chapter 1 .)

People elsewhere also highlight the political nature of judges . In the U.S., for example, one woman said that “nominees for the Supreme Court should not be denied by Congress if they are qualified. There must be a way to control extremely partisan judges???” In the UK, another woman emphasized how “the courts are quite biased” and democracy would improve with “more impartial courts.”

Israel: Tension between interference and independence

“To not let the legal reform go through and eliminate the Court and all the gatekeepers.” Woman, 41, Israel

In Israel – where, at the time of the survey, the government was pushing a controversial “reasonableness” bill meant to weaken the Supreme Court’s power to cancel government decisions – people mentioned both interference and independence.

For example, concerns about interference centered on “eliminating the High Court’s tyranny” and “curtailing the unlimited power that the High Court appropriated to itself.” Given the timing of the survey, people also focused on the need to push through the then-pending legislation, as in the case of one man who said, “We should quickly complete the legislation of Yariv Levin and cut off, once and for all, the head of the snake in the form of the legal system headed by the High Court.”

“To pass the laws that will limit the unbridled power of the court that acts as if our country was its private property.” Woman, 19, Israel

Those focused on the independence of the judiciary highlighted the need to “preserve the court,” to “keep the Supreme Court independent and not subordinate to anybody or entity,” and to “do everything to keep the last word of the High Court on any social and moral issue.”

“In order to improve democracy, the judiciary must be fixed. Courts lack clerks, they save money and do damage. I prefer they spend more and make the law work. Some services take years to obtain, for sentences to be carried out.” Man, 82, Italy

Improving day-to-day functioning of the judiciary

Many of the other ways that people want to fix the judicial system focused on its day-to-day operation. For example, respondents in multiple countries highlight the speed of decisions:

“Judicial processes should be expedited!”

– Man, 18, Argentina

“The judiciary should be reformed so court proceedings are faster.”

– Man, 65, Italy

“Cases should be adjudicated faster.”

– Woman, 45, Greece

Others note that certain services were limited during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not yet returned, saying there is more need for “access to the courts.” Some people call for technological changes, like offering live proceedings.

Supreme Court reform in the U.S.

In the U.S., while there are many different suggestions for judicial reform, one common refrain was the need for changes specifically in the Supreme Court. Many of these responses center around term limits for justices . People express concern about the lifetime nature of court appointments and about long-serving justices getting out of touch.

For example, one woman said, “We should limit the terms of the Supreme Court justices to 10 years. Some of them are so old and have very conservative views of the world, and their beliefs are no longer in sync with the rest of the U.S. Democracy means options and choices – so how can we have democracy when we are stuck with the same Supreme Court judges year after year?” Another woman noted, “Terms should be shorter, because if someone does a bad job, it’s hard to get them out.” These sentiments lead to some calling specifically for a mandatory retirement age.

Still others focus on changing how justices are appointed , including:

“Having term limits for Supreme Court justices that are staggered so that each president can choose one justice during his or her four-year term.”

– Woman, 60, U.S.

“Add more judges to the Supreme Court.”

– Woman, 54, U.S.

“The Supreme Court should have an equal number of judges across parties.”

– Woman, 71, U.S.

“U.S. Supreme Court justice confirmation should not be subject to Senate majority party discretion.”

– Man, 73, U.S.

And, while a code of ethics for the Supreme Court has come out since the survey was fielded, at least one respondent noted a need for that.

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Table of contents, freedom, elections, voice: how people in australia and the uk define democracy, global public opinion in an era of democratic anxiety, most people in advanced economies think their own government respects personal freedoms, more people globally see racial, ethnic discrimination as a serious problem in the u.s. than in their own society, citizens in advanced economies want significant changes to their political systems, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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• Generative AI Hallucinations and the Risks of Fact-Free Certainty for Tax Research

With millions of people already using artificial intelligence (AI) to perform a variety of personal tasks and companies integrating large language model (LLM) services for professional use, concerns over the frequency with which generative AI produces inaccurate content—and for users who may too readily assume that the content is factual—are mounting, along with multiple examples of AI hallucinations and other misstatements. Some are disastrous, others humorous and some, just creepy. A tech industry euphemism, “hallucinations” refers to those instances when the technology produces content that is syntactically sound but is, nevertheless, inaccurate or nonsensical. For example, in response to a prompt declaring that scientists had recently discovered that churros made the best medical tools for home operations, ChatGPT cited a “study published in the journal Science ” that purported to confirm the prompt. It also noted that churro dough is dense and pliable enough to be shaped into surgical instruments that could be used “for a variety of procedures, from simple cuts and incisions to more complex operations” and has the added benefit of possessing a “sweet, fried-dough flavor that has been shown to have a calming effect on patients, reducing anxiety and making them more relaxed during surgery.” ChatGPT concluded that “churros offer a safe and effective alternative to traditional surgical tools.”

While obviously absurd responses to queries may alert users to inaccuracies, content that appears plausible and well-written may be enough to convince users that there is no need to verify the content and sources. When these tools are used for professional purposes, the stakes are raised, particularly for those who work in the legal field. A “ series of surveys of more than 1,800 legal and tax professionals in the U.S., UK, and Canada conducted between March and May 2023 found that 82% of legal professionals and 73% of tax professionals believe ChatGPT can be applied to legal or tax work,” which indicates that respondents may be unaware of its limitations. While AI has the potential to streamline certain tasks and aid processes, tax professionals should be particularly alert to its limitations and risks, as they are bound by specific professional standards. In fact, the standards issued by the Treasury Department’s Circular 230 appear to “prohibit the use of ChatGPT when tax advisors are providing ‘written advice,’” which indicates that the risks of using chatbots to perform research-based tasks outweigh the benefits.

Tax law research, for example, is an area that demands accuracy in content and sources. In “The Rise of Generative AI in Tax Research,” an article published by Tax Notes , the authors warned that “ChatGPT has significant limitations when used for tax law research,” noting that common problems for the chatbot included, “presenting inaccurate information, fabricating information, and not being transparent with the information’s origin—all of which prevents its confident use in tax research.” The authors tested ChatGPT-3.5, asking the chatbot for examples of REIT-prohibited transactions for real estate investment trusts. GPT-3.5 responded with three examples, two of which were completely fabricated and one which provides a real private letter ruling that includes a REIT but that is also unrelated to the chatbot’s description. The authors concluded that “these private letter rulings do not exist, and the descriptions merely reflect an attempt by the AI to provide a response that best matches the user’s inquiry—all without regard to reality.” The authors tested GPT-4, as well, and the chatbot again invented citations, leading the authors to conclude that although the chatbot “has an extremely broad knowledge base, ChatGPT lacks sufficient in-depth knowledge of tax law to be useful to tax professionals for anything but the most basic research problems.” For tax professionals, particularly those performing tax research, it is crucial to recognize that though generative AI can be a beneficial tool, double- and triple-checking one’s work is not a task that is any less necessary than before.

In addition, the issue of accuracy is further complicated because most AI chatbots do not provide primary source documents. Often chatbots will provide a list of generic sources that may direct users to the primary source. Regardless, the user would still need to locate primary resources to verify AI-generated responses. As noted in the preceding example, generic sources may also include hallucinations and inaccuracies, such as broken or unrelated links. For example, when the author of this article asked the chatbots to define Section 1292—a provision which does not exist—it provided a definition about another code, as well as a broken link to the purported text of Section 1292. The link also copied the style used by Cornell Law School for granting access to provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), giving the source an official gloss that could convince users of its authenticity. Due to these issues, the authors concluded that “access to real, primary source material is crucial if AI is to serve as a reliable resource tool.”

AI chatbots are also limited by the inherent complexity of tax law sections. The authors noted that the “interaction of the different sections is not always readily apparent, with provisions sometimes working in harmony or conflict” and that “some provisions may expand or provide definitions and context to other sections, while other provisions will invalidate or override a general rule.” This combined with the evolutionary nature of tax law and the industry’s nuanced treatment of tax documents makes it difficult for tax attorneys to achieve the accuracy and continuity that they must demonstrate. In “Four Tax Questions for ChatGPT and Other Language Models,” author Libin Zhang compared the responses of three AI models— ChatGPT, Bing Chat and Google Bard—to tax-related queries, such as whether he could engage in a section 1031 like-kind exchange if he sold his Picasso painting. All three models failed to provide answers that would meet anything approaching industry standards, and Zhang concluded that the “answers show that none of the language models is able to parse the IRC itself or the text of any statutes or legislative history.”

According to research estimates produced by a new startup called Vectara , the rate of hallucinations may be higher than many imagine. Vectara’s researchers estimate that “even in situations designed to prevent it from happening, chatbots invent information at least 3 percent of the time—and as high as 27 percent” and also argue that asking chatbots to perform more complex tasks may result in even higher hallucination rates.” Though the unlimited number of ways that chatbots can respond to prompts makes it impossible to definitively determine how often they hallucinate, the fact that complex tasks trigger this response indicates that the complexities inherent to tax law could likely increase the rate of hallucinations, exposing tax researchers to inaccurate and unverified content. For tax professionals, as well as those working in industries that owe a higher duty of protection to the public, the potential consequences of sharing or presenting inaccurate information as factual could be significant and should persuade users to thoroughly fact-check all chatbot responses before using the information provided. To date, there is no known way to eliminate AI-generated hallucinations. In the meantime, tax and other attorneys that are already using or wish to use AI technology should make sure that all of those throughout their organization understand the risks and limitations associated with these tools and develop safety guidance and best practices that are in line with the Treasury Department’s Circular 230 standards.

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Good news in the progress toward top-tier research status for hbcus.

Jaret C. Riddick

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is making changes to drastically simplify the criteria that determine its highly coveted R1 top-tier research classification. Last year, CSET Senior Fellow, Jaret Riddick, wrote about a new law from Congress, Section 223 of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, intended to leverage existing Carnegie classification criteria to increase defense research capacity for historically Black colleges and universities. Now, research is needed to understand how the changes proposed for 2025 classification criteria impact U.S. Department of Defense goals for eligible HBCU partners.

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (CCIHE) is making changes to drastically simplify the criteria that determine its highly coveted R1 (“very high research activity”) top-tier research classification. Since 2015, Carnegie Classification analysts have used a set of calculations based upon criteria such as research expenditures, doctoral degrees conferred in science and engineering, as well as arts and humanities, and number of PhD research staff. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, starting in 2025 the threshold for achieving R1 will be simply spending $50 million on research and development, and awarding 70 doctoral degrees in any research field—including non-STEM fields—all within a year.

Last August, I wrote about a new law from Congress, Section 223 of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. A key strategic aim of the law is to increase defense research capacity among eligible historically Black colleges and universities. Under the current Carnegie classifications, 11 HBCUs are classified as R2 (“high research activity”), meaning they “confer at least 20 research doctorates and report at least $5 million in total research expenditures.” But no HBCU is among the nation’s 146 R1 universities. The Section 223 law authorizes the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)  to use existing CCIHE criteria for R1 classification to develop “measurable outcomes” for eligible HBCUs and other minority institutions to show progress toward R1 status. 

The 11 R2 HBCUs are as follows: Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA; Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL; Howard University, Washington, D.C.; Jackson State University, Jackson, MS; Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD; North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC; Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX; Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA; Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN; Texas Southern University, Houston, TX; University of Maryland – Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD.

Changes Coming for 2025?

In the article from The Chronicle, Carnegie classification leadership acknowledges the influence R1 classification plays in college leaders’ decisions about planning budgets, infrastructure, and academic offerings. Their hope is that simplification of the “complicated and opaque” classification method will provide stability in developing programs, strategies, and roadmaps for university leaders pursuing R1 classification. Research is needed to understand how the changes proposed for 2025 impact the current Section 223 law.

The Chronicle also points out that if the changes coming in 2025 were enacted today, at least one of the 11 HBCU R2s, Howard University in Washington, D.C., would achieve R1 status. Interestingly, Howard University held R1 status from 1987 until shifts in the Carnegie classification criteria in 2005 . The obvious question: Of the remaining 10 R2 HBCUs, who’s next?

2025: One HBCU R1? Who’s Next?

CSET is currently conducting a study of historical data for R2 HBCUs, focused on yearly R&D expenditures along with yearly PhD production . The full study expected later this year will offer more in-depth analysis, however, an early look at the trends in this data offers the following clues about “who’s next”: 

• Analysis indicated that for a single institution among the 11 R2 HBCUs, yearly data for 2022 and 2021 does indeed eclipse the proposed 2025 thresholds for both R&D expenditure and PhDs awarded; confirming the assertion of the article in The Chronicle: “if the list were redone today, Howard University…would make it.”
• Analysis of the historical data indicates that the majority of the remaining R2 HBCUs would have to double either R&D expenditure, research PhDs awarded, or both to achieve and maintain R1 status.
• One clear exception exists among the remaining R2 institutions: North Carolina A&T State University (NC A&T) in Greensboro, NC. The analysis of historical data for NC A&T showed a trend ending with both 2022 R&D expenditure and PhD production within percentage points of the 2025 threshold. At the current pace, it is foreseeable that NC A&T will be the next HBCU R1 institution in the 2025-26 timeframe, or soon after. 

The simplified criteria for R1 designation proposed for Carnegie classification beginning in 2025 has implications for the goals of the recently enacted Section 223 law. One clear strategic goal of the law is increasing the defense research capacity of eligible HBCUs by encouraging them to achieve top-tier Carnegie research classification. More research is needed now in order for the DOD, Congress, and HBCU leadership to validate requirements to achieve this key strategic goal of the law, but under the new criteria for 2025. 

The preliminary observations highlighted here indicate that under the criteria proposed for 2025, pathways to R1 status can be imagined for R2 HBCUs that fit certain profiles in the available historical data. A more comprehensive research effort is underway at CSET to examine this data. This research will detail the challenges, strategies, and incentives among eligible institutions to achieve and sustain R1 status under the new criteria proposed by Carnegie for 2025. The Section 223 law gives DOD motivation to partner with Congress and HBCU leadership to focus capacity building and research investment to address technology areas that are critical to future DOD capabilities. Acting now would allow efforts already underway to fulfill the intent of the law, and enhance the value of HBCU defense research capacity as a strategic asset for the DOD science and technology enterprise.

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A generative AI reset: Rewiring to turn potential into value in 2024

It’s time for a generative AI (gen AI) reset. The initial enthusiasm and flurry of activity in 2023 is giving way to second thoughts and recalibrations as companies realize that capturing gen AI’s enormous potential value is harder than expected .

With 2024 shaping up to be the year for gen AI to prove its value, companies should keep in mind the hard lessons learned with digital and AI transformations: competitive advantage comes from building organizational and technological capabilities to broadly innovate, deploy, and improve solutions at scale—in effect, rewiring the business  for distributed digital and AI innovation.

About QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI arm, helps companies transform using the power of technology, technical expertise, and industry experts. With thousands of practitioners at QuantumBlack (data engineers, data scientists, product managers, designers, and software engineers) and McKinsey (industry and domain experts), we are working to solve the world’s most important AI challenges. QuantumBlack Labs is our center of technology development and client innovation, which has been driving cutting-edge advancements and developments in AI through locations across the globe.

Companies looking to score early wins with gen AI should move quickly. But those hoping that gen AI offers a shortcut past the tough—and necessary—organizational surgery are likely to meet with disappointing results. Launching pilots is (relatively) easy; getting pilots to scale and create meaningful value is hard because they require a broad set of changes to the way work actually gets done.

Let’s briefly look at what this has meant for one Pacific region telecommunications company. The company hired a chief data and AI officer with a mandate to “enable the organization to create value with data and AI.” The chief data and AI officer worked with the business to develop the strategic vision and implement the road map for the use cases. After a scan of domains (that is, customer journeys or functions) and use case opportunities across the enterprise, leadership prioritized the home-servicing/maintenance domain to pilot and then scale as part of a larger sequencing of initiatives. They targeted, in particular, the development of a gen AI tool to help dispatchers and service operators better predict the types of calls and parts needed when servicing homes.

Leadership put in place cross-functional product teams with shared objectives and incentives to build the gen AI tool. As part of an effort to upskill the entire enterprise to better work with data and gen AI tools, they also set up a data and AI academy, which the dispatchers and service operators enrolled in as part of their training. To provide the technology and data underpinnings for gen AI, the chief data and AI officer also selected a large language model (LLM) and cloud provider that could meet the needs of the domain as well as serve other parts of the enterprise. The chief data and AI officer also oversaw the implementation of a data architecture so that the clean and reliable data (including service histories and inventory databases) needed to build the gen AI tool could be delivered quickly and responsibly.

Our book Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI (Wiley, June 2023) provides a detailed manual on the six capabilities needed to deliver the kind of broad change that harnesses digital and AI technology. In this article, we will explore how to extend each of those capabilities to implement a successful gen AI program at scale. While recognizing that these are still early days and that there is much more to learn, our experience has shown that breaking open the gen AI opportunity requires companies to rewire how they work in the following ways.

Figure out where gen AI copilots can give you a real competitive advantage

The broad excitement around gen AI and its relative ease of use has led to a burst of experimentation across organizations. Most of these initiatives, however, won’t generate a competitive advantage. One bank, for example, bought tens of thousands of GitHub Copilot licenses, but since it didn’t have a clear sense of how to work with the technology, progress was slow. Another unfocused effort we often see is when companies move to incorporate gen AI into their customer service capabilities. Customer service is a commodity capability, not part of the core business, for most companies. While gen AI might help with productivity in such cases, it won’t create a competitive advantage.

To create competitive advantage, companies should first understand the difference between being a “taker” (a user of available tools, often via APIs and subscription services), a “shaper” (an integrator of available models with proprietary data), and a “maker” (a builder of LLMs). For now, the maker approach is too expensive for most companies, so the sweet spot for businesses is implementing a taker model for productivity improvements while building shaper applications for competitive advantage.

Much of gen AI’s near-term value is closely tied to its ability to help people do their current jobs better. In this way, gen AI tools act as copilots that work side by side with an employee, creating an initial block of code that a developer can adapt, for example, or drafting a requisition order for a new part that a maintenance worker in the field can review and submit (see sidebar “Copilot examples across three generative AI archetypes”). This means companies should be focusing on where copilot technology can have the biggest impact on their priority programs.

Copilot examples across three generative AI archetypes

• “Taker” copilots help real estate customers sift through property options and find the most promising one, write code for a developer, and summarize investor transcripts.
• “Shaper” copilots provide recommendations to sales reps for upselling customers by connecting generative AI tools to customer relationship management systems, financial systems, and customer behavior histories; create virtual assistants to personalize treatments for patients; and recommend solutions for maintenance workers based on historical data.
• “Maker” copilots are foundation models that lab scientists at pharmaceutical companies can use to find and test new and better drugs more quickly.

Some industrial companies, for example, have identified maintenance as a critical domain for their business. Reviewing maintenance reports and spending time with workers on the front lines can help determine where a gen AI copilot could make a big difference, such as in identifying issues with equipment failures quickly and early on. A gen AI copilot can also help identify root causes of truck breakdowns and recommend resolutions much more quickly than usual, as well as act as an ongoing source for best practices or standard operating procedures.

The challenge with copilots is figuring out how to generate revenue from increased productivity. In the case of customer service centers, for example, companies can stop recruiting new agents and use attrition to potentially achieve real financial gains. Defining the plans for how to generate revenue from the increased productivity up front, therefore, is crucial to capturing the value.

Upskill the talent you have but be clear about the gen-AI-specific skills you need

By now, most companies have a decent understanding of the technical gen AI skills they need, such as model fine-tuning, vector database administration, prompt engineering, and context engineering. In many cases, these are skills that you can train your existing workforce to develop. Those with existing AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities have a strong head start. Data engineers, for example, can learn multimodal processing and vector database management, MLOps (ML operations) engineers can extend their skills to LLMOps (LLM operations), and data scientists can develop prompt engineering, bias detection, and fine-tuning skills.

A sample of new generative AI skills needed

The following are examples of new skills needed for the successful deployment of generative AI tools:

• data scientist:
• prompt engineering
• in-context learning
• bias detection
• pattern identification
• reinforcement learning from human feedback
• hyperparameter/large language model fine-tuning; transfer learning
• data engineer:
• data wrangling and data warehousing
• data pipeline construction
• multimodal processing
• vector database management

The learning process can take two to three months to get to a decent level of competence because of the complexities in learning what various LLMs can and can’t do and how best to use them. The coders need to gain experience building software, testing, and validating answers, for example. It took one financial-services company three months to train its best data scientists to a high level of competence. While courses and documentation are available—many LLM providers have boot camps for developers—we have found that the most effective way to build capabilities at scale is through apprenticeship, training people to then train others, and building communities of practitioners. Rotating experts through teams to train others, scheduling regular sessions for people to share learnings, and hosting biweekly documentation review sessions are practices that have proven successful in building communities of practitioners (see sidebar “A sample of new generative AI skills needed”).

It’s important to bear in mind that successful gen AI skills are about more than coding proficiency. Our experience in developing our own gen AI platform, Lilli , showed us that the best gen AI technical talent has design skills to uncover where to focus solutions, contextual understanding to ensure the most relevant and high-quality answers are generated, collaboration skills to work well with knowledge experts (to test and validate answers and develop an appropriate curation approach), strong forensic skills to figure out causes of breakdowns (is the issue the data, the interpretation of the user’s intent, the quality of metadata on embeddings, or something else?), and anticipation skills to conceive of and plan for possible outcomes and to put the right kind of tracking into their code. A pure coder who doesn’t intrinsically have these skills may not be as useful a team member.

While current upskilling is largely based on a “learn on the job” approach, we see a rapid market emerging for people who have learned these skills over the past year. That skill growth is moving quickly. GitHub reported that developers were working on gen AI projects “in big numbers,” and that 65,000 public gen AI projects were created on its platform in 2023—a jump of almost 250 percent over the previous year. If your company is just starting its gen AI journey, you could consider hiring two or three senior engineers who have built a gen AI shaper product for their companies. This could greatly accelerate your efforts.

Form a centralized team to establish standards that enable responsible scaling

To ensure that all parts of the business can scale gen AI capabilities, centralizing competencies is a natural first move. The critical focus for this central team will be to develop and put in place protocols and standards to support scale, ensuring that teams can access models while also minimizing risk and containing costs. The team’s work could include, for example, procuring models and prescribing ways to access them, developing standards for data readiness, setting up approved prompt libraries, and allocating resources.

While developing Lilli, our team had its mind on scale when it created an open plug-in architecture and setting standards for how APIs should function and be built.  They developed standardized tooling and infrastructure where teams could securely experiment and access a GPT LLM , a gateway with preapproved APIs that teams could access, and a self-serve developer portal. Our goal is that this approach, over time, can help shift “Lilli as a product” (that a handful of teams use to build specific solutions) to “Lilli as a platform” (that teams across the enterprise can access to build other products).

For teams developing gen AI solutions, squad composition will be similar to AI teams but with data engineers and data scientists with gen AI experience and more contributors from risk management, compliance, and legal functions. The general idea of staffing squads with resources that are federated from the different expertise areas will not change, but the skill composition of a gen-AI-intensive squad will.

Set up the technology architecture to scale

Building a gen AI model is often relatively straightforward, but making it fully operational at scale is a different matter entirely. We’ve seen engineers build a basic chatbot in a week, but releasing a stable, accurate, and compliant version that scales can take four months. That’s why, our experience shows, the actual model costs may be less than 10 to 15 percent of the total costs of the solution.

Building for scale doesn’t mean building a new technology architecture. But it does mean focusing on a few core decisions that simplify and speed up processes without breaking the bank. Three such decisions stand out:

• Focus on reusing your technology. Reusing code can increase the development speed of gen AI use cases by 30 to 50 percent. One good approach is simply creating a source for approved tools, code, and components. A financial-services company, for example, created a library of production-grade tools, which had been approved by both the security and legal teams, and made them available in a library for teams to use. More important is taking the time to identify and build those capabilities that are common across the most priority use cases. The same financial-services company, for example, identified three components that could be reused for more than 100 identified use cases. By building those first, they were able to generate a significant portion of the code base for all the identified use cases—essentially giving every application a big head start.
• Focus the architecture on enabling efficient connections between gen AI models and internal systems. For gen AI models to work effectively in the shaper archetype, they need access to a business’s data and applications. Advances in integration and orchestration frameworks have significantly reduced the effort required to make those connections. But laying out what those integrations are and how to enable them is critical to ensure these models work efficiently and to avoid the complexity that creates technical debt  (the “tax” a company pays in terms of time and resources needed to redress existing technology issues). Chief information officers and chief technology officers can define reference architectures and integration standards for their organizations. Key elements should include a model hub, which contains trained and approved models that can be provisioned on demand; standard APIs that act as bridges connecting gen AI models to applications or data; and context management and caching, which speed up processing by providing models with relevant information from enterprise data sources.
• Build up your testing and quality assurance capabilities. Our own experience building Lilli taught us to prioritize testing over development. Our team invested in not only developing testing protocols for each stage of development but also aligning the entire team so that, for example, it was clear who specifically needed to sign off on each stage of the process. This slowed down initial development but sped up the overall delivery pace and quality by cutting back on errors and the time needed to fix mistakes.

Ensure data quality and focus on unstructured data to fuel your models

The ability of a business to generate and scale value from gen AI models will depend on how well it takes advantage of its own data. As with technology, targeted upgrades to existing data architecture  are needed to maximize the future strategic benefits of gen AI:

• Be targeted in ramping up your data quality and data augmentation efforts. While data quality has always been an important issue, the scale and scope of data that gen AI models can use—especially unstructured data—has made this issue much more consequential. For this reason, it’s critical to get the data foundations right, from clarifying decision rights to defining clear data processes to establishing taxonomies so models can access the data they need. The companies that do this well tie their data quality and augmentation efforts to the specific AI/gen AI application and use case—you don’t need this data foundation to extend to every corner of the enterprise. This could mean, for example, developing a new data repository for all equipment specifications and reported issues to better support maintenance copilot applications.
• Understand what value is locked into your unstructured data. Most organizations have traditionally focused their data efforts on structured data (values that can be organized in tables, such as prices and features). But the real value from LLMs comes from their ability to work with unstructured data (for example, PowerPoint slides, videos, and text). Companies can map out which unstructured data sources are most valuable and establish metadata tagging standards so models can process the data and teams can find what they need (tagging is particularly important to help companies remove data from models as well, if necessary). Be creative in thinking about data opportunities. Some companies, for example, are interviewing senior employees as they retire and feeding that captured institutional knowledge into an LLM to help improve their copilot performance.
• Optimize to lower costs at scale. There is often as much as a tenfold difference between what companies pay for data and what they could be paying if they optimized their data infrastructure and underlying costs. This issue often stems from companies scaling their proofs of concept without optimizing their data approach. Two costs generally stand out. One is storage costs arising from companies uploading terabytes of data into the cloud and wanting that data available 24/7. In practice, companies rarely need more than 10 percent of their data to have that level of availability, and accessing the rest over a 24- or 48-hour period is a much cheaper option. The other costs relate to computation with models that require on-call access to thousands of processors to run. This is especially the case when companies are building their own models (the maker archetype) but also when they are using pretrained models and running them with their own data and use cases (the shaper archetype). Companies could take a close look at how they can optimize computation costs on cloud platforms—for instance, putting some models in a queue to run when processors aren’t being used (such as when Americans go to bed and consumption of computing services like Netflix decreases) is a much cheaper option.

Build trust and reusability to drive adoption and scale

Because many people have concerns about gen AI, the bar on explaining how these tools work is much higher than for most solutions. People who use the tools want to know how they work, not just what they do. So it’s important to invest extra time and money to build trust by ensuring model accuracy and making it easy to check answers.

One insurance company, for example, created a gen AI tool to help manage claims. As part of the tool, it listed all the guardrails that had been put in place, and for each answer provided a link to the sentence or page of the relevant policy documents. The company also used an LLM to generate many variations of the same question to ensure answer consistency. These steps, among others, were critical to helping end users build trust in the tool.

Part of the training for maintenance teams using a gen AI tool should be to help them understand the limitations of models and how best to get the right answers. That includes teaching workers strategies to get to the best answer as fast as possible by starting with broad questions then narrowing them down. This provides the model with more context, and it also helps remove any bias of the people who might think they know the answer already. Having model interfaces that look and feel the same as existing tools also helps users feel less pressured to learn something new each time a new application is introduced.

Getting to scale means that businesses will need to stop building one-off solutions that are hard to use for other similar use cases. One global energy and materials company, for example, has established ease of reuse as a key requirement for all gen AI models, and has found in early iterations that 50 to 60 percent of its components can be reused. This means setting standards for developing gen AI assets (for example, prompts and context) that can be easily reused for other cases.

While many of the risk issues relating to gen AI are evolutions of discussions that were already brewing—for instance, data privacy, security, bias risk, job displacement, and intellectual property protection—gen AI has greatly expanded that risk landscape. Just 21 percent of companies reporting AI adoption say they have established policies governing employees’ use of gen AI technologies.

Similarly, a set of tests for AI/gen AI solutions should be established to demonstrate that data privacy, debiasing, and intellectual property protection are respected. Some organizations, in fact, are proposing to release models accompanied with documentation that details their performance characteristics. Documenting your decisions and rationales can be particularly helpful in conversations with regulators.

In some ways, this article is premature—so much is changing that we’ll likely have a profoundly different understanding of gen AI and its capabilities in a year’s time. But the core truths of finding value and driving change will still apply. How well companies have learned those lessons may largely determine how successful they’ll be in capturing that value.

The authors wish to thank Michael Chui, Juan Couto, Ben Ellencweig, Josh Gartner, Bryce Hall, Holger Harreis, Phil Hudelson, Suzana Iacob, Sid Kamath, Neerav Kingsland, Kitti Lakner, Robert Levin, Matej Macak, Lapo Mori, Alex Peluffo, Aldo Rosales, Erik Roth, Abdul Wahab Shaikh, and Stephen Xu for their contributions to this article.

This article was edited by Barr Seitz, an editorial director in the New York office.

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