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LexisNexis® Academic provides access to full-text news, business, and legal publications, using a variety of flexible search options. One of the most heavily used databases in higher education, LexisNexis® Academic is available at over 1,500 libraries serving over 8 million students and faculty. It is a standard element in many research and information literacy programs.
Access over 6,000 news, business, and legal sources. The outstanding news coverage includes deep backfiles and up-to-the-minute stories in national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources. Use the included Company Dossier module to retrieve detailed company information and financial performance measures or identify and compare companies matching specific criteria. This product also provides access to the renowned Shepard's Citations® service for all federal and states court cases back to 1789.
Frequently Asked Questions
This section contains frequently asked questions about the LexisNexis Academic. If the answer is particularly long, click on the "More..." link to read the full answer.
General Searching
Should I use the Easy Search or Power Search?
The search form you use will always depend on your research needs. More...
What is the difference between "Terms and Connectors" and "General Language" searches?
A "Terms and Connectors" search uses Boolean-style terms and connectors, such as PUBLICATION() and w/3, to narrow the results set. A natural language search requires just as it says, natural language. Type in words, just as you would with an internet search engine.
More... What are index terms and why and how should I use them?
LexisNexis Academic uses an index to catalog its content. If you are looking for an article, transcript, or case about baseball, you can attach the index term "Baseball" to your search and all the articles that have been indexed about "Baseball" will return. For more information, please visit our page on
SmartIndexing Technology.
What does it mean to search within Document Sections?
A document section is an element within the document such as "Byline", "Date", etc. These sections are useful when you need to narrow your search to something very specific, like an author's name or a word in the headline.
More... Can I search within a particular source?
Absolutely. Click the sources tab at the top of the page and search for your source, or browse the A-Z list. You may search sources by title, country or state, or topic. Once you find a source you'd like to search within, select it and click the "OK-Continue" red button. You may select more than one source at a time.
Are durable URLs available in LexisNexis Academic?
No, but you may create links within the product through URL API Specification.
More... If you need a link fast, use the
Durable URL Maker Tool. Or, if you need a complete list of URLs, download the A-Z list at
the amdev.net site each month. See column Q in the A-Z list for links to the source inside LexisNexis Academic
News
When I click on the "Select Sources" drop-down box, the publication I want to search isn't there. How do I search a particular publication?
The answer is simple: Search the sources!
More... How do I search on all papers from a particular area, like Kansas?
The sources tab will also help you find publications by geographic location. There, you are able to search through "aggregated sources" which include newspapers by state, region, and country.
More... How do I find all articles from a specific issue?
LexisNexis Academic does not have the "browse issue" feature found in some databases. However, you can easily construct a search that will return all articles from a specific issue date.
More... Legal
When I first click on the Legal Tab, why am I taken directly to Law Reviews?
When doing legal research, it is often important to begin your research by searching secondary sources, like Law Reviews. LexisNexis set the order of our legal search forms to mirror the accepted order of legal research: secondary first, primary second. To search cases, simply click on the link "Federal & State Cases" on the right.
How do I search for cases by state?
All states are now listed as sources in the Select Sources drop-down box. Instead of searching the sources, you may select the state right from the search form.
Does it matter which name I put in first on the case name box?
No, it doesn't. Roe v. Wade will return the same results as Wade v. Roe.
What are Shepard's Citations? Why do I need them?
Shepard's Citations are an extremely useful tool for legal research. By entering a case's citation number into Shepard's, you will see everytime that case has been referenced, all treatments of the case, and, most importantly, whether or not the case is "good law." If the case has been over-ruled, it may no longer be cited, and is considered "bad law." To use Shepard's, you can either enter the citation number at the Shepard's Citation search form (listed on the right side, under Federal & State cases) or from inside an actual case, you may go to the "Next Steps" drop-down box in the upper right-hand corner of your document and select "Shepardize" from the list.
Business
What can I find in Company Dossier?
Company Dossier is a critical tool for business majors or anyone doing business research. You can find most public company information for companies including: analysis and basic information, current news stories, company profiles, list of competitors, corporate hierarchy, financial information, legal information, and intellectual property information.
In addition to this, you may use the "Compare Companies" search form to compare up to 5 companies at a time.
People
What can I find through the Biographical search form?
By entering in a first and last name, you can find a variety of things about a person. It is important to remember this is not a background-checking service. Access to individual and personal public records is not available through this search form. Instead, you'll find: general biographical information, executive directories, current congress biographical profiles, legal biographies, government biographies, law directories, legislative biographies, who's who foreign listings, and obituary information.
Related Articles
URL API Specification
Durable URLs for LexisNexis Academic Sources
User-Created Video Tutorials
User-Created Guides
External Links
The following link will lead you to a subscription page. Please see our About Subscription Links article for more information.
http://academic.lexisnexis.com
The Academic listserv homepage is at http://lists.lnacademic.com/scripts/wa.exe
To sign up for the listserv, visit http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/listserv/default.asp
User Guides
See the Academic Binder Series
