bepress Legal Repository

FAQ for Readers

What kind of content can be found in the bepress Legal Repository?

The bepress Legal Repository offers working papers and pre-prints from scholars and professionals at some of the best law schools in the world. Additionally, the bepress Legal Repository includes articles from bepress' roster of peer-reviewed journals Asian Journal of Comparative Law, Global Jurist, International Commentary on Evidence, Issues in Legal Scholarship, Theoretical Inquiries in Law, Journal of Tort Law, Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, and Review of Law & Economics, as well as dissertations from many top law programs.

What is a working paper?

Although many articles within the bepress Legal Repository have gone on to be accepted in peer-reviewed journals and law reviews, a working paper (also known as a research paper or pre-print) is usually a work in progress that has not yet been peer-reviewed.

What are the personalized author websites that I see when I click some bepress Legal Repository papers?

Selected Works is a new, personalized, scholarship distribution network that works in tandem with the bepress Legal Repository. With Selected Works, authors can quickly and easily disseminate all of their works, from published and unpublished articles to presentations, poplar press, books and book chapters, through this highly visible, personalized web page. In addition, scholars can post the full text, link to full text from another website, or just cite their papers. All content posted to Selected Works is automatically included in the bepress repository and benefits from being part of ResearchNow--an extensive collection of quality academic research (over 130,000 papers strong!). To learn more about Selected Works, or to start your own Selected Works site, please visit the Selected Works home page.

Why do bepress versions of papers come up on top in Web searches?

There are multiple reasons. Search engines use a variety of metrics to determine which sites come up first in queries. We work hard to ensure that the bepress Legal Repository, and the content that it features, is recognized as quality material. For example, bepress has a relationship with Google that facilitates their ability to search and index our sites.

How does the bepress repository search work?

With the bepress search, readers type in search terms and the system will search not just the titles and the abstract but the actual full text as well. We have PDF search capability, which means our system allows for a much more powerful and complete search than most. With the advanced function, readers can narrow their focus even more by searching within particular categories, such as author name, subject area, institution, or date. As an added bonus, readers can save their ideal search criteria for subsequent visits, or can choose to be notified of new content through periodic email alerts (bealert).

Can I be automatically notified of new bepress Legal Repository content?

Yes. Bepress notification sends content to you by email. Pathways into our bepress notification service include:

• Email announcements list. Receive notification of the latest bepress legal papers from top institutions such as Yale, Columbia, NYU, University of Michigan and UC Berkeley. The email announcements list includes all papers from all institutional working paper series, all content from the bepress Legal Series, as well as content from our peer-reviewed journals.
• Personalized email notification. The most common way to receive content updates is to sign up for notifications within a particular subject area, for example, civil law, antitrust, etc. You can also receive notification of content that fits any keyword of your choosing, such as an author name, a series name, or a general legal term. You can even use this function to see if people are citing your work by entering your own name as the search term. The system will automatically email you if your name is referenced in any bepress Legal Repository article.

What is RSS?

If you are not interested in getting email alerts, you can also create a bepress Legal Repository-specific RSS feed, which will deliver, directly to your computer, notifications of newly posted Repository content. RSS is a standard for publishing regular updates to web-based content. For more information on RSS and how it works, please visit: //www.feedburner.com/fb/a/about

What is the most common way that people browse content?

The most common way to browse content is by visiting the bepress repository home page and viewing the papers displayed there. New content is automatically highlighted on this page along with the most popular papers on our site.

How are the most popular papers chosen?

Papers are chosen based on the average number of full-text downloads per day since the paper was posted. A full-text download is accomplished when a reader selects the Download the Paper option and allows the PDF to fully launch in their browser.

What other ways can I browse?

You can also find content broken down by author by visiting the Selected Works gallery page and by subject by visiting the Browse Subjects tab on the bepress Legal Repository site. Here, we index all bepress Legal Repository articles within 101 distinct legal categories.

How should papers be cited?

Suggested citations for each paper are located on the paper abstract page. An example:

Gavin Clarkson, "Tribal Bondage: Statutory Shackles and Regulatory Restraints on Tribal Economic Development" (September 2006). University of Michigan Legal Working Paper Series. University of Michigan John M. Olin Center for Law & Economics Working Paper Series. Working Paper 63. //law.bepress.com/umichlwps/olin/art63

Why should I register for an account?

Registering for an account is free and allows you to:

• Control your content. Sign up for emailed tables of contents from specific series
• Stay on top of the latest research. Create a customized alerting service for new papers in your field.
• Participate. Build your own Selected Works site and automatically submit your work to the bepress Legal Repository, allowing your research to reach a wider audience.
  Start your Selected Works site now!
• Get right to what matters. Save your personalized bepress legal searches, so that you can immediately rerun them when you visit the site.