Outline

Overview

This is a compulsory unit assessed on a Pass/Fail basis. The aim of the unit is to introduce students to finding and citing primary and secondary legal materials, to legal research techniques, and to electronic databases that students will continue to use throughout the degree. This unit provides the foundation for one of the Learning Outcomes of the degree as a whole: students will learn to skilfully access, synthesise, utilise and manage information through effective legal research strategies and responsible use of appropriate resources, tools, digital and other media.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	LAWS1024
Academic unit	Law
Credit points	0
Prohibitions ?	LAWS1013 or LAWS1019
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Allan McCay, allan.mccay@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Small continuous assessment	Assessed online quizzes (10%) Five quizzes (one on each module)	10%	Multiple weeks Due date: 06 Oct 2023 at 16:00	No time limit. Multiple attempts allowed
Outcomes assessed:
Practical exam ?	Final Exam (90%) A final online test covering all material taught in the unit.	90%	Week 10 Due date: 13 Oct 2023 at 16:00	2 hours
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

This unit is assessed on a Pass/Fail basis.

Assessed quizzes (10%) will be released on Monday 7 August 2023 at 09:00 (Week 2).

All five quizzes must be completed by 16:00 on Friday 6 October 2023 (Week 9).

The assessed quizzes are a series of multiple-choice questions which aim to ascertain the extent to which students:

understand a range of important primary and secondary sources of law,
can find and analyse primary and secondary legal sources using a variety of legal research aids, especially online legal databases and
demonstrate efficient and effective legal research methods, including advanced Boolean searching techniques.

The assessed quizzes are different from the practice quizzes that are embeded in the unit modules and students are responsible for attempting the correct set of quizzes.

Final Exam (90%) will be released and submitted online. It will have a time limit of two hours, but you can choose when to do it within a window of five working days.

The exam will be released at 09:00 on Monday 9 October 2023 (Week 10).

You must submit your completed exam by 16:00 on Friday 13 October 2023 (Week 10).

The final exam is made up of a series of multiple-choice questions which aim to ascertain the extent to which students:

understand a range of important primary and secondary sources of law,
can find and analyse primary and secondary legal sources using a variety of legal research aids, especially online legal databases and
demonstrate efficient and effective legal research methods, including advanced Boolean searching techniques.

Use of editors or proof-readers: The use of assistance in preparing and editing assessment tasks in this unit of study is strictly prohibited. Assistance includes human and automated writing tools (not including spell checking).

Special consideration: Successful grants of Special Consideration may involve alternative tasks, as appropriate.

Assessment requirements to pass a unit of study: A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.

Assessment criteria

This is a pass/fail unit.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Late penalties do not apply to exams or tests and any late submission will not be accepted.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Multiple weeks	Online module 1: Secondary sources	Independent study (2 hr)
	Online module 2: Case law	Independent study (2 hr)
	Online module 3: Case citators	Independent study (2 hr)
	Online module 4: Legislation	Independent study (2 hr)
	Online module 5: Advanced legal research	Independent study (2 hr)
Week 01	Introduction to legal research (online lecture which will also be recorded for later viewing)	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 05	Legal research strategy (online lecture which will also be recorded for later viewing)	Lecture (1 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

There is no attendance requirement for this unit.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester.

Required readings

Referencing: You must use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th edition, 2018) for your footnoting style, and a link to the library website where this is set out comprehensively is available at https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476376

You will be assessed on your use of AGLC in this unit.

Legal abbreviations: A list of the abbreviations found in citations of Australian, New Zealand, and UK cases, with links to law report series, is at http://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/legal_abbreviations

Supplementary readings

There is no compulsory textbook. But if you want to refer to one, the following is recommended:

• Robin Creyke et al, Laying Down the Law (LexisNexis, 11th ed, 2020) chs 16–19

These other textbooks may be useful as further reading:

• Bruce Bott and Ruth Talbot-Stokes, Nemes and Coss’ Effective Legal Research (LexisNexis, 8th ed, 2021)

• Jay Sanderson Drossos Stamboulakis and Kim Kelly, A Practical Guide to Legal Research (Thomson Reuters, 5th ed, 2021)

Be aware that the descriptions of electronic databases that appear in textbooks are likely to go out of date quickly. Textbooks may nonetheless provide useful written explanations of legal research techniques and general advice about how to use legal databases.

You may also find it useful to have a legal dictionary, such as Ray Finkelstein and David Hamer (eds), LexisNexis Concise Australian Legal Dictionary (6th ed, 2020).

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. understand a range of important primary and secondary sources of law
LO2. find and analyse primary and secondary legal sources using a variety of legal research aids, especially online legal databases
LO3. demonstrate and apply efficient and effective legal research methods, including advanced Boolean searching techniques.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since the unit was last offered apart from those relating to dates.

Additional information

Lectures: There are no face to face classes in this unit as the course is entirely online (including the two assessments ).

Leaving aside the assessments for the moment, the course is comprised of two lectures (given by the course coordinator) and most importantly a series of online modules containing the substantial part of the course content. This is supported by a series of optional workshops run over Zoom by the library.

Modules: Students progress through these online modules in a self-paced manner.

Library drop-in sessions: See Canvas for dates.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

LAWS1024: Legal Research

Semester 2, 2023 [Online] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect