Source Gathering

Source-gathering is necessary to verify that authors who have submitted articles for publication to the Journal have correctly characterized the authority that they are relying on, and have not made citation mistakes. More often than one might think, professional writers misread and misquote other works, misspell the names of sources, and cite to wrong page numbers. Our job is to catch these errors before an article goes to print.

Because the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal is international and deals with “policy” as opposed to just “law,” gathering sources for a particular article might involve a journey to the far reaches of the University library system. Thus, do not be surprised if much of your time working on the Journal during the first year is spent navigating the Health Sciences labyrinth or trying to find a particular wing of the Suzzallo-Allen complex. When you get lost or lonely, talk to the librarians. The library is their home. They can help.

I. The When, Where, How, and Why of Source Gathering

A. Receiving a Source Gathering Assignment

Typically, a Journal member will receive a Source Gathering assignment in his or her Pac Rim mailbox. The member can also expect to receive an email communication putting them on notice that they have received an assignment, or will receive an assignment shortly. Unlike QA, you will not receive an electronic version of your assignment.

B. Extent and Timing of the Assignment

The email notifying the member of the assignment will state the time by which the assignment is to be completed and will detail the footnotes within the Article that the member is expected to source gather. Assignments are typically due in a week or more, depending on the exigencies of the production schedule and when the Article was submitted for final approval.

C. Source Gathering

The procedure for source-gathering is fairly straightforward. After you have been assigned an article that has been accepted for publication, you will be asked to help collect copies of all of the works that the article cites. Although you will be checking out books for the Journal, you will use your own UW id card. In all cases please try to find a hard copy of the source through the UW libraries, Orca, or inter-library loan. If you find a source by electronic means please print out the source in its entirety.

Mark each source with a post-it identifying the footnote(s) to which the source corresponds.

Place the sources on the source shelf marked with the author’s name.

D. Completion of an Assignment

When you have finished gathering the sources, return the assignment to the production inbox so we know that you have found all the sources. If you are unable to locate a source, please highlight the source and let us know personally so that we can join the search as soon as possible.

II. Sources for Sources

For those having a difficult time locating a particular source please consult the following list for possible places to search:

Orca

Westlaw & Lexis

Marian

Inter-library loan

Law librarians: Reference, Circulation, as well as Bill and Rob (in the East Asian section of the law library)

UW librarians

Google

UN Website (for UN Documents)

Remember that your fellow members (2Ls & 3Ls) are resources too. Ask around, chances are someone at sometime has found a similar source.