Secondary sources are often a great starting point for legal research. However, many secondary sources are copyrighted and not available for free online. However, there are some useful free secondary sources, summarized below. A visit to a local public law library (see More tab) is another option for finding free secondary materials.
Google Scholar searches articles in academic journals (both legal and non-legal) and links to any available free online versions. Click on the "articles" radio button and enter your search terms. To pull up advanced search features, click on the menu button at the top left-hand side of the screen. Use the facets on the left-hand side of the screen to narrow your results.
Law Technology Today (LTT), which is published by the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, provides a free full-text online law review/journal search engine that searches the full text of over 300 online law reviews, journals and academic document repositories.
JStor has an Open Access journals page that allows users to access some items without a subscription.
The Directory of Open Access Journals is an online directory of open access, peer-reviewed journals on a range of topics (including some law journals).
The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) hosts and distributes published scholarly works and working papers related to many academic and professional disciplines, including law via the Legal Scholarship Network (LSN). Use the Search or Advanced Search tools to find papers across all disciplines. SSRN will prompt you to sign in or create an account. If you prefer not to do so, look for the prompt to "Download Anonymously."
NOLO is a leading publisher of self-help materials for consumers. Many of its resources are available for purchase, but it also has a wide range of free resources, including its its Legal Encyclopedia, an extensive collection of legal articles organized by topic, and its Free Dictionary of Law Terms and Legal Definitions.
LII's Wex Articles - Academic Topics provides a free legal dictionary and encyclopedia.
Justia.com has a legal dictionary that is organized by topic and can be searched by keyword.
The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) is a database of open access books on numerous topics, including legal subjects. It can be searched by keyword, or browsed by title, subject, or publisher.
FindLaw's Learn About the Law page contains articles on a wide range of legal topics.
The ABA Journal is a freely available online legal magazine dating back to 2004.
Google's News Archive allows you to search historical newspapers for scanned images. Note that coverage is sporadic.
FindLaw's legal news and general interest blogs cover national legal news on a range of topics.