Section outline

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  • General Information

    Compulsory course for all first-year doctoral students (41st cycle), but open to all interested parties

    (corso obbligatorio per i dottorandi del primo anno - 41° ciclo - ma aperto a tutti gli interessati).

    Course structure:  

    3 CFU – 24 hours (12 lectures of 2 hours each)

    Teaching Language:

    English

    • Course overview

      The science of law, wrote Hans Kelsen, "is a science that has existed, as a historical fact, for more than two thousand years" and it is no coincidence that legal studies were at the origin of some of the oldest universities in the world.

      Strengthened by a series of principles that have been consolidated over the course of this millennial history, the science of law must nevertheless be able to evolve together with its object of study—the law—in response to changing cultural, economic, material, technological and social contexts in which human communities live and develop.

      Today more than ever, in a world where many of these changes have accelerated at a pace unknown to past generations, those who undertake research in the legal field must be able, on the one hand, to recognise the fundamental and essential methodological assumptions of legal science in its various forms and, on the other hand, to adapt, where necessary, their working methods to changing circumstances and the availability of new technologies, without ever losing sight, however, of the primarily human dimension of both legal phenomena and the reasoning and argumentation skills that are required in this field even more than in other fields of study.

       The common teaching course on Legal Research Method aims to provide doctoral students with

      • an overview of legal science that also takes into account the specificities of different areas of legal research, not least with the aim of facilitating informed interdisciplinary dialogue,
      • the fundamental concepts for developing a critical awareness of the epistemological status of their own research,
      • a series of practical guidelines, including in relation to the critical use of AI tools for research, which can help them to initiate and develop their own research in ways that combine methodological rigorousness with the ability to use advanced research tools and to propose original and innovative perspectives and contributions in their field of study.

      The course includes a first lecture dedicated to reflecting on the epistemological status and methodological specificities of legal science, including a brief comparison of the different research perspectives that can be adopted in legal studies. This will be followed by two practical lectures on how to initiate and write a doctoral thesis in law and a lecture specifically dedicated to the use of AI tools in law. In the remaining lectures, expert lecturers from the main areas of legal research will illustrate the specific features that characterise the research method in their respective fields of study, not only to better guide doctoral students in each field, but also and primarily to encourage dialogue and possible interdisciplinary interactions in the development of research paths.

       

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    • Manuals of style:

      1. The Chicago Manual of Style
      2. APA (American Psychological Association) Style (see also the e-book The concise APA handbook in our library)
      3. MLA (Modern Language Association) Style
      4. OSCOLA (The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)

      Examples of Guidelines for publishing:

      1. Springer Nature Guidelines
      2. Norme editoriali Edizioni ETS
      3. Norme redazionali Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane

      Generic academic guidelines:

      1. https://owl.purdue.edu/
      2. LUISS Library Guides

      Reference managers:

      1. Mendeley (see also Mendeley Citation Hub)
      2. Zotero 

      Proofreading marks:

      1. Chicago Manual of Style Proofreaders' Marks
      2. correttricedibozze.wordpress.com
      3. simboli per la correzione di bozze

      Avoiding plagiarism:

      1. Università degli Studi di Milano: https://sba.unimi.it/index.php/en/how-avoid-plagiarism-0
      2. Harvard University: https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/avoiding-plagiarism-0

      Guidelines for using AI:

      1. Guidelines on the responsible use of generative AI in research developed by the European Research Area Forum
      2. Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia, Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Research
      3. Wiley, Using AI tools in your research 

      Useful texts and books:

      1. Platone, Critone. Brescia, Morcelliana, .
      2. Hans Kelsen, Che cos'è la giustizia? Lezioni americane. Macerata, Quodlibet, 2015, 22021.
      3. Uberto Scarpelli, L'educazione del giurista. Relazione al convegno di studio "Scienze sociali riforma universitaria e società italiana", promosso dall'Amministrazione provinciale di Milano e dal Centro nazionale di prevenzione e difesa sociale, Milano, 17-19 novembre 1967.
      4. Gaetano Carcaterra, Presupposti e strumenti della scienza giuridica. Torino, Giappichelli, 2010, 22012.
      5. Gaetano Carcaterra, La logica nella scienza giuridica. (Estratto da Gaetano Carcaterra, Presupposti e strumenti della scienza giuridica. Seconda edizione rivista e ampliata). Torino, Giappichelli, 2015.
      6. Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer. A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning. Cambridge, MASS., Harvard University Press, 2009. Edizione itialiana a cura di Giovanni Battista Ratti e Vito Velluzzi: Il ragionamento giuridico. Una nuova introduzione. Roma, Carocci, 2016. 

  • Lecture 01 - The epistemological status of the science of law

    Prof. Lorenzo Passerini Glazel

    March 18, 2026

    10:30 - 12:30

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 02 - How to set up and write a doctoral thesis in law - part 1

    Prof. Lorenzo Passerini Glazel

    March 18, 2026

    14:30 - 16:30

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 03 - How to set up and write a doctoral thesis in law - part 2

    Prof. Lorenzo Passerini Glazel

    March 20, 2026

    11:30 - 13:30

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 04 - AI tools in legal research

    Avv. Stefano Ricci

    April 21, 2026

    14:00 - 16:00

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 05 - Research method in History of Law

    Prof. Giovanni Chiodi

    April 22, 2026

    10:00 - 12:00

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 06 - Research method in Administrative Law

    Prof. Monica Delsignore

    May 5, 2026

    11:00 - 13:00

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 07 - Research method in International Law

    Prof. Antonello Tancredi, Dr. Alice Ollino

    May 6, 2026

    12:30 - 14:30

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 08 - Research method in Labor Law

    Prof. Simone Varva

    May 6, 2026

    15:00 - 17:00

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 09 - Research method in Tax Law

    Prof. Nicola Sartori, Prof. Maria Cecilia Fregni

    May 19, 2026

    11:00 - 13:00

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 10 - Research method in Private Law

    Prof. Alessandro Semprini

    May 26, 2026

    11:00 - 13:00

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 11 - Research method in Criminal Law

    Prof. Massimiliano Dova

    June 9, 2026

    11:00 - 13:00

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)

  • Lecture 12 - Research method in Comparative Public Law

    Prof. Simone Gianello

    June 17, 2026

    11:00 - 13:00

    Aula dottorato (U6-2112)