Scholarly Articles
The following are good places to look for political science literature. Tip: Usually, it's helpful to start a search trying out lots of synonyms for your topic. Then, narrow your search using the precise subject headings (i.e. tags) each database uses to sort its articles into categories.
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Worldwide Political Science Abstracts(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and some full text)
This is the core disciplinary index to political science journal articles. Broad coverage of political science along with complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration & policy. Covers 1975 - present. -
Annual Review of Political Science(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
Articles from this collection provide a comprehensive overview of the history and current state of research on a particular topic (methodology, major scholars, shifting terminology, disciplinary concerns). A great place to start for Political Science research, 1997 - present.
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JSTOR Security StudiesA full-text collection of journals, ebooks, and research reports in the field of security studies. Subcollections on defense spending, military technology, and warfare, for example. Narrow to "research reports" for policy reports.
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Google Scholar(Searches through citations and the full text)
Use Google's special academic search to locate scholarly articles from across disciplines. On campus, the preferences are set to indicate the Library's full-text access to what you find (links on the right). Use the "cited by" link to see who has cited a particular work you're interested in. -
Project MUSE(Searches through citations and the full text)
Search through the full text of key books and journals from across the disciplines, with emphasis on recent scholarship.
Policy Research
TIP: Also consider using these tools to identify relevant think tanks and organizations and browse or search in those orgs' websites directly.
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Policy File Index(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
Find reports on public policy topics from major think tanks, research organizations, and advocacy groups including the Hoover Institution, International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, RAND Corporation, and the World Bank. Covers 1990-current. -
CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online(Searches through citations and abstracts)
Find scholarship on theory and research in international affairs, including working papers, conference papers, and government reports. 1991 - current.
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Policy ArchiveA growing digital library of policy papers; already at 30,000+.
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Find PolicyKeyword search across 17 major think tanks on US public policy. Choose topics at top to narrow search to specific think tanks.
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Issue LabFrom the Foundation Center. Searches for policy documents across thousands of think tanks and organizations.
Journals
These are some of the core Political Science journals you might find relevant to your search. Keep in mind, however, that this list is simply to get you started and the important journals will vary depending on your topic.
Locate the full text of a journal using the Gould Library A-Z List.
