Welcome
This research guide is designed for students doing research in Politics and International Affairs. If you run into any obstacles, don't hesitate to contact me. ~ Rosalind Tedford
Research Methods and Lit Reviews
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SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new windowSupports beginning and advanced researchers in every step of a research project, from writing a research question, choosing a method, gathering and analyzing data, to writing up and publishing the findings.
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The Literature Review (USC)A great guide on writing social science papers in general. This page is for the literature review specifically.
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Literature Review Tutorial (American University)A nice tutorial that walks you through the lit review process
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Literature Reviews (UNC Library)A nice discussion of what a literature review is and ideas on how to get started.
General Political Science Background/Context Sources
Multi-Subject Background Resources
These databases let you search across hundreds of background sources at one time across multiple subjects and disciplines.
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Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
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Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
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SAGE Books This link opens in a new window
Political Science Background Resources
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Europa World Plus This link opens in a new windowCovers political, economic and statistical information about more than 250 countries and territories, as well as international and regional organizations. A starting point for any kind of country research. Coverage: Details not available
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Gale In Context: Global Issues This link opens in a new windowCombines overviews, viewpoints, reference, news, and scholarly material into one search platform for researching a wide variety of global issues.
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CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowContains reports and analysis on issues in the news including health, social trends and issues, criminal justice, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Great resource for background information on current news, hot topics, and social issues. Coverage back to 1923. Coverage: 1991-
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Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowOverviews of research and trends and background information in the Social Sciences and Humanities. WFU access includes the following subject collections: Asian Studies; Communication, Journalism, Media & Culture; Environment & Sustainability; Law; Philosophy; Politics; Religion; Security Studies; and Sociology.
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Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowIncludes a collection of scholarly handbooks in History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religion. Great starting point for background research.
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Oxford Bibliographies Online: Political Science This link opens in a new windowAuthoritative, scholar-developed research guides covering a variety of subject areas. They combine features of an annotated bibliography and a subject encyclopedia, guiding researchers to the best available scholarship on the topic.
Search Tips for Politics
Good searching can shorten your research time significantly. Here are my top five tips for Politics researchers:
- When researching people (or two word countries), put the name in quotes "Nelson Mandela" or "South Africa"
- When researching countries, truncate: 'Mexic*' will find items that have 'Mexico' AND ones with 'Mexican'.
- Be specific: A search for 'female suicide bombers.' is much better than one for 'terrorist methods.'
- Use the various ways of limiting a search that appear on your results screen - most interfaces let you limit by publication date, subject, format and more. Use these to narrow your results list as much as possible.
- Finally, ZSR Librarians are very skilled in helping you find the best search for your topic - just request a meeting!
LC Call Numbers
As a general rule, Js are Politics and Ks are Law so these two areas will be especially useful when doing research in Politics and International Affairs. Both of these call numbers are located on the 4th floor of the Reynolds Wing of the library. But note that not all books on politics are published in these areas. Below are some more specifics about call numbers that might be helpful.
- D, E and F are history call numbers so depending on your country choice, books in these areas may be useful
- HC Economic history and conditions
- HF Commerce
- HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social
reform - J General legislative and executive papers
- JA Political science (General)
- JC Political theory
- JF - JQ Political institutions and public administration
- JS Local government. Municipal government
- JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
- JX International law, see JZ and KZ (obsolete)
- JZ International relations
- KF American Law
