Political Science

Why use scholarly articles?

• Timeliness. In most areas of political science, scholars regularly publish articles in scholarly journals; some of these ideas may be later expanded or combined into books, but articles are often the first format in which new scholarship in political science is shared.
• Variety. Databases will allow you to find multiple perspectives/publications/authors in one place. 
• References/footnotes/bibliographies. If you find an article that's particularly applicable to your research, be sure to explore the sources cited by the author(s); this can be an efficient and effective means to find other related material for your own research.

- this is an EBSCO database, so you can use any search tips/techniques that you've used in Academic Search Complete in the past
- when you find an article that you think will be particularly helpful, click into the detailed record and look at the "subject terms"; these are hyperlinks that will take you to other articles on that topic
- you can also explore the subject terms by clicking on the "Subject" link in the left sidebar after you run a search; clicking "show more" will take you to a screen where you can select subjects and combine them in a new, more refined search

- go immediately to the Advanced Search screen
- below the search area, check the box by "Article" and limit to appropriate disciplines (Political Science, etc.)

- start with a broad search, e.g., "presidential power," "third-party election success," etc.
- when you get your results, use the links on the left under "Subject" or "Subject: Thesaurus Term" on the left side to narrow your search even more; clicking "show more" will take you to a screen where you can select subjects and combine them in a new, more refined search

- this database includes scholarly sources such as , but also conference reports, documents from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other non-scholarly - but still very useful - sources

Depending on your topic, you may find it helpful to consult sources outside the field of political science.  Possibilities might include sociology; women's, gender, and sexuality studies; medicine; etc.  You can find additional databases in these areas by consulting the Research Guides for those areas.

Here are some specific database suggestions; to find these, go to the appropriate letter in our A-Z Resources list.

• For issues of special concern to women and/or families: Gender Studies Database, Family & Society Studies Worldwide
• For topics related to healthcare: CINAHL (a nursing database), ScienceDirect
• For topics related to the environment or the natural world: Environment Complete, GreenFILE