Guides: POL 325: Congress and the Presidency: Databases

Searching in Library Databases

TIPS FOR SEARCHING IN LIBRARY DATABASES

Start the initial search process with 2-3 keywords. Review the results and pull out a handful of articles that are most relevant to your topic. Scan those articles for additional keywords or terminology that you might use to expand your search.
Sort your search results by Date Newest so the most current information on a subject is at the top of your results.
Use the "Cited References" and "Times Cited in this Database" features contained in many library databases to view a list of resources that have cited the particular article currently being viewed in their own work or are contained within the Reference list of the current article being viewed.
Do not limit your search to just one database. Instead look at a variety of databases both subject specific and interdisciplinary to make sure you are viewing the full scope of literature published on your topic.

FINDING PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES
Many of our databases make the process of locating peer-reviewed information very easy for us by providing a "Peer-Reviewed" checkbox limiter on the search screen. Look for that checkbox when you're searching in library databases!

Peer-Reviewed Sources
Use this information sheet for criteria to look for in a peer-reviewed article.

What Databases Should I Use?

BEST BET DATABASES
Start your search with these library databases!

HeinOnline
HeinOnline Academic includes more than 100 million pages of multidisciplinary content in more than 100 subject areas, including history, political science, criminal justice, religious studies, international relations, women’s studies, pre-law, and many more. With more historical content than any other database, HeinOnline provides access to 300+ years of information on political development and the complete history of the creation of government and legal systems around the world.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A collection of core scholarly journals, many going back to the first volume. Emphasis is on back issue coverage and does not include the current 3-5 years, unless Gordon has a current subscription to the journal. JSTOR provides long term preservation for journals.

OTHER HELPFUL DATABASES

Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
Provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources—including thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning. Includes extensive coverage in key subject areas such as biology, chemistry, economics, environmental science, history, marketing, political science, and psychology.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Statistics portal integrating statistics and other quantitative data on over 80,000 topics including media, business, finance, politics, and more.

Evaluating Web Content

Google Scholar is a great starting place for initial research. Unlike a regular Google search, Google Scholar attempts to connect you with more "academic" content then information typically found on the web.

As with any web searching important evaluation work will still need to be done on each of the resources you are looking at. Use the following criteria to evaluation the information from Google Scholar or other web searches.

AUTHORSHIP
Websites can be produced by individuals or organizations.
Reputable websites will have authorship information easily visible,
including both the authors' names and credentials.
ACCURACY
To use information in your research it must be judged accurate and
verifiable before use.
CURRENCY
Look for the publication date of the website, frequent updates, and
dates for specific articles.
CONTENT
Does the information provided by the website meet your research need?
PURPOSE
A website's purpose is the reason it was created. This should be very clear.
Note that some websites might present opinions as facts but they are
actually attempting to sell a product or persuade you.

Evaluation Web Resources
Use this information sheet for criteria to look for in evaluating web articles. Including a list of evaluation questions.