Welcome to the POLT 317 Research Guide
This guide is designed to support student research in POLT 317 by highlighting key resources, databases, and strategies.
Politics Key Resources
The following are some best bets for starting research in International Politics.
For a full list of databases at Oberlin, check out our Databases A-Z, which you can filter by Subject for Politics – World.
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PAIS Index (Public Affairs Information Service) This link opens in a new windowCovers all aspects of U.S. public policy and international affairs. Includes references to journal articles, books, government documents, grey literature, research reports and documents by NGOs, conference papers, and statistical reports. Dates of Coverage: 1915 to date
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Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Articles, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, and conference proceedings in all fields of political science, including international relations, international law, and public administration and policy. Dates of Coverage: 1975--
The following are some best bets for starting research in United States Politics.
For a full list of databases at Oberlin, check out our Databases A-Z, which you can filter by Subject for Politics - American.
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PAIS Index (Public Affairs Information Service) This link opens in a new windowCovers all aspects of U.S. public policy and international affairs. Includes references to journal articles, books, government documents, grey literature, research reports and documents by NGOs, conference papers, and statistical reports. Dates of Coverage: 1915 to date
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State & County Quickfacts This link opens in a new windowProvides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more.
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Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Articles, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, and conference proceedings in all fields of political science, including international relations, international law, and public administration and policy. Dates of Coverage: 1975--
Search Strategy
Here is a good, basic formula for getting started with your research:
- Begin by narrowing down your topic and developing an initial research question.
- Use the keyword brainstorming worksheet to help you tweak your research question, identify keywords and related terms, and keep track of what you find.
- Use Search.Libraries to find books and reference sources. These sources will:
- provide BACKGROUND and CONTEXT
- REVIEW and SUMMARIZE earlier work
- help you FOCUS your topic and
- provide CITATIONS to important books, journal articles, conference papers, interviews, etc.
- Next, search research databases to find articles. The library has hundreds of databases; those listed on this guide are good places to begin.
- You may also wish to use Google Scholar to search the Internet. This is a great tool for doing cited reference searches.