Political Science 150

Politics: Conflict, Power, and Justice
Fall 2006

Getting Started

Reference Sources

Look at some of the following reference sources (both print and electronic), to get an idea of both the breadth and depth of possible paper topics about conflict, power, justice, and politics.

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Print Resources

  • The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Institutions, R 320.03 B632
  • The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought, 1st ed., R 320.03 B632L ~ 2000 edition available electronically through NetLibrary
  • Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations, R 327.73 B894c 2003
  • Dictionary of American Conservatism, R 320.5203 F485D
  • The Encyclopedia of Democracy, R 321.803 E56
  • Encyclopedia of Nationalism, R 320.5403 S675
  • The Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion, R 322.103 E56
  • Encyclopedia of the European Union, R 341.242203 E56 2000
  • Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements, R 341.2303 O83e 2003
  • The Europa World Year Book, R 341.184 E89
  • From Suffrage to the Senate: An Encyclopedia of American Women in Politics, R 320.082
  • Political Systems of the World, R 320.3 D428P1996
  • State and Local Government, R 320 S797Lg
  • The Statesman's Year-Book, R 320.5 S797

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Electronic Resources

  • CQ Researcher ~ issued weekly, this resource examines key topics extensively, giving readers a look at the many sides of an issue. Lengthy bibliographies and resource lists are helpful.
  • Culturegrams ~ this electronic version of the print resource allows you to look up information on the cultures of 182 countries and territories.
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library ~ a collection of respected reference books, available full-text online in their entirety. Titles include Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, Counties and their Cultures, and Encyclopedia of the American Constitution.
  • xreferplus ~ a resource accessing the full-text of over 150 books, including The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science, the Peter Collin Dictionary of Government and Politics. You can also access and sort out statistics from the 2000 U.S. Census, as well as search the contents of the CIA World Factbook.

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Some Key Political Science Journals

  • American Journal of Political Science
  • American Political Science Review
  • Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
  • The Journal of Politics
  • Political Science Quarterly
  • Political Research Quarterly
  • The Review of Politics

All of these journals are available electronically as well as in print or microfilm. Search for them by title in the Alphabetical List of Journals and Magazines Available Online. Consider browsing the current issues of these periodicals to get an idea of the topics and thoughts of political scientists.

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Finding Books

Use I-Share to find out what books the library owns. You can use keyword searching on the Guided Search page, or search for a particular author or title on the Quick Search page.

You can use I-Share to search the holdings of 64 other libraries throughout the state. Items not available here can be ordered from other libraries using Interlibrary Loan (ILL). You can also use your Jaypass to check out books from other libraries in person.

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Subject Headings

Using subject headings to search for items can ensure a more targeted search. Below are some sample subject headings, which you can use on the Quick Search page.

  • Balance of Power
  • Authority
  • Liberalism -- United States
  • Political stability -- Persian Gulf Region -- Case studies
  • State, The
  • Feminism -- Political Aspects
  • Ideology
  • Separation of Powers
  • Legislative Bodies
  • Anarchism
  • Socialism, Christian
  • Utopias
  • Right and left (Political science)
  • Human rights -- History -- 20th century
  • United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989
  • State-sponsored terrorism -- Chile -- History -- 20th century
  • China -- Foreign relations -- United States
  • Human rights

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Finding Articles

  • Academic Search Premier ~ Full text, both scholarly and popular articles; evaluate sources carefully
  • Lexis-Nexis Academic ~ A vast collection of newspaper articles, legal information, and reference resources
  • JSTOR ~ Full text scholarly articles; will have journals dating back to the beginning of a journal's publication, but will not have the most recent articles
  • Project MUSE ~ Full text scholarly articles; covers 1996 to the present; available on campus only

These are just some of our databases. Look at the Political Science Databases page for more options. Experiment -- some databases may provide unexpected results.

Not all databases will have the article you're looking for online. Check our Alphabetical List of Journals and Newspapers Available Online to see if an article is available through another database. Also check I-Share to see if the journal is available in print or in microfilm.

If a journal is not available here, you can order a copy of the article through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

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Web Sites

Check these web sites for ideas for your thesis. These sites may also yield references to appropriate scholarly articles and books for your literature review.

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Evaluating Sources

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Writing and Citing

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Created 5 September, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines
Last updated 7 September, 2006 by Peg Cook, Assistant Reference Librarian
A.C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College