Where to Search
Use Research Databases to find articles on your topic.
Political Science Databases are a great place to start your research, but other subjects may also be helpful, especially the Multi-Subject Databases.
Many of the articles contain full-text, meaning that the actual article is available in the database.
Databases contain proprietary content from a variety of scholarly journals, conference proceedings, books, dissertations, and more.
Additional databases
For additional government research, try one of these sources.
- Law & Government DatabasesMore than thirty different databases are available in this list of law and government resources.
- Political ScienceMore than thirty databases are available in this list of political science resources.
How to Search
Searching by keywords and phrases. Maximize your keyword searches with Boolean searching:
| AND | aquifer AND drought | all words must appear in the search results |
| OR | streamflow OR "stream measurement" | either word/phrase may appear in the search results |
| NOT | "san marcos" NOT california | search results must include "san marcos, but excludes items "california" Note: some databases use AND NOT rather than just NOT |
Use "quotation marks" to search for phrases.
Consider truncation. The asterisk (*) symbol is used most often and searches for variations of a word:
Entering in stand* will give results containing: stands, standing, standards, standardize, etc.
Try using the database’s subject or descriptor terms. Those are listed in the database’s thesaurus, or they may be listed near the article abstract. These can be useful for learning the preferred vocabulary of a discipline.
Suggested Databases
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Large full-text multidisciplinary collection of scholarly journals, trade/professional publications, and newspapers. 1887-present.
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowReports with overviews, background and timeline of a topic; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from opposing positions. Topics include health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, economy, and global affairs. 1923 to present.
- Public Administration Abstracts This link opens in a new windowJournal and magazine index of all aspects of public administration, such as politics, economy, organization, methods, and personnel. 1974 to present
- Omnifile Full Text, Mega Edition (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
A multi-disciplinary database appropriate for research in all core undergraduate subjects and for cross-disciplinary work. Indexing 1982 to present, full text 1994 to present