LibGuides: POLS 431/531: Congress (Schaal): Background of your Policy Issue

Finding Peer Reviewed Articles on your Policy

Use the databases below to find articles related to your policy issue. All of them provide access to peer reviewed articles. See notes for details.

Tips: Use the articles mentioned in the literature review in a relevant article you find to identify other relevant articles. Also many databases have a "Cited by" feature which will show you which articles within the database cite the article you are looking at.

JSTOR
Do a keyword search to find articles on your topic. According to JSTOR nearly all of their journals are peer reviewed. Keep in mind that some of the content is much older than today's standard peer-review process. Using quotes around phrases may help you create a shorter, more relevant results list.
Description: JSTOR allows you to search across approximately 2,000 journal titles from more than 50 disciplines. It contains complete backfiles of scholarly journals starting with the first issues, many of which date back from the 1800s. Although the majority of titles do not have the most recent 3 to 5 years available in full text, there are some which have the current issues available.

Note: Additional content has been permanently added to JSTOR, including archived journal collections and primary resources. Searches performed using the databases page link will include results from the additional sources, as will the link above.

Time Period: 19th century to present
Sources: Provides the full text for approximately 2,000 journals.
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Business, Education, English & Linguistics, General, Health, History, Humanities, Law, Mobile, Music, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences, Technology
Primary Materials: Citations, Journal Articles, Reviews
Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
This database indexes prestigious journals in the field of Political Science and other social sciences. Search using keywords related to your topic, putting phrases around quotes. You can refine your results list using the "Web of Science Categories" limit in the left column of the results list. One of the core requirements for inclusion in the Social Science Citation Index is that the journal is peer reviewed.
Description: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) allows you to see who has cited who/ what in any of the most cited 3,000 journals in the social sciences. It also allows you to search for articles on topics.
Time Period: 1956 to present
Sources: 1
Subject Headings: Education, English & Linguistics, History, Humanities, Law, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Social Sciences
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Citations
Academic Search Complete
Academic Search Complete indexes hundreds of Public Policy journals and includes the full text to many. The database has a peer review limit in the left column of the results list as well as the "Times Cited in this Database" feature.
Description: Good database for most research topics and contains lots of full text and peer reviewed articles.
Time Period: 1909 to present
Sources: Indexes nearly 20,000 Academic and peer reviewed journals and magazines and provides full text for more than 5,700.
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Business, Education, English & Linguistics, General, Health, History, Humanities, Law, Music, News, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences, Technology
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Case Studies, Citations, Conference Papers, Images, Journal Articles, Magazine Articles, News, Other, Reviews
PAIS International
PAIS International is a public policy database that indexes a variety of content including peer reviewed journals. Do a search using keywords that describe your topic. There should be a peer review limit in the left column of the results list. Use quotes around phrases.
Description: Key database for the field of political science and public policy issues. Includes PAIS Archives 1914-1976.
Time Period: 1914 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 3,800 journals.
Subject Headings: History, Law, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Social Sciences (Political Science)
Primary Materials: Journal Articles

Finding Information about the History of a Policy

Nexis Uni
Description: Nexis Uni provides access to newspaper articles, magazine articles, and transcripts. It is also a key database for business and legal research, containing company reports, law journals, and statutes and cases from all 50 states. Also contains legal resources for Canada and the EU.
Time Period: 18th century to present
Sources: Searches more than 15,000 sources.
Subject Headings: Business, General, Law, News, Social Sciences
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Citations, Journal Articles, Legal Materials, Magazine Articles, News, Reference Resources, Report, Transcripts

CQ Almanac
This title, also known as "CQ... almanac plus" and "Congressional Quarterly Almanac," can be helpful in determining the history of a policy. Using the index in the back of each volume, you can find where your policy topic is mentioned.

The link above goes to a OneSearch results list with links to each iteration of the title. The title of the most recent volumes is "CQ Almanac." This includes the years 2007-2010.

Congressional Research Service Reports (University of North Texas)
The Congressional Research Service Reports database contains taxpayer funded reports by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which is the non partisan public policy research arm of Congress. The reports were intended to inform Congress on a variety of topics and are in the public domain, yet have not been made available to the public by the CRS.
Note: This site is not affiliated with Congressional Research Service. The reports is compiled are hosted as a public service by the Government Documents Department at the UNT Libraries.
Description: The Congressional Research Service Reports database is one of the collections of the University of North Texas Digital Library. It contains taxpayer funded reports by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which is the public policy research arm of Congress. The reports were intended to inform Congress on a variety of topics and are in the public domain, yet have not been made available to the public by the CRS.
Note: This site is not affiliated with Congressional Research Service. The information is compiled and made available as a public service by the Government Documents Department at the UNT Libraries.
Time Period: Current
Sources: Contains more than 15,000 Congressional Research Service Reports.
Subject Headings: Law, Social Sciences (Congressional Research Service Reports)
Primary Materials: Report

Congressional Reserch Service [CRS] Reports
Same type of reports as above but arranged by broad subject category. This arrangement might be helpful at the topic selection stage of your assignment too.