Political Science: Finding Articles

Use the resources on this page to help you locate scholarly articles for your research in Political Science. 

OneSearch is a library search tool that allows you search almost everything the Dacus Library owns or subscribes in one platform. It is a great place to begin your research. 

Check out the tutorial to learn more about using OneSearch for your research. 

Google Scholar is another helpful search tool. You can use Google Scholar to find scholarly sources like peer-reviewed articles, dissertations, theses, and books all with the familiar Google interface. You can connect Google Scholar with Dacus Library so you will see library links when you're searching. 

There are a lot of words that you will hear and wonder "what does that actually mean?" Here are some explanations:

Peer-Review (Refereed): The process an article may go through prior to being published. Peer-review involves multiple experts in a particular field reading an article, making comments and suggestions, and sending back to the author for revision. Not all articles are peer-reviewed.

Scholarly: An article whose intended audience is experts in their field and is written by experts. While most scholarly publications are peer-reviewed, they are not always. However, if an article is peer-reviewed, it is typically scholarly.

Popular: Articles that are published without going through the peer-review process. They are typically written for the general public. Examples of resources that offer popular articles include The New York Times, Time, and People. Popular articles may be edited, but this is not the same as peer-review.

Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct  connection with it. In scientific research, primary sources are original research. Examples of primary sources include diaries, journal articles presenting new, original research, interviews, or speeches. 

Secondary Sources provide analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation of primary sources. Examples of secondary research are textbooks, journal articles that review or analyze existing research, and literary criticism.