Research Guides: Comparative Politics: Journals & Articles

Where to Find Scholarly Sources

The library has subscriptions to databases containing scholarly articles in many subject areas, and articles from popular magazines and newspapers. Databases featured in this box are particularly useful for finding information in the field of comparative politics. Should you need help finding sources, please consult a librarian.

Academic Search Complete
A great starting point for research. Scholarly, multi-discipline, full-text journal database designed specifically for academic institutions. Covers the social sciences, education, computer sciences, engineering, language & linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies. Includes full-page images & color-embedded images. Contains over 13,690 indexed and abstracted journals, nearly 9,100 full-text journals, and full-text for more than 7,900 peer-reviewed journals.

Business Source Complete
Journals in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Additional full-text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,300 journals.

Look for country studies within the database. Select PUBLICATION TYPE, then select COUNTRY REPORT

GenderWatch
A strong collection of important, current titles providing users comprehensive support for gender, family, ethnic, and societal studies from both academic and grassroots perspectives. Full articles on topics like sexuality, religion, societal roles, feminism, masculinity, eating disorders, daycare, healthcare, and the workplace. The collection documents perspectives from 1970 to the present. Important perspectives on the evolution of the women's/men's movement.

JSTOR: Journals, primary sources, and books
JSTOR provides electronic access to back runs of more than 2,000 important scholarly journals, more than 60,000 e-books, and over 2 million primary sources. Search by subject or browse full text of scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social science and life sciences, to their earliest issues. Many titles extend as far back as late 19th or early 20th centuries; most recent 3-5 years not included.

Political Science Complete
Provides full text for more than 520 journals, and indexing and abstracts from 2,900+ articles. Also features over 340 full-text reference books and monographs, andover 36,000 full-text conference papers, including those of the International Political Science Association.

Population Index On the Web
Population Index is the primary reference tool to the world's population literature. It presents an annotated bibliography of recently published books, journal articles, working papers, and other materials on population topics. This website provides a searchable and browsable database containing 46,035 abstracts of demographic literature published in Population Index in the period 1986-2000.

Project MUSE
Full-text of hundreds of journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences from scholarly publishers, mostly university presses. Some books also included. Provides 17 research areas ranging from Area and Ethnic Studies to Women's Studies, Gender and Sexuality.

Women's Studies International
Women's Studies International covers the core disciplines in Women's Studies to the latest scholarship in feminist research supporting the curriculum development in the areas of sociology, history, political science and economy, public policy, international relations, arts and humanities, business and education.

World Bank Publications
The World Bank Group consists of five closely associated institutions, all owned by member countries that carry ultimate decision-making power. These institutions are: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); The International Development Association (IDA); The International Finance Corporation (IFC) ; The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). "World Bank" refers specifically to two of the five, IBRD and IDA. (source: World Bank "About Us")

WDI Online (World Development Indicators)
World Development Indicators (1960 to the present) is a complete and authoritative collection of statistics on countries, regions, and economic groupings of the world, as collected and presented by the World Bank. Data series include extensive economic, demographic, social, environmental, educational, and cultural indicators.

Interface allows choice of countries, data items, and years of coverage. Data can be output as Excel or text files, or graphed online.

News Databases

Academic Search Complete

Note: Records from 1994 to the present.

Before searching for foreign news:

Choose "Foreign Language News" in the "Search by Content Type" box
Wait for the page to refresh, then click the "Advanced Options" button below the search box
Limit your search by language, and insert dates if applicable; Press "Apply"
Type in your keyword(s) in the search box and press "Search"

Newspaper Source Plus

New York Times Online
Use this link if you have already set up or renewed your Southwestern account/pass with NYT.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature.

Be aware, you may THINK you know all about Google Scholar, but there are probably some aspects that will surprise you. Always wear your Critical Thinking Hat when using Google to find information.

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Where do I view my articles?

Once you have found an article on your topic in a database, where can you view the article?

Check to see if the full-text is available in the database you are using.
Check the link to Online Journals on the library's home page. Type in the title of the journal you want to find out if the full-text is available in other databases, and for what dates.
Check Worldcat@SU to see if we have the journal in print or on microfilm.
If you can't find the article in any of these sources, you can request a copy through GET IT!

Still need help? Ask a Librarian! Visit the InfoDesk or submit your question in our FAQ page.

Not In Our Collection - GET IT!

When a book or article text is not in our collection, you can make an interlibrary loan GET IT! request for the item. Our library will ask another library to borrow the article on your behalf. The service is free, and you can make requests online. Go the library home page and click on the "Services" to navigate to GET IT!

Scholarly vs. Popular?

Many of our databases, including Academic Search Complete, allow you to refine your search to limit results to scholarly (also called peer-reviewed or refereed) articles. Some others, for example JSTOR and Project MUSE, contain only scholarly material.

Depending on the nature of your research, both scholarly journals and popular magazines can be valuable sources.

If you are unable to find enough information to determine if a journal is scholarly, ask a librarian for help.

Click on Advanced Search. Scroll down to see your options and select peer-reviewed.

EBSCOhost

After searching for your topic in Worldcat@SU, you will want to select peer-reviewed:

WorldCat@SU
WorldCat@SU is the library's online catalog. You can search our collections for books, articles, archival materials, journals, maps, music, videos, and other resources. Other library's collections are searchable, too. Use Get It! to request and borrow those items.