Contents
Print Resources | Online Indexes and Databases
E-Journals | Other Full-Text Resources OnLine
Useful Web Sites | Course Syllabus

This guide is intended as a starting point in your research; the databases and reference tools listed here are a selective list.  Always remember that you can ask for assistance at the Barnard Reference Desk at any point in your research, and you can always request a consultation.  For a more complete list of electronic databases for political science check Columbia's Databases: Social Sciences list or Columbia's Databases: Law and Legislation list.

PRINT RESOURCES

Reference Books
Use for:

• an overview of a topic
• background information
• bibliographies.

Here are some examples:

These indexes and databases will probably be the most relevant to your research.

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
Citations for articles from over 100 countries in more than 90 languages, in the disciplines of anthropology, economics, political science and sociology, from 1951 to the present.

International Political Science Abstracts
Abstracts for articles in the field of political science, including public administration, political theory and international relations, published in journals and yearbooks worldwide, 1989 to the present.

Kvinnsam
An international index to journal articles and essays in books dealing with all aspects of women, feminism, and gender studies, from 1981 to the present.

PAIS International (Public Affairs Information Service database)
Citations and abstracts for articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs, 1972 to the present.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Abstracts of books and articles from professional journals and major news magazines, devoted to North American and international politics, 1976 to the present.

Social Sciences Full Text
Abstracts for journal articles on anthropology, business, community health, economics, foreign affairs, geography, international relations, law and criminology, medical care, political science, politics, psychiatry, psychology, public welfare, social work, and sociology, 1983 to the present.

Social Sciences Citation Index
Cited references, bibliographic information, and abstracts, with some links to full-text articles, in various areas including anthropology, communication, criminology & penology, demography, economics, education, ethnic studies, health policy & services, industrial relations & labor, international relations, planning & development, political science, psychology, public administration, public health, social sciences, transportation, urban studies, and women's studies, 1973 to the present.  Useful for tracing which authors cited a given article or book because all references cited by each article are listed in the database

Women's Studies International
Citations for articles on women's studies, gender studies, employment, family planning, feminism, feminist studies, feminist theory & history, gender, gender studies, international feminism, political/social activism, racial/ethnic studies, reproductive rights, sex discrimination, women’s studies, 1972 to the present.

E-JOURNALS

Many scholarly journals are available on the Web. In some cases, the library has a subscription to the print version, and then access to the online version is free to members of the university community.  In other cases, the library pays for the online subscription separately.  Sometimes the journal is included in a searchable collection of journals supplied as a package by the publisher or by another vendor.  These collections are included on the list of Databases (Reference Works & Indexes) on the Barnard Library home page.

Searchable Journal Collections

Ingenta
Offers a single point of access to over 900,000 full-text articles published in the last 5 years, mainly by UK publishers.  Political science journals include the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Electoral Studies, Journal of Politics, Peace & Change, Political Geography, Political Psychology, and Political Quarterly.

JSTOR
An archive of full-text articles from more than 600 scholarly journals on anthropology, economics, education, finance, history, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology, statistics, etc., from each journal’s first issue up to 2 to 6 years ago.  Contains major political science journals, including American Journal of Political Science (1973-1998), American Political Science Review (1906-1996), Philosophy and Public Affairs (1971-1994), Political Science Quarterly (1886-1995), and World Politics (1948-1995). 

Project Muse
Full-text articles from more than 100 scholarly journals published by university presses in the humanities and social sciences.  Political science journals include Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Human Rights Quarterly, Journal of Democracy, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Washington Quarterly, World Politics, etc.

ScienceDirect
Full-text articles from journals in the areas of physical, medical, technical, and social sciences.  Political science journals include Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Electoral Studies, Food Policy, Government Information Quarterly.  Use “group-wide login” to enter the database.

Lists of E-Journals Available at Columbia

List of e-journals available on Columbia LibraryWeb:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/ejournals/

List of e-journals available at Columbia Law Library (can only be accessed at Law Library):
http://library.law.columbia.edu/inddb.html#journals

OTHER FULL TEXT RESOURCES ONLINE

There is a multitude of other kinds of full text resources available online, other than journal articles.  For example, government bills, reports, newspapers, newsletters, statistics, and hearing transcripts.  Here are some of the databases available through the Columbia Library system which provide access to these resources.  They are all on the list of Databases (Reference Works & Indexes) on the Barnard Library home page.

Contemporary Women's Issues
A selected full-text resource (some material is abstract only) for information about women in over 190 countries. Particularly useful for material relating to current topics in the social sciences disciplines, such as political science, psychology, reproductive rights, as well as contemporary cultural studies. 

Ethnic NewsWatch
Full-text database of articles from the ethnic and minority press in the United States, 1991 to the present.

FactSearch
Facts and statistics about current social, economic, environmental, and political issues, 1984 to the present.

Jane's Online 
Full-text database of journals, annuals, and reports on defense, the military and security.

Lexis-Nexis Academic
Full-text coverage of general news, medical, legal, business, governmental and reference topics.  Coverage varies by source; generally begins in mid-1980s.

ProQuest Direct
Full-text articles and abstracts from newspapers and periodicals in many disciplines, including international affairs, law, psychology, public affairs, sociology, women's studies, from 1988 to the present.  For scholarly journals, click on "Databases selected" at top, clear all databases and select Research Library, click on "Continue" at top, and select Advanced Search.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers 
Contains full-text articles from the Chicago Tribune (from 1890),  LA Times (from 1881), New York Times (from 1851), Wall Street Journal (from 1889), and Washington Post (from 1877).  

ENDNOTE

EndNote bibliographic software is available for downloading, free of charge, to all current Barnard and Columbia students from the AcIS software server at http://www.columbia.edu/acis/software/endnote.

Consult the page EndNote at Columbia for more details, the EndNote Manual, particularly Chapter 3, that is downloaded to your computer along with the program (saved as C:\Program Files\EndNote\EndNote.pdf), and the online tipsheets that deal with specific topics.

USING ENDNOTE TO FIND REFERENCES AND USE THEM IN A PAPER

For each project, open an EndNote library where you will put your references.  The default location for saving libraries is C:\Program files\Endnote\

USEFUL WEB SITES

Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs.  It includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs.

Council on Foreign Relations  Web site includes full-text articles, transcripts of speeches and testimony, and reports designed to provide the interested public with reliable, clear, nonpartisan information on key international issues.

Institute for Global Communications (IGC)  The Website of the nonprofit IGC offers progressive groups a place on the Internet to exchange information.  Includes separate sections: PeaceNet; EcoNet, WomensNet, and AntiRacismNet. 

International Monetary Fund (IMF)  Website of the IMF has articles, reports and working papers, on economic issues,  policy analysis, countries and news.

Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)  Reports and articles on the Middle East, translated from Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.

United Nations  Has materials about global issues on the UN agenda, key UN documents, statements of the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General, etc.

World News Connection (WNC)  A foreign news service of the U.S. government that offers an extensive array of translated and English-language news and information, covering socioeconomic, political, scientific, technical, and environmental issues and events.

Last Modified 9/7/04
Lois Coleman
Reference Librarian
Barnard College Library