LibGuides: Public Management and Administration: Articles, Studies, Data

Database Searching - Tips

The Library's databases allow you to search for articles that analyse or critique topics.

Combine broad terms with specific terms for best results.

In order to find the most targeted articles, combine two or more search terms that will include BOTH the broader subject and the narrower aspect, angle or specific thesis topic.

For Example:

public education and charter schools

Search for your terms in the Abstract, Title or Subject.

Try getting even more precise results by narrowing your search results to find your terms in the abstract (summary) of the article or the title of the article. This ensures that your terms are the focus of the article, not just mentioned within the text of the article.

Allow for various endings and plurals

Typing a star or asterisk at the end of the stem of a word allows the database to search for ending variants including plural and singular. For example:

educat* finds: educator, educators, education, educating, educate.

NOTE: Be careful to think through the stem you want. For example, auto* will retrieve automotive, automobile and automation and automatic. Type "automo*" instead for articles on automobiles.Use as much of the root or stem as is feasible.

...AND ANOTHER THING!: Though most databases use the asterisk at the end of a stem, some databases use other symbols NexisUni uses an exclamation mark (!). You can look up the correct symbol for each database on that database's help page by searching for the term "truncation", or simply ask a librarian.

Limit your search to academic journals only.

Many databases allow you to limit your search to specific types of journals. If appropriate, look for the term academic journal or scholarly journal and limit your search to those types of journals only.

Databases

The Library subscribes to many databases. Some are multidisciplinary and others are subject specific. Below is a list of more general databases. If your topic is subject specific, search both the databases that specialize in that particular subject as well as the more general databases. The Library's homepage offers a link to databases listed by this subject here.

Academic Search Complete A multidisciplinary database containing articles, many in the fulltext, from academic journals, magazines and newspapers. Try narrowing your search by selecting abstract, subject or title from the pull-down menus next to the search-term box.
CQ Press Electronic Library Provides access to CQ publications available online including CQ Almanac, CQ Researcher Plus Archive, CQ Magazine (formerly CQ Weekly), Political Handbook of the World, Politics in America and Supreme Court Yearbook. Also provides access to these CQ resources now available on the Sage Knowledge Platform: Congress and the Nation, Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court, Historic Document Series, Vital Statistics on American Politics and the Washington Information Directory
CQ Researcher Plus Archive Provides terrific overviews of many different kinds of topics, from legislation to public issues. Each report contains an overview, chronology, bibliography, pro/con arguments and much more.
Econlit Academic journal articles and working papers compiled by the American Economic Association.
ICPSR The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research provides access to an archive of social science data. Datasets are available for statistical manipulation. For advanced users.
Military and Government Collection Historical and current primary source political and government documents as well as articles from academic journals that analyze public policy.
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Papers Full-text of NBER Working Papers from November 1994 to the present -- approximately 500 papers are published annually. The NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals. Key focus areas include developing new statistical measurements, estimating quantitative models of economic behavior, and analyzing the effects of public policies.
PAIS International The Public Affairs Information Service was established to chronicle the world's public affairs, public and social policies, international relations, and world politics. The database contains and index to journal articles, government documents, grey literature and other materials from 1997 forward.
Sage Management and Organization Studies Collection Full-text articles covering all aspects of management and operations practice.
Sage Political Science Full Text Collection This database provides the full-text of articles from a wide variety of political and public policy academic journals. The scope is international and the database contains articles going back nearly 100 years.
Sage Sociology Full Text Collection Full-text articles from Sage publications on social movements, structure and all aspects of sociology.
Urban Studies Abstracts Articles and reports as well as book abstracts about crime and other urban problems, possible solutions, studies of police departments, social welfare agencies, and more.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts Journal articles and book abstracts in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy. Coverage from 1975 to the present.

Think Tanks

Open Think Tank Directory Alphabetical & searchable directory of global think tanks. Also includes related statistical & analytical data.
Harvard Kennedy School Think Tank Search Search for US and International think tanks. Also provides links to other compilations of think tanks.