Introduction to U.S. Politics
Political Science 001
Professor Elsa Chen

Search Strategy

  • Before you start your research, try focusing your topic by writing a one sentence research question.
    For example: What roles do caucuses, primaries, and political conventions play in the process of nominating a presidential candidate?
  • Identify the main ideas in your research question.
    • caucuses
    • primaries
    • political conventions
    • presidential elections
    • nominations
  • Then, boil the statement down to keywords, or the most important elements of your issue.
    For example: caucuses, primaries, conventions, president, elections, nominations
  • Use an asterisk to find variations of a word.
    For example: president* will find president, presidents, presidential
  • Then, separate the keywords with the "and" and "or" connectors (without the quotes).
    For example: (caucus* or primar* or convention*) and (president* or election* or nominat*)

Finding Books on your Topic

  • Go to the Library Homepage http://www.scu.edu/library/.
  • Go to OSCAR (the Library's catalog).
  • Click on subject or keywords to perform your search.
  • Enter your search terms in the box.
    • Subject search
      For example: primar* (retrieved 51 citations)
    • Keywords search
      For example: primar* and president* (retrieved 57 citations)
  • If too many or too few citations are retrieved, try narrowing or broadening the terms you use.
  • These books are available for checkout at the University Library. You must have a valid SCU ACCESS card to check them out. 
  • Or, if the books you want are not available at the Library, you can utilize LINK+. For further information on LINK+, go to: http://www.scu.edu/library/services/bx/link_plus.html. You must have a valid SCU ACCESS card to use LINK+.

Finding Articles on your Topic

  • Go to the Library Homepage http://www.scu.edu/library/.
  • In the Quicklinks section, go to the Library's Database A-Z list or choose a database by subject.
  • Enter your search. Most databases use "and" and "or" connectors, as well as the asterisk.
  • You will need to input your name and barcode number from the back of your ACCESS card to access any of these databases from off-campus.

Some good Political Science Databases are:

If your article is not available full text in the database you searched:

If the database does not have your article in fulltext, look for the Find It @ SCU Libraries link on the citation page and/or in the list of results. This will provide other options for getting the article.
  • If the date of your article is available in another database, click on the name of the database. You will either be connected to the journal or a database that has the fulltext of the journal. You may have to search for the article again.
  • If the journal is in the University Library Print Holdings, click on the link to check the Library's holdings in OSCAR. If the Library has the dates of your articles, come to the Library to read the article or make a photocopy.
  • If the article was published in approximately the last year, check the Library current journal shelves located on the 2nd floor. The most recent edition of the journal is visible with earlier editions under the flip-up shelf.
  • For older articles, request the appropriate date/volume in OSCAR from the Automated Retrieval System (ARS) and pick up the volume(s) at the Library Circulation Desk.
  • If the Library does not have the journal title either electronically or in print, you can fill out a Bronco Express interlibrary loan request form and the article can be sent to your GroupWise e-mail account. You need a valid SCU ACCESS card to place a Bronco Express request.
If you already have a citation, you can access the same options by using the Journal Finder located on the left side of the library home page.

Citation Guides

The most common citations guides are the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Chicago (Turabian) guides. The APA and Chicago styles are most frequently used in Political Science. For this class, the most important thing is to choose one style and to follow it consistently.

Examples of each style are available at http://www.scu.edu/library/research/find/citation_guides/. This page also lists the print volumes housed in the Interim Library which provide many more examples.

Ask a Librarian

Still don't know where to start your research or need help with your search strategy, try asking a librarian:

"Ask a Librarian" is the Library's 24/7 research support service. Librarians are available around the clock to help you find books and other library materials. Visit the Ask a Librarian page to view the five different ways you can get library-related help from a pro!

Created by Paula Popma on October 15, 2004
Last Revised by Paul Neuhaus on May 16, 2008