Course resource help for International Relations and Politics

If you want to look to journal articles on a topic:

• LibrarySearch is a good place to start. Just type your keywords or a phrase in the search box. At the results screen, use the the filter options on the left to limit your search to peer-reviewed articles.

• Use a database, especially for more in-depth research because LibrarySearch doesn’t cover all of our e-resources. Key databases for IR and politics are listed below.

• Check How to use Academic Search Complete (video guide)

• Check the guide Database search tips for International Relations & Politics, available as a Word doc and PDF.

Academic Search Complete

The best place to start your research, this is a large multidisciplinary database with good coverage of politics & international relations journals. Contains lots of full text articles.

HeinOnline

Includes a large collection of full-text journals It focuses on US and international law but can be very useful for international relations topics.

Business Source Complete

Major business database which includes management, economics and finance, but is also good for international issues and includes country profiles. Mainly full text.

EconLit

Key economics database with many journal articles available full text.

Communication & Mass Media Complete

Key database for topics relating to intercultural communication, media, social media, and society

Historical Abstracts

Key database for world history, including political history. 

JSTOR

Multidisciplinary database providing an archive of older full-text articles from a wide range of academic journals.

IBSS - International Bibliography of the Social Sciences

IBSS covers a wide range of social science disciplines, including politics and international relations.

Sociological Abstracts

Covers a broad range of subjects including sociology, political theory, social anthropology. Covers material published since 1952. Also includes cited references for all journal articles indexed on the database since 2002.

Web of Science

In spite of its name, this database covers all subject areas. It's particularly useful for tracking citations to key articles. On Web of Science you can view an article and see a list of the author’s 'Cited References' - those sources that influenced the author. You can also see the article's influence on subsequent publications via the 'Times Cited' option.

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A multi-disciplinary collection of 583 journals, from 35 African countries, 306 of which are Open Access

Policy Commons

Database for policy-related grey literature. Organisations around the world (e.g. WHO) upload and share their policy documents. 

Journals Online

Project looking to promote good quality Southern research. If you are looking to decolonise your project with sources from the Global South you can search collections or find individual journals. 

What are academic journals and why do I need to use them?

Academic journals are key sources for your IR and politics studies.

• Articles published in these journals are written by specialists in the subject and they provide an insight into current thinking, debate and research in the field. 
• Journals can be good sources of up to date information on current topics which may not be covered by books. 
• Articles can cover a specific topic in depth, e.g. a case study. 

This guide Anatomy of a Journal (PDF) from the Open University explains clearly what a journal is, and how they differ from books.

What are peer-reviewed articles?

You will often be asked to consult peer reviewed articles for your research. These are high quality scholarly articles that have been checked by other experts in the field. 

The peer review provides feedback so that researchers can revise and improve their papers before publication. It also acts as a quality check, ensuring that articles meet high standards expected in the discipline and required to maintain the reputation of the journal. Find out more about the purpose of peer review and how it works in this Explainer: what is peer review?

How do I look for a specific journal?

• Go to the Library home page and select the 'Journal titles' tab.

• Type in the journal title. 

• Find the journal on LibrarySearch and click on the title. 

• Click on the 'Access journal' link to connect to the journal home page.

How do I look for a specific journal article?

If you have the details of a specific article you may be able to use LibrarySearch to find it. Type the article title and author in the LibrarySearch

Alternatively you can look up a specific journal title and browse or search through back issues:

• Go to the Library home page and select the 'Journal titles' tab. Type in the journal title. Find the journal on LibrarySearch and click on the title. Click on the 'Access journal' link to connect to the journal home page.

• If you're looking for a specific article, start by browsing for the year on the journal home page. Use the volume and issue numbers to find the correct journal issue. Articles in each issue will be listed in page order, so use the page numbers to find the specific article.

How do I look for journal articles on a topic?

1. Use LibrarySearch
LibrarySearch is a good place to start looking for journal articles on a topic. Just type your keywords or a phrase in the search box. At the results screen, use the the filter options on the left to limit your search to peer-reviewed articles.

2. Use databases
We recommend you also use databases, especially for more in-depth research because LibrarySearch doesn’t cover all of our e-resources and you may get better results on a more specialised database. 

How do I reference a journal article in my work?

1. Record the details of the article when you find it so that you can include it in your reference list. Make sure you have a record of: Author(s); Title of article; Title of journal; Year of publication; Volume number (if given); Issue number (if given); Page numbers.

To do this, you could:

• Create a Google doc or Word document where you store your reference details.

• If you have found the article through LibrarySearch, you can save the link to the record.

• Use EndNote to save and store reference details and then add them to your written work.

2. Check Cite Them Right Online for guidance on how to use these details to create a Harvard style reference for this journal article. 

Most reading lists are available online via the relevant Moodle course. You can also search the full collection of reading lists or browse online reading lists for:

• International Relations (UG and MA)

• Politics 

• Economics

New books for Sociology, Politics & International Relations - browse recent additions to library stock.

Finding books and eBooks

To find a book, use LibrarySearch and type in the author, title or subject that you are interested in. Limit your search results to books.

Print books have a call number which tells you where the book is shelved in the Library, for example 323.6094 BEE. The main section for print books in International Relations and Politics is on Level 2 in Zone D of the Headington Library.

Find out more from the guide: Finding books and eBooks for International Relations
and Politics available as a Word doc and PDF. It includes useful sections to browse in the Library.

If the book is on loan to another user or at one of our other libraries, you can put a hold on it (quick video guide). If it's on the shelves, it's quicker for you to go and get it yourself.

If it’s an eBook, follow the 'View e-Book' link to connect to it. Log in when prompted with your Brookes student number and password. In order to download many of our eBooks you need to have the Adobe Digital Editions programme or app on your computer/device. You can download this for free.

Further help

• Welcome to LibrarySearch - A short video guide to using the basic functions of LibrarySearch

• Find out more about accessing and downloading eBooks

• How to save and cite sources in LibrarySearch (Google slides)

Reference books and dictionaries

• OED online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.

• Oxford Reference Online This is a collection of Oxford University Press reference books on a variety of subjects including Politics. Individual titles from the collection are also listed on LibrarySearch.

News sources

• Factiva is an international news database. It covers national newspapers, local newspapers and web sources, as well as trade and professional journals and company financial details. 
  A guide to using Factiva to find newspaper articles (video)

• Lexis+  is a law database which includes articles from UK national and regional news sources.
  How to use Lexis+ - see the section 'How to search newspapers'

For more help with tracking down news sources and how to identify fake news, see our News and current affairs guide.

Check Cite Them Right Online for guidance on how to reference newspaper articles in the Harvard style used at Brookes.

For historical news sources, see the section 'Historical sources' below.

TV programmes and films

Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is a service which gives you access to thousands of recorded TV, radio programmes and films from an online archive. Note that you will need to sign in with your Brookes login details each time you use BoB and the first time you access it, you will be prompted to create an account. This allows you to create your own playlists and clips, and ask for programmes to be added to the collection. 

Learn more from the BoB Video Tutorials

Check Cite Them Right Online for guidance on how to reference BoB programmes in the Harvard style used at Brookes.

Statistics

Our Statistics page provides links to UK and international statistical sources

Country reports

Annual country reports can be useful sources of information about the economic, political and social situation of individual countries:

• Use the database Business Source Complete  to run a search for the country name plus 'country report' (e.g. Nigeria country report).

For further help, check this video guide produced by the Brookes Business Librarians

Databases covering older academic sources

• JSTOR Multidisciplinary database providing an archive of older full-text articles from a wide range of academic journals. It also includes books, images and primary sources
• HeinOnline Includes a large collection of full-text journals and primary sources. It focuses on US and international law but can be very useful for international relations topics, politics and displomacy.

Historical journals and magazines (late 17th C - early 20th C)

• British Periodicals is an archive of hundreds of full text periodicals from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth, covering history, literature, music, philosophy, drama, archaeology, architecture, science, art and the social sciences.
• Nineteenth century UK periodicals, series 1 provides access to digital editions of nearly 100 periodicals, including many full runs, published between 1800 and 1900. 

Newspapers (late 18th C - 20th C)

• The Guardian and The Observer 1791 - 2003 (via ProQuest). The complete digital edition of the Guardian (1821 - 2003) and the Observer (1791 - 2003) with all articles, advertisements and illustrations. Use the 'Publications' option to browse the different versions of these newspapers published over the years.

• Times Digital Archive 1785-2007 (via Gale Databases). The complete digital edition of The Times (London), with all articles, advertisements and illustrations.

• Seventeenth & Eighteenth century Burney newspapers collection (via Gale Databases) a digital archive of 17th and 18th newspapers, pamphlets, proclamations and newsbooks published in England, Ireland and Scotland, plus a selection of papers from British colonies in the Americas and Asia. Use the 'Browse' option to view which titles are included.

• British Library newspapers (1800-1900) (via Gale Databases) - this collection covers contains digital editions of over 60 national and regional British newspapers from the 19th century. Use the 'Browse' option to view which titles are included. Note we have access to the collections 'British Library Newspapers, Part I: 1800-1900' and 'British Library Newspapers, Part II: 1800-1900'. 

• NewsVault (via Gale Databases) allows you to cross-search all of the Gale historical collections we subscribe to. This covers: Seventeenth & Eighteenth century Burney newspapers collection; British Library newspapers (1800-1900); Times Digital Archive 1785-2007; 19th Century UK Periodicals.

See the 'News sources and websites' section above if you want more contemporary newspapers.

Books (15th C -)

Historical Texts has the full text of over 350,000 books published in Great Britain from 1475-1900. It consists of 3 databases which can be searched individually or together:

• Early English books online (EEBO) Contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700. Full text.

• Eighteenth century collections online (EECO) Contains digital images of 150,000 books published during the 18th Century. Full text.

• British Library 19th Century collection Gives full-text access to over 65,000 19th Century books, covering philosophy, history, poetry and literature.

Other primary historical sources 

• Historical government publications
• History primary sources is a selection of primary sources, both online resources and print books which are anthologies of primary sources.

See the guide to Government publications below.

 

Websites

• Remember that you need high quality reliable sources for your university work. Take a look at our guide to Evaluating Web sources for tips (Word and PDF versions available).

• The online publication The Conversation contains articles written by academics for a general audience on topics currently in the new and contains links to freely available resources, including statistics. This can be a good starting point for getting ideas on how to approach a research topic.

• Selection of useful websites for IR and Politics

Check Cite Them Right Online for guidance on how to reference web pages and how to reference publications of international organisations in the Harvard style used at Brookes.

Images

For high quality photographs & other images, try these digital image databases:

• Bridgeman Education

• ARTstor

• JSTOR database offers an image search enabling you to find high-quality images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more.

Collections of high quality, free to use photos and images:

• Unsplash

• Pexels

• Pixabay

Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an online archive of films, TV and radio programmes. You can create your own clips from programmes and include them in presentations. Learn more from the BoB Video Tutorials

Exam papers

These are available for download by Brookes students and staff from RADAR. Check this quick video guide Finding past Oxford Brookes exam papers on RADAR

Dissertations

Past undergraduate and MA dissertations for IR and Politics are kept in the Department, rather than the Library. They are held in Gibbs 1.03 (access 9.00-17.00 only). To view these dissertations, you will need to ask in the Programme Administrator’s Office. 

Some MA dissertations may be available online via the eDissertations collection on RADAR.

Undergraduate Business dissertations are located in Headington Library and this includes dissertations done by Economics, Politics & International Relations students. You can use LibrarySearch to look for them - see this blog post for tips: Finding business dissertations.

The Library does hold all Brookes PhD theses in hard copy: these are listed on LibrarySearch and can be requested at the JHB Library Help Zone. Online versions of many Brookes PhD theses are also available via the eTheses collection on RADAR.

If you are looking for a UK PhD/MPhil thesis, you may be able to obtain a copy online via the British Library's EThOS system. You can search across 250,000+ theses for free and download / order full text where available. You will need to register and log in if you want to download a thesis or to order digitisation of a thesis.