Research Guides: Social Research and Public Policy: Public Policy

Finding Journals & Articles

Social science and public policy research encompass of variety of information resources. Although academic, scholarly or peer-reviewed articles and publications are considered the most appropriate sources for university-level research and writing assignments, you might also have need of general magazine and news articles. Before using the recommended article databases to start your research, here are a few tips when choosing databases:

Start your research in a general article database such as EBSCO Discovery or ProQuest Central.
Use subject-specific databases such as Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA).
If your assignment requires the use of scholarly, academic or peer-reviewed articles, try databases such as JSTOR

Public Policy Databases & Resources

Subject-specific databases provide articles and resources solely within a specific discipline. This section lists the best public policy and political science databases providing coverage of scholarly literature across all major public policy and political areas and sub-disciplines.

Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is a source for theory and research in international affairs. It includes scholarship, working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals, case studies for teaching, and policy briefs.
PAIS International
PAIS International contains journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies for public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations.
Policy File
Policy FIle offers access to U.S. foreign and domestic policy papers and gray literature, with abstracts and links to timely reports, papers, and documents from think tanks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research institutes, advocacy groups, agencies, and other entities.
ProQuest Political Science
ProQuest Political Science gives users access to leading political science and international relations journals. This collection provides the full-text of core titles, many of which are indexed in Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. New to ProQuest Political Science are hundreds of recent, full-text, political science dissertations from U.S. and Canadian universities, as well as thousands of current working papers from the Political Science Research Network.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration.

Policy Paper Resources

PAIS International
PAIS International contains journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies for public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations.
Policy Commons
Policy Commons is a large database for public policy, with millions of reports, working papers, policy briefs, data sources, and media drawn from a directory of more than 20,000 IGOs, NGOs, think tanks, and research centers. Community tools allow users to upload, share, and discuss their discoveries. The following modules are available:
- Global Think Tanks
- North American City Reports
- North American Urban Documents
- Public Health and Social Care
- World Cities
- World Governments

Institute for Social and Policy Studies (Yale University)
"The Institution for Social and Policy Studies advances interdisciplinary research in the social sciences that aims to shape public policy and inform democratic deliberation." (About ISPS)
Annenberg Public Policy Center
Policy briefs and research on the role of communication in politics, adolescent behavior, child development, health care, civics and mental health, and other areas.
Center for Strategic and International Studies
CSIS is a bipartisan, non-profit organization focused on "defense and security; regional stability; and transnational challenges ranging from energy and climate to global development and economic integration."
RAND Corporation
Provides research in a variety of areas such as arts, civil justice, education, national security, public safety, and other areas. Select the "Research" tab to find research briefs and other policy-oriented publications.
IssueLab (The Foundation Center)
"Access to thousands of case studies, evaluations, white papers, and issue briefs addressing some of the world's most pressing social problems."

NBER Working Papers
World economic data and publications from the National Bureau of Economic Research. Includes access to full text of NBER Bulletins and selected books from 1921 to current, and economic data.

World Bank Policy Research Working Papers
A collection of policy research working papers, policy research reports, and world development reports in the World Bank's Archives.
Find Policy
Use the custom search to explore policy from 17 leading think tanks working on foreign policy, in the US and Europe.

Legal analysis

HeinOnline
This database has five major library collections: the Law Journal Library, the Federal Register Library, the Treaties and Agreements Library, the Philip C. Jessup Library, and the U.S. Supreme Court Library. These libraries are fully searchable image-based PDFs, enabling users to view all pages as they originally appeared in hardcopy including all charts, graphs, and photographs. Furthermore, the coverage are from the inception of each publication.
Thomson Reuters Westlaw Campus Research
TR Westlaw Campus Research provides access to a comprehensive and widely-used indexing system for caselaw materials to make legal research easier, more accurate, and more relevant.
Westlaw Middle East

Westlaw Gulf and Lexgulf have been integrated and upgraded into Westlaw Middle East and provides online legal information, including legislation and cases from the Middle East through to insights into the latest industry news.

NOTE: UAE cases are not always available in English.
Lexis Advance
Lexis Advance gives you access to more than 60,000 legal, news and public records sources, breaking legal news, and access to the latest federal decisions.

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Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Non-governmental Organization Search Engine
Search of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) websites. Sites were chosen based on their consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and also collated from University of Minnesota Human Rights Library, Duke University Libraries' NGO Research Guide, and the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO).
World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO)
Directory of NGOs around the world.
UN Database of NGOs
Directory of NGOs around the world.
NGOs Directories
Searchable database of policy research and analysis.

Think Tanks

Think Tank Search (Harvard Kennedy School)
Both a directory of U.S. and international think tanks, as well as a custom Google search of more than 250 think tank websites.
Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (International Relations Program, UPenn)
Includes research on the role of think tanks in society, as well as the Global Go To Think Tanks Report, which looks at think tank trends and issues, and ranks think tanks in a variety of areas (by region, by research interest, by achievement, etc.).