PSCI 4520: Human Rights

How to Find Articles

• Databases help you find both scholarly and popular articles 

• Find links to the library databases through the Electronic Resource page 

Scholarly Articles and Popular Articles

• Scholarly articles are published in scholarly journals and allow the authors to report their research findings to others researchers, scholars, and students. Scholarly articles are also called Peer-Reviewed because field-specific experts reviewed the articles before publication.

• Popular articles are often published in magazines and newspapers and are intended for a general audience. The contents of the articles are of general interest and often cover current events. 

Search for Background Information

• Before starting your search you will need to know information about your topic. The best places to look are academic encyclopedias, subject guidebooks, or subject-specific dictionaries. 

• Credo Reference allows you to enter keywords about your topic to find entries published in thousands of academic reference works. 

• When reading about the background of your topic record key concepts, legislation, books, theories/theorist names, etc. This information will be helpful when searching the databases.
• Literature Reviews are also good places to find background information and to identify key research studies on your topic. You may search for literature reviews by including the keyword review when searching the databases. For example, if you search using the following keywords: Infant AND parental relationship AND review; you will find literature reviews that include the keywords infant and parental relationship.
• You may also find literature reviews by searching the database Annual Reviews. Annual Reviews publishes systematic reviews covering over 50 different fields. Search the Political Science Annual Review here. Note that the UNT Dallas Library does not subscribe to all the Annual Review journals. Please submit an interlibrary loan request for any needed review not available in full text. 

Where to Start Searching

• Start by searching a multi-database search engine such as Ebsco EDS or ProQuest Central

  • Multi-database search engines allow you to:

    • Search more than one database at once

    • Find related information from several different fields

  • See the Ebsco EDS and ProQuest Central Quick Guide or Database tutorial for more information. 

Where to Search Next

• Continue your search with subject-specific databases related to your topic area. 

  • Field Specific databases search articles published within a single field

  • You will receive fewer results but they will be more relevant to your subject

• Try searching the following databases

• Political Science Database: Provides access to hundreds of leading political science, public policy, and international relations journals. It also includes thousands of recent full-text doctoral dissertations on political science topics, together with working papers, conference proceedings, country reports, policy papers, and other sources. 

• Military and Intelligence: Subject-specific database providing journals, magazines, and reports covering historic and present information on military affairs. Subject areas include governmental policies, the socioeconomic effects of war, the structure of the armed forces, and more.

• HeinOnline: HeinOnline is a premier online database for legal information (law journal, case law, International Treaties and special collections such as Civil Rights and Social Justice, History of Capital Punishment, LGBTQ Rights, Slavery in America and the World, and Women in the Law.

• JSTOR: Provides deep archives of many key journals back to the first issue. Please note that JSTOR does not have access to the most recent journal volumes. 

• PsycINFO: A key database that provides a comprehensive index of interdisciplinary bibliographic records that allows for targeted discovery across the full spectrum of behavioral and social sciences. 

• PsycARTICLES: Provides access to the full text of over 119 research journals published by the American Psychological Association.

• Religion and Philosophy Collection: Comprehensive database covering topics such as world religions, major denominations, religious history, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of language, moral philosophy and the history of philosophy.

Literature Searching through Scopus

Scopus' literature search is built to distill massive amounts of information down to the most relevant documents and information in less time.

Scopus provides the ability to search the list of cited references in articles, books, etc.

Searching Scopus

Documents include journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, articles in press, and data papers. Follow the steps below to learn how to perform a basic document search:

• Enter your search terms into the Search documents box [1]
  • By default, Scopus will search in the Article title, Abstract and Keywords of documents
• You can specify in which fields to search using the drop-down menu [2]. 
• Use the +Add search field [3] option to add additional fields 
• Each new search field is combined using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT 
• To see a complete list of advanced field codes, select Advanced document search [4]

Scopus results page and Refining Results

From the left-hand menu, you can:

• Search within your results
• Read publication abstracts
• Select only open-access documents (lOpen Access Gold are articles that are available to read without restrictions).
• Use filters to limit or exclude results from your search, including, but not limited to:
  • Access Type
  • Publication Year
  • Keyword
  • Affiliation
  • Author Name
  • Subject Area 
• Click cited by number to see a list of publications that cited the result publication.

Export to RefWorks

Click RefWorks export from the results page (See the above Screenshot) a box will appear, select ExLibris RefWorks, and then the Export button. The references will then be sent to your RefWorks account.  

Scopus Tutorials

Access the UNT Dallas Library electronic resources.

The following databases provide background information that may be useful when beginning the research process. 

How to Request Articles, Book Chapters, and Books through the Tipasa Interlibrary Loan and Ebsco EDS

Often when searching the library databases (such as Ebsco EDS or ProQuest Central) you will find items such as articles that are not available as full-text links. You may request access to articles, book chapters, or books by submitting a Tipasa Interlibrary loan request. Interlibrary loan links will appear in the search results or you may submit interlibrary loan requests directly through your Tipasa account.  

1. From the database search results page click on the Request through interlibrary loan link.

2. Your Tipasa account will open to the request page. Fileds related to the request will be filled out. Review and update any informaiton then scroll down to the bottom of the page.

3. Review the About my Request section. Provide a Need by date.

Need By Date

• Please note that an article and book chapter will be delivered electronically. Please enter a 1-2 week need-by date.
• Book requests will be fulfilled through a physical book. Please provide 2-3 week need by date. 
• Requests will expire after the need-by date passes and Tipasa will no longer work to acquire the item requested.
• You may resubmit the request or contact the interlibrary department for further information. 

Copyright Acknowledgement

• Review the Copyright Acknowledgement
• Check the box to acknowledge the statement

Click Submit Request