Political Science Research  

Research is a process:

• Choose a topic that really interests you.  Start with your textbook and course materials. Your professor can be a big help in pointing you in a good direction. Then browse reference sources, newspapers, or even Google for other ideas. 
• Explore what kind of information is available.  See what others have published in books or periodical articles that you could develop into a topic.
• Develop and use a Search Strategy:
• Once you have identified a topic, write it as a question.
• Think of as many words as you can to describe your topic. Add more words, subject headings, and descriptors that you find as you search.
• Combine the terms for your online searching using Boolean Logic (AND, OR, NOT) to get more relevant sources
• Be flexible:  Modify your topic as you discover more information.

You can find academic books and articles via the Libraries Webpages