Politics - Databases and Journals - Sociology and Politics - LibGuides at Sheffield Hallam University

What is a journal database?

A database is an online resource that contains information that can be searched. Databases can vary in content for example they can be generic or have highly specialised content. The databases we have in the library collection cover academic subjects and often allow more complicated search options. You can use all these databases to find examples of research,often in the form of journal articles to help you with your assignments and projects.. This research can sometimes be referred to as "evidence", as it helps you express your understanding of a topic.

Politics journals and newspaper databases

ProQuest Social Sciences Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
This collection provides access to databases covering the international literature in the social sciences, including politics, sociology, social services, anthropology, criminology and education. Featured databases include IBSS, PAIS and Sociological Abstracts. Together, they provide abstracts, indexing and full text coverage of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, working papers and more, including deep indexing and full text from over 1000 important social science journals.
SCOPUS This link opens in a new window
Scopus is a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary abstract and database curated by subject matter experts. Scopus is also a citation index, which means that the records in the database contain information on citations made in that publication and it links that information so you can identify which publications have cited that one, and how many times a publication has been cited.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar is a search engine that covers scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and technical reports from broad areas of research. You can use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, as well as scholarly articles available from across the web.
Be aware that Google scholar will find results from sources that SHU does not subscribe to so you may not automatically be able to get full text online. You can take advantage of the SHU subscriptions by going to Scholar Preferences and adding Sheffield Hallam University when prompted for a library name. This will add a SHU Links link to your Google Scholar searches which will identify what you can get via SHU subscriptions. However, we still advise that you access Google Scholar via Library Gateway as this will give you access to the full range of subscribed resources.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR offers researchers the ability to retrieve high-resolution, scanned images of journal issues and pages as they were originally designed, printed, and illustrated.
The journals archived in JSTOR span many disciplines, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. JSTOR is a journal archive and does not include current or recent issues of journals. Because of JSTOR's archival mission, there is a gap, typically from 1 to 5 years, between the most recently published journal issue and the back issues available in JSTOR.The following collections are available for users at SHU: Arts and Science I,II,III,IV and Arts and Sciences Complement. For lists of titles included in collections, please refer to the JSTOR website http://www.jstor.org/about/collection.list.html .

Government, organisational, and statistics sites

These sites provide access to information from government bodies and relevant organisations.

UK government- services, ministries, and departments
Hansard
Record of debates and committee meetings in Parliament.
EUROPA
is the official portal for EU information
United Nations documents
Politics Home
Comprehensive coverage of politics stories
ESRC
supports research in Politics and related disciplines.
IPSA
provides a list of useful links to political science related sites and organisations.

UK Data Service (registration required) This link opens in a new window
UK and international survey and statistical data drawn from a range of respected sources including: United Nations, IMF, OECD, World Bank, International Labour Organization (ILO), International Energy Agency (IEA), Eurostat and UNIDO. Free registration required to access some parts of the database.

Sociology and Politics

What is a journal database?

Politics journals and newspaper databases

Government, organisational, and statistics sites

Archives