Political Science Subject Guide

Try the following databases to locate scholarly (academic) journal articles.  Do you want peer-reviewed articles?  Many of the databases will allow you to limit your searching to peer-reviewed articles.  Click here to access the full list of Databases selected for Politics/Government.

Try the following Databases to locate newspaper and magazine articles.  Click here to access the full list of newspaper databases.

*FACTIVA HELP--get help with your searches by clicking on the EXAMPLES link to the left of the search box.  To search using field tags (headline, byline, etc.) scroll to the NOTES section at end of EXAMPLES page and click on the link in the third bullet point.  Make sure to use the DATE filter. 

**NEXIS UNI HELP--Click on the SEARCH TIPS link below the search box on the Nexis Uni homepage or the QUESTION MARK on the bottom left of the screen.

Become an expert searcher!!   Check out the following resources for advanced search strategies.

Did you know you can set up your own library in Google Scholar?  Click here for instructions on setting it up--you will be able to save and organize your search results. 

If the full text of the article you need is not available in the database you are currently searching, click on the or Find A Copy link that appears in your results list.  This will take you to the database/s that contains the full text of the article you need.  If we do not have access to the full text here at Hofstra you can use our Interlibrary Loan system (see the information contained under the next tab).

Use the JOURNALS tab to see if the Hofstra Library subscribes to specific newspapers, magazines or journals (e.g. New York Times, American Historical Review, etc.). You will be directed to the database/s that contain full text articles from that journal.  You will also see the years that our subscriptions cover.

If you require a book or journal article not available at Hofstra, you can use our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service to request the material.  Click on the link below.  If you are a first-time user, you will be prompted to set up an account--it's easy and it's free--just remember to use your Hofstra network account.

Are you confused about where to go for what?????  Hopefully, this will help!

• You need to search for articles on a particular topic
  • Use DISCOVERY from the Library homepage.  It is located in the center of the homepage.  DISCOVERY searches across all HU resources.
  • You can also use the gray ARTICLES tab to search for full text electronic articles.  Just be sure to check off RETAIN FILTERS when you modify your search.
  • Type your keywords directly into the search box.
  • Look at your results--items will be identified by material type.
  • Use the filters on the left side of the screen to refine your results.
• You need to search for articles within a particular publication (e.g. New York Times)
  • Click on the gray JOURNALS tab from the homepage and type in the title of the newspaper, magazine or journal you need.
  • The results list will display the databases that contain the full text of articles from that journal and the dates of coverage.  You can click on the publication title to search within that journal.
• You want to search within a particular database (e.g. Politics Collection, Historical Abstracts).  From the homepage, click on the gray DATABASES A TO Z link.
  • Our A to Z list of databases will appear.
  • Clicking on the database name will bring you into that database--input your search.
• You need to find a specific article (ex. your professor asks you to read a particular article, or you have a citation from a bibliography)
  • From the homepage, simply click on the gray ARTICLES tab and then click on the Advanced Search link.  
  • Use the drop down menus to search for your article by title (of the article); author of the article and journal source (name of the journal). 
  • If we have the article, it will pop up; if not, use Interlibrary Loan.