This research guide is intended to help you get started with your POL 490: Honours Seminar research project. 

If you need help, please contact Baharak Yousefi, Librarian for History, International Studies, Graduate Liberal Studies, Political Science at or byousefi@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian

Getting Started

• For a step-by-step guide to researching your topic, see Start Your Research Here
• For one-to-one help with writing your paper, contact the Student Learning Commons

Background Information

Do you need some basic definitions or background information?  Try these subject-related resources:

• Concise Oxford dictionary of politics and international relations
• Dictionary of politics and government
• Encyclopedia of governance
• Encyclopedia of power
• Encyclopedia of U.S. campaigns, elections, and electoral behavior
• International encyclopedia of social media and politics
• Oxford encyclopedia of foreign policy analysis

Or check out our Online Reference Sources page for links to general encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, etc.

Using Library Search and the Library Catalogue

Library Search is the Library's default search engine. Use it to start your search on new or unfamiliar topics.  Journal articles, books and other online material can be found with Library Search.   

Use the SFU Library Catalogue to find books, articles, films, government documents, journals, newspapers, maps, and other media in the Library's collection.

Use the Library Catalogue's advanced search option  or use a subject specific database to focus your searching.  

Tips and strategies are described in the Library Catalogue search guide  and the power searching guide.

Identifying search terms (keywords)

Before searching the Library Catalogue or databases, think about your topic. Break down your topic into concepts or keywords. Think of synonyms for each keyword or concept.  Keep your mind open to new or alternative words that describe your topic. Create search strings that can either broaden (using OR) or narrow (using AND) your topic. 

Combining terms

Here is an example of a search string using BOOLEAN operators (AND and OR) to get the best results. My topic is "the impact of social media on voter behaviour:"

facebook AND voter behaviour (remember the term AND ensures that both terms will be in the library records that appear)

you could also try to broaden your results by using synonyms or word variants:

i.e. (facebook OR twitter) AND (voting OR elections)

Journal articles and databases

See Databases in Political Science for a complete list of subject-related journal article databases online.  Some recommended databases for course-related research topics include:

• Political Science Complete: Journals, reference books and monographs, and conference papers on political topics with a worldwide focus.
• International Political Science Abstracts: Abstracts of political science articles published in journals and yearbooks around the world.
• CBCA Complete: Comprehensive Canadian periodical collection for reference and current events.
• PressReader: Full-text of current issues of newspapers from around the world in full-color, full-page format. Includes thousands of newspapers in over 40 languages from Canada and internationally.

Other general databases that may also be of interest include:

• Academic Search Premier:  A large, multidisciplinary database that can be a good starting point for most research topics.  It has articles from both popular magazines and scholarly journals.  [Can you distinguish between the two?  See What is a Scholarly Journal? for help.]
• Google Scholar: Allows you to search for scholarly publications in a wide variety of subject areas via Google.  *Tip: Make sure to connect through the library website's Journal articles & databases page (instead of through the Web) for access to additional content available to SFU users.

Other SFU Library Research Guides

For more help and additional resources, you may also wish to check out these related SFU Library research guides:

• Government Information Resources
• International Studies Information Resources
• Communication Information Resources

Citing and Writing

Once you decide you want to use a particular article, book, or website, make sure to save the citation information. This is very important, as you will need to cite all your sources (i.e., create a reference list / bibliography).  Citations give accurate information about where you found the sources you are using in your paper. Citing is important because:

• your professor or another researcher can use your citations to find the original sources you read for your paper
• you are acknowledging that your ideas were borrowed from someone else

For help, check out the library's quick guides to APA, MLA, and other styles listed on our Writing & Style Guides page.

Good luck -- and don't forget to Ask A Librarian for further help!