Library Guides: PSC 3340 U.S. Domestic Policy: Find Research

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U.S. Domestic Policy Research
by Evangeline Reid Last Updated Jun 10, 2025 2015 views this year

Government Resources

Bills, Laws, Publications
Data and Statistics

Congress.gov
Official website for U.S. Federal legislative information. Find bills, laws, and other documents from Congress.
GovTrack
Nonpartisan source for legislative documents and information from Congress.
GovInfo
Provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
CRS is a nonpartisan branch of the Library of Congress that provides research services to Congress.

Census Bureau Data
Search by location or topic. For more guidance on finding Census data, contact a librarian, or see the Community Assessment Research Guide.
Data and Statistics About the U.S.
Provides links and information about statistical agencies in the U.S. government.
Data.gov
Open data from the U.S. government.
U.S. Department and Government Agencies Index
Lists websites for individual departments and agencies.
U.S. Federal Government Data Guide - Tulane University
This guide from Tulane University Libraries contains links for government information broken down by topic.

Google Search Tips

Try These Tricks When Searching Online

Tools like these help you find better search results more quickly.

Site:

Use the limiter site: to filter which websites your results are from. Add your own search terms after that.

Domain Name

Ask for websites that end with a certain domain name that may be more reliable or relevant.

site:.gov only returns sites that end with .gov (federally funded government sites)
site:.edu only returns sites that end in .edu (higher education sites)

Website

Search an entire website from the back end with Google.

Quotation Marks

Add quotation marks around a word or phrase in a Google search to:

require all results include that word or phase
specify an exact phrase or spelling

Note: In library databases, quotation marks ask for an exact phrase. Databases assume you require all words to be found.

Tools

Find the Tools button at the top of your search results. When toggled, new options will be revealed, like the option to filter results by the date they were published. You may also choose to use the Google advanced search to get more specific!

How to Use Google Advanced Search
This official Google Search Help page offers step by step guidance about how to use the advanced search tools.

Political Science and Public Policy Databases

PAIS Index
Subjects: energy resources and policy, law, human rights, international studies, political science
Content: index of journals, books, conference papers
Publication date: 1915 – present
This resource covers issues in the public debate through selective coverage of a wide variety of international sources including journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. PAIS International is the current file covering 1972 to present, and PAIS Archive includes the content from printed volumes published 1915-1976. (PAIS Index contains both PAIS International and PAIS Archive.)
Policy File Index
Subjects: economics, law, international studies, political science, social work
Content: reports
Publication date: 1990 – present
Policy File Index is a unique resource for U.S. public policy research. Users are able to access timely, updated information from over 350 public policy think tanks, nongovernmental organizations, research institutes, university centers, advocacy groups, and other entities.
Political Science Complete
Subjects: gender studies, history, international studies, political science
Content: journals, books, conference papers
Publication date: 1965 – present
Politics Collection
Subjects: international studies, political science
Content: full-text and index to journals, working papers, conference proceedings, country reports, policy papers
Publication date: 1914 – present
This collection provides access to renowned databases such as PAIS and WPSA, covering the international literature in political science and public administration/policy, along with related fields. Together, they provide abstracts, indexing and full text coverage of journal articles, country reports, dissertations, think-tank reports, working papers, government documents and more, including full-text from many leading political science and international relations journals.
Social Science Premium Collection
Subjects: anthropology, criminology, education, linguistics, library science, nursing, politics, public policy, social work, sociology
Content: full-text and index of journals, dissertations, ebooks, working and conference papers, etc.
Publication date: 1914 – present
This collection provides access to databases covering international literature in social sciences, including politics, public policy, sociology, social work, anthropology, criminology, linguistics, library science, and education. Featured databases include IBSS, Sociological Abstracts and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Together, they provide abstracts, indexing and full-text coverage of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, and more.
SocINDEX with Full Text
Subjects: criminal justice, gender studies, latino studies, political science, psychology, social work, sociology
Content: journals, magazines, books, conference proceedings
Publication dates: 1908 – present

Search Tips

Keywords

Identify keywords for your topic and brainstorm narrower, broader, and related terms.

Example: Factors that affect academic performance in first-generation college students.

Academic Performance	College	First-Generation Students
Student Success	Higher Education	Children of Immigrants
Student Achievement	University	Minority Students
Learning Outcomes	Community College	Nontraditional Students

Boolean Operators

Boolean Operators AND, OR, and NOT allow you to broaden or narrow your results in the library catalog and databases. You can easily use these to clarify what you need by choosing the advanced search option.

Found too many results?

Add more keywords.

Adding additional keywords to your search can help to further narrow your topic.

Example: college AND first-generation students AND academic performance

Use a filter

Look on the left side for ways you can filter your materials. Here are a few to consider, depending on your needs.

material type - such as a book, newspaper article, or review
peer-reviewed - to find scholarly articles
date - typically to find the most current materials
subject - to find articles about a certain topic

Found too few results?

Try different search terms.

What other words could you use to describe this concept? Brainstorm related terms, synonyms, and slightly different forms of your word or phrase. Also brainstorm broader categories or concepts it belongs to, as well as narrower elements or examples. (See the keywords section above for examples.)

It may also be useful to consider the official, academic, or formal way to write that term. This is more likely to be used in academic writing.

Use fewer search terms.

Sometimes less is more! The more words, phrases, or subjects you ask the database to find, the fewer sources will meet the criteria.

Use OR.

Broaden your search by using the boolean operator OR to link your terms.

Example: (college OR higher education OR university) AND first-generation students AND (academic performance OR student success)

PSC 3340 U.S. Domestic Policy

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