Political Science

A successful research project or paper starts with a topic that is the right "size". If your topic is too broad or too big, you'll find too many sources. If your topic is too narrow or too small, you won't find enough sources. You may need to brainstorm different aspects you want to focus on in order to help you narrow your topic.

For example, researching 'body cameras in policing' will give you too many resources to create a focused paper or assignment. If you're unsure how to narrow your topic, use the "W" questions:

WHO - Is there a particular population you want to focus on?

WHERE - Is there a particular location you want to focus on? A particular city or region? Urban areas or rural?

WHEN - Is there a particular time frame you are interested in?

WHAT - What aspects are interesting to you? (Be curious!)

WHY - Why is this topic important?

For more help narrowing your topic, check out this tutorial on creating research questions:

Library databases each contain and search different resources and are more focused than OneSearch. Use these databases to find sources for your assignments. Not sure which one to use? Ask a librarian and we'll be happy to help you choose the right one!

Searching for newspaper articles in library databases is different from looking at news websites. 

Library databases contain the "paper of record," -- which may differ from the articles you see on the newspapers' websites. 

If you see an article online and want to find the full text in the library, you may need to search multiple ways:

• Article title
• Article author
• Browse by date
• Look at articles from several dates

Use the following newspaper databases to find news on many current events. Each database has different coverage dates. If you need help finding a specific article, ask a librarian and we'll be happy to help you!