LibGuides: Policy Studies: Journal Articles

Library

Journal Articles

Databases are really useful when searching for journal articles. They search across lots of journals at the same time and their search engines are more powerful and advanced search engines than Google or Library Search. You may need to search across multiple databases to find a broader range of literature. They are trustworthy, scholarly sources with clear citation information.

Tips on using databases

If you want to know more about the resources you will find in a particular database, click on the i symbol to see more information.

The following databases may be useful for your subject:

Multidiscipline Databases

Multidisciplinary databases do not include research on a specific topic. This makes them particularly useful for subjects that span several disciplines. Depending on your area of research, the databases for Sociology or Politics students might also be of interest to you.

African Journal Archive This link opens in a new window
African journal literature originating from a wide base of publishers and societies on the African continent
China Academic Journals via CNKI This link opens in a new window
Please note: full text downloads of patents is temporarily suspended from April 2023.This is due to Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC) imposing new oversight requirements on specific content types appearing in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)
China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), is a database of Chinese knowledge-based information resources. This platform covers journals, theses, proceedings, newspapers, books and ancient books.

Please note: before accessing full text pdfs, you should ensure that you have the Simplified Chinese Font Pack for Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Please note: full text downloads of patents is temporarily suspended from April 2023.This is due to Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC) imposing new oversight requirements on specific content types appearing in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)

China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), is a database of Chinese knowledge-based information resources. This platform covers journals, theses, proceedings, newspapers, books and ancient books.

Please note: before accessing full text pdfs, you should ensure that you have the Simplified Chinese Font Pack for Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Gale Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
Gale Academic OneFile provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources, including videos from BBC Worldwide Learning to thousands of podcasts and transcripts from CNN. It includes more than 11,000 peer-reviewed journals (more than 8,000 in full text).
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) This link opens in a new window
The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) is an essential online resource for social science and interdisciplinary research. IBSS includes journal articles and to books, reviews and selected chapters dating back to 1951. It is unique in its broad coverage of international material and incorporates over 100 languages and countries.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.
SciELO Citation Index on Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Science, social science, and arts and humanities research in published in open access journals from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean and South Africa.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus includes references to journal articles, conference proceedings and books relating to science, technology, medicine, social sciences and arts & humanities.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
International literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.
Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
Search the world’s leading scholarly journals, books, and proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.

Includes: Science Citation Index; Social sciences Citation Index; Arts and Humanities Citation Index; Arts and Humanities Citation Index; Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science; Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Science & Humanities.

Policy Documents

These databases index materials produced by those who create or seek to influence policy. This includes Governments, charities, think tanks and NGOs.

Eldis This link opens in a new window
Eldis provides free access to relevant, up-to-date and diverse research on international development issues. Eldis is hosted by the Institute of Development Studies.
Overton This link opens in a new window
NB: This database can be browsed on campus without signing into the Overton site. Off campus, users need to register on the Overton registration page with their @bristol.ac.uk email address. Overton allows users to discover policy documents in 180 countries and explore their links to each other and to the academic research that has informed them. Overton indexes work from governments, universities, IGOs, NGOs, research funders, publishers and think tanks to understand their role in the policymaking landscape. Users can track the evolution of ideas all the way from academic and think tank research to government reports and legislation.
Policy Commons This link opens in a new window
Use Policy Commons to discover and follow high-quality policy research from 210 countries and territories produced by world’s leading policy experts, charities, think tanks, IGOs and NGOs. Includes publications from inactive organisations that may not be available elsewhere. For help with searching see https://coherentdigital.net/resources2-1

Children and Young People

These databases are useful for finding resources about children and young people. If your topic involves education or schools, you might find it useful to look at the databases for students in the School of Education.

British Education Index This link opens in a new window
The British Education Index provides information on research, policy and practice in education and training in the UK. It covers all aspects of education from preschool to higher education. Sources include education and training journals, mostly published in the UK. Some international literature is included.
Child Development & Adolescent Studies This link opens in a new window
Current and historical literature related to growth and development of children through the age of 21. This database contains journal articles, technical reports, books, book chapters, theses and dissertations.
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) This link opens in a new window
ERIC, the Education Resource Information Center, includes journal articles, research reports, curriculum and teaching guides, conference papers, dissertations and theses, and books dating back to 1966.

Health, Medicine and Social Care

You may also find it helpful to look at databases suggested to students in Population Health Studies or Psychological Sciences.

CINAHL This link opens in a new window
CINAHL includes journal articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings and standards of practice related to nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and allied health disciplines.
Medline on OvidSP This link opens in a new window
International literature on biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care.
PubMed This link opens in a new window
PubMed contains references to journal papers from Medline and life sciences journals.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
International database covering summaries of journal articles, book chapters, technical reports and citations to dissertations in the field of Psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines.
PTSDpubs (formerly PILOTS) This link opens in a new window
Index to the worldwide literature on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health consequences of exposure to traumatic events.
Social Services Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas.

Location Specific Resources

The Digital Education Repository Archive (DERA)
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The Digital Education Repository Archive (DERA) is a digital archive of documents published electronically by government and other relevant bodies in the areas of education, training, children and families. The repository includes documents published electronically by the UK Government, UK Parliament (including devolved Assemblies), government departments, semi-official organisations (quangos) and think tanks in the areas of education, training, children and families. All publications are added subject to copyright permission and are available in perpetuity.
Education Policy and Research Service
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The Education Policy and Research Service (EPRS) is an efficient way of keeping up to date with key research, policy, and developments in the English education system. It provides a monthly digest of the latest research and policy from key government bodies, universities, and thinktanks summarised into two-page reports. UoB staff and students have access to this service, but you will need to contact your subject librarian or eprs-admin@bristol.ac.uk for an access code.
Gateway to Research
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Developed by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to enable users to search and analyse information about publicly funded research

AfricaBib
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Index to articles on a wide range of topics relating to countries in Africa

African Journal Archive This link opens in a new window
African journal literature originating from a wide base of publishers and societies on the African continent

African Digital Research Repositories
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A list of known digital repositories within the African continent which has been compiled by the International African Institute. It is regularly reviewed and updated. The list is organised by country in alphabetical order.
African Education Research Database
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The online African Education Research Database (AERD) aims to raise the visibility of African research. It is a curated collection of research with implications for educational policy and practice undertaken in the past decade by scholars based in sub-Saharan Africa. The AERD includes peer-reviewed articles, chapters, PhD theses and working papers.
African Journals Online
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A platform of African-published scholarly journals, working to increase global & continental online access, awareness, quality & use of African-published, peer-reviewed research
AfricArXiv
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AfricArXiv is a community-led digital archive for African research, working towards building an African-owned open scholarly repository
Black Women Radicals Database (BWRD)
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A database of historical and transnational Black women activists and leaders
Digital Innovation South Africa
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Online scholarly resource focusing on the socio-political history of South Africa, particularly the struggle for freedom during the period from 1950 to the first democratic elections in 1994
Open Research Africa
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Open Research Africa publishes scholarly articles and other research outputs (e.g. posters, slides and documents), across the physical and life sciences, engineering, medicine, social sciences and humanities
South African History Online
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South African History Online (SAHO) was established in 1998 and registered in June 2000 as a not for profit Section 21 organisation. SAHO has over two decades become the largest and most comprehensive online website on South African and African history and culture.

Asian Online Journals (AOJ)
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Open access journals that aim to reach a large number of audiences worldwide with original and current research work. Includes the Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies and the Asian Journal of Education and e-Learning.
Bangladesh Journals Online
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A database providing access to multidisciplinary research outputs published in Bangladeshi journals. Titles include the Green University Review of Social Sciences and the Bangladesh Journal of Child Health.

China Academic Journals via CNKI This link opens in a new window
Please note: full text downloads of patents is temporarily suspended from April 2023.This is due to Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC) imposing new oversight requirements on specific content types appearing in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)
China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), is a database of Chinese knowledge-based information resources. This platform covers journals, theses, proceedings, newspapers, books and ancient books.

Please note: before accessing full text pdfs, you should ensure that you have the Simplified Chinese Font Pack for Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Please note: full text downloads of patents is temporarily suspended from April 2023.This is due to Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC) imposing new oversight requirements on specific content types appearing in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)

China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), is a database of Chinese knowledge-based information resources. This platform covers journals, theses, proceedings, newspapers, books and ancient books.

Please note: before accessing full text pdfs, you should ensure that you have the Simplified Chinese Font Pack for Adobe Acrobat Reader.
KCI Korean Journal Database on Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Regional content from scholarly journals in South Korea.

Mongolia Journals Online
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A database providing access to multidisciplinary research outputs published in Mongolian journals. Includes Lavai-International Journal of Education.
Nepal Journals Online
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A database providing access to multidisciplinary research outputs published in Nepalese journals. Titles cover a broad range of disciplines and include Education and Development., English Language Teaching Perspectives and Humanities and Social Sciences Journal.
National Digital Library of India
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Virtual repository of digital books and documents relating to historic and contemporary India
Policy Perspectives Journal
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Policy Perspectives is a double-blind, peer-reviewed, flagship biannual journal of Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad. The journal disseminates the research carried out by the Institute and its associates on diverse range of current and evolving topics.
Sri Lankan Journals Online
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SLJOL is a database of journals published in Sri Lanka, covering the full range of academic disciplines. Includes Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health and Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
Vietnam Journals Online - Tạp chí Khoa học Việt Nam Trực tuyến
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A database of scientific research outputs published in Vietnam. Its aim is to improve the world’s understanding of Vietnamese research. Titles include VMOST Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities and
Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education.

Directory of open access resources covering Eastern Europe
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Created and maintained by the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, London, this resources covers many territories, including Russia and the Czech Republic.

SciELO Citation Index on Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Science, social science, and arts and humanities research in published in open access journals from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean and South Africa.

Central American Journals Online
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Journals providing access to multidisciplinary research outputs published in Central America. Titles include Dia-logos: the Journal of Education of the Directorate of Distance Education and Institute of Research and Pedagogical Training and Paradigm: Journal of Educational Research
Oasisbr
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The Brazilian Open Access Publications and Scientific Data Portal (Oasisbr) is an initiative of the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology.
Redalyc
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Redalyc indexes Open Access research on both social and natural sciences from over 550 journals in 15 countries. Abstracts in Spanish and English.
SciELO
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Bibliographical database of open access scholarly journals relating particularly to Latin America, Portugal and Spain.

Arab Journals Platform
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A partnership between the Association of Arab Universities (AArU) and Elsevier, the Arab Journal Platform hosts a number of Arab journals issued by Arab universities and associations
Black Women Radicals Database (BWRD)
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A database of historical and transnational Black women activists and leaders,
Database of Research on International Education
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A database of research relevant to international education, managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and supported by IDP Education.

Decolonization: the politics of independence in former colonial territories digital archive This link opens in a new window
This database brings together material from within former British colonies and Commonwealth nations, alongside some from former French and Portuguese territories, to provide primary source material created for local audiences during a period of enormous global change. After the Second World War decolonization movements around the world gathered pace, and from the small port colony of Aden to the vast Indian sub-continent, new borders were set and new nations built.

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
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Open access scholarly research journals from around the globe, regardless of discipline, geography or language.

Ethnographic Video Online: Volume 3, Indigenous Voices This link opens in a new window
The role of the traditional ethnographer is changing as the perspectives and epistemologies of indigenous peoples have taken on central significance in the discipline, challenging earlier representations and implicit “us versus them” constructs. In order to create a platform for indigenous voices to address issues from indigenous perspectives, the third volume of the ethnographic film series is dedicated to indigenous filmmakers.

Informit
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Informit Indigenous Collection covers both topical and historical issues within Indigenous studies. The multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary framework provides access to material from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, North America and the Pacific. This Collection is a platform for Indigenous worldviews - select "Indigenous Collection" from the list of databases to begin searching.

Research Methods

Sage Research Methods This link opens in a new window

Tutorials: using databases

This interactive tutorial guides you through the process of using databases optimally to find information on your topic.

How to search Medline
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An introduction to searching in Medline via the OVID interface. Updated August 2021.
How to search Embase
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This short tutorial explains the most important unique features of Embase.

Web of Science: search tips

Evaluating information tutorial

A self-help tutorial on evaluating the quality of readings.

Featured resources

Sage Research Methods is a very useful resource when it comes to finding out about research methodology.

Systematic Reviews

Systematic reviews

If you are undertaking a systematic or scoping literature review as part of your studies, have a look at our guide to Systematic Reviews for the Social Sciences