InfoGuides: Literature Reviews and Field Statements: Get Started!

Getting started!

Literature reviews and subject guides:

Cut through information overload--draw on published literature reviews and subject guides.

Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
Offers review essays that evaluate the current thinking on a field or topic in a given subject area, and makes original arguments about the future direction of the debate. Search by keyword for Handbooks or individual chapters. Mason has access to recent years in Economics and Political Science.
Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
Like the Oxford Handbooks, Routledge Handbooks offer collections of essays assessing the state of a field/discipline. Mason has access to the full backfile in politics & security studies.
Annual Reviews This link opens in a new window
These journals publish only review articles. Example: The Annual Review of Political Science includes articles on voting, humanitarian governance, counterinsurgency, and more.
Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new window
Concise annotated bibliographies designed to introduce you to a research area. Entries include canonical texts, core journals, data sources, etc. Mason has OBO for Political Science, International Relations, Management, International Law, and Criminology.Examples of topics covered: "Approaches to Social Responsibility", "Global Governance", "Social Movements in Latin America"
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text This link opens in a new window
FOR DOCTORAL LEVEL RESEARCHERS: Recent doctoral dissertations can be a great source of exhaustive literature reviews for students developing their own dissertation proposals.
SAGE Research Methods and Cases Online This link opens in a new window
Searchable database of online SAGE handbooks, encyclopedias, Little Blue/Green Books, and more. (Note: Contains many, but not all, SAGE methods publications). Excellent resource!

Use specialized search engines (library databases) to locate articles on your topic.

These general databases are good starting points:

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR lets you search core journals from their very first issue to current (or very recent) issues. It is NOT the broadest database, but it's great for heavy-hitting journals.
Political Science Complete This link opens in a new window
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Excellent coverage of the political science journal literature (peer reviewed), as well as some conference abstracts (not peer reviewed).

Proquest Social Science Databases
Search across 29 social science databases including Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, ABI/Inform and more.

Focused databases can help you weed out the junk, especially when your topic fits neatly into a single area of study. Try these:

ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
Economic policy, business, and management studies.
Education Research Complete This link opens in a new window
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Early childhood to secondary education, including administration & policy.

Has a professor told you to browse the library stacks? It's a great idea. Libraries organize books by topic, so you should find books on your topic close together on the shelves.

Here's how to do it:

Identify a handbook or key text (see other tabs in this box for instructions)
Look up that book in the library catalog
Write down the call number
Browse the shelves around that call number at BOTH Arlington Campus Library AND Fenwick Library in Fairfax

Tip: Spend an hour or two in the library taking notes at the shelves. Skim the table of contents and any relevant chapter(s), take notes right there, and only take the book home if it still looks useful.

Don't overlook the most valuable resource available to you: other researchers in your field(s).

Discuss your research with faculty, post-docs, and your peers.