Search strategies
- Combine keyword and phrases with AND, e.g. Islam AND Democracy
- Enclose phrases in quotation marks, e.g. "public opinion" and democracy
Note: It's not always necessary to enclose phrases in quotation marks, but it can sometimes help to find more relevant results. - Use an asterisk (*) to pick up variant endings, e.g. democra* finds democracy, democratic, democratization
- Expand your search to find alternate terms, e.g. gender OR women
Note: In single-line searching, place parentheses around terms connected by OR, e.g. Democra* AND "Middle East" AND (gender OR women)
Selected Databases
- Middle East & Africa databaseA bibliographic and fulltext database that provides area coverage (especially for political development, social development, foreign policy, economic development, investment, oil and petrochemicals, trade and technological industries) for the Middle East, North Africa, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Arabs, Iranians, Turks and Africans worldwide, including in Europe and North and South America.
- Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies"MECAS is a systematic and non-evaluative bibliographic index of research, policy and scholarly discourse on the countries and peoples of the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa."
- Index IslamicusIndex to literature on Islam, the Middle East and Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, and Muslim minorities elsewhere.
Discipline-based databases (Political Science, Sociology)
- International Political Science AbstractsProduced by the International Political Science Association, indexes and summarizes articles from periodicals published throughout the world. Includes articles in English are abstracted in English; those in other languages are abstracted in French, with all titles translated into English. Coverage from 1989 - present
- Worldwide Political Science AbstractsCovers political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, public administration, and public policy.