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Political Science *

Below are links to databases and scholarly web sites that support the study of political science and its related sub-disciplines.

Immigration Policy Research Resources

Below are links to databases and electronic resources that support the study of immigration policy and related areas of research.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Databases that offer multidisciplinary coverage of immigration policy literature from scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

  • CQ Researcher -- in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Reports are published weekly 44 times a year.
  • Google Scholar -- the scholarly part of the Google empire. To set up Google Scholar with access to full-text journals and databases, go here.
  • JSTOR -- a multidisciplinary archive of scholarly journal articles covering most major disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Useful for identifying historical research on a topic.
  • Policy Commons -- platform for objective, fact-based research from the world’s leading policy experts, nonpartisan think tanks, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The database provides advanced searching across millions of pages of books, articles, working papers, reports, policy briefs, data sets, tables, charts, media, case studies, and statistical publications, including archived reports from more than 200 defunct think tanks.
  • ProQuest -- comprehensive, multidisciplinary database of newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles updated daily. Content is more focused and manageable than Google Scholar.

SPECIALIZED RESEARCH RESOURCES

Key Databases

  • America: History and Life -- contains to articles and other literature (books, dissertations, book reviews, etc.) covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from the 15th century to the present. Indexes nearly 1,800 journals from 1860s to present, including all key journals in the discipline, state and local history publications, and selected articles from scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities.
  • Sociological Abstracts -- primary resource for accessing the latest research in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database draws information from an international selection of over 2,600 journals and other serials publications, plus conference papers, books, and doctoral dissertations.
  • Worldwide Political Science Abstracts -- provides indexing of the international journal literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration and policy. Over 1,700 titles are monitored for coverage and, of these, 67% are published outside of the United States.

Related Research Resources

  • Family and Society Studies Worldwide -- comprehensive resource of research, policy, and practice literature in the fields of Family Science, Human Ecology, and Human Development drawn from over a thousand professional journals, books, popular literature, conference papers, government reports, and other sources.
  • HeinOnline Law Journal Library -- full text access to digitized content of more than 2,600 law and law-related periodicals that cover criminal justice, political science, technology, human rights, and more. Coverage for all journals is from first issue and volume through the current issue or volume for most titles.
  • Immigration Enactments Database -- created by the National Conference of State Legislatures, this database  tracks and summarizes enacted laws and adopted resolutions related to immigration and immigrants in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. You can search legislation for each year from 2008 to 2017 by topic, state, keyword, year, status (adopted/enacted), bill number, or primary sponsor. The full text of bills is available from 2015 and later by clicking on the bill number.
  • Social Services Abstracts -- provides coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development, evaluation research, policy planning and forecasting, support groups/networks, and welfare services.
  • Urban Studies Abstracts -- research database essential to the study of cities, towns, and regions. It covers subjects of key relevance to the discipline including urban affairs, community development, and urban history. Coverage dating back to 1939.

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

Databases that offer the opportunity to understand and contemplate the implications of policy decisions through the eyes of those who may be most impacted by those decisions.

  • AgeLine -- provides access to aging-related content from the health sciences, psychology, sociology, social work, economics, and public policy. Sources include scholarly journals, books, book chapters, reports, dissertations, consumer guides, and educational videos from 1966-present.
  • Chicano Database -- bibliographic index focuses on the Mexican-American and Chicano experience, and the broader Latino experience of Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans and Central American immigrants since 1992. Covers Chicano/a art, education, folklore, health. history, labor, language and literature, music, politics, public policy, religion, sociology, and women's studies.
  • Child Development and Adolescent Studies -- provides citations to current and historical social and behavioral sciences literature related to growth and development of children through the age of 21, including book reviews, abstracts from hundreds of journals, technical reports, books, book chapters, and theses and dissertations.
  • Ethnic NewsWatch -- includes current and archival coverage of newspapers, magazines and journals from ethnic and minority presses. Very important database for gaining a perspective and an understanding of civic engagement from underrepresented groups and minorities.
  • GenderWatch -- a full-text database that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. Publications include academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, NGO and special reports.
  • LGBT Life -- the premier resource to the world\'s literature regarding Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Transsexual issues with coverage that includes traditional academic, lifestyle, and regional publications, as well as non-periodical content such as non-fiction books, bibliographies and dissertations.

DATA AND STATISTICS

  • California Demographic Reports -- contains demographic research and analysis extracted from the 1990, 2000, and 2010 Censuses, the American Community Survey, various years of the Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, and migration (which describes movements within the same country or state) and immigration (which describes movements between countries).
  • Migration Data Hub -- produced by the Migration Policy Institute, the site showcases the most current national and state-level demographic, social, and economic facts about immigrants to the United States; as well as stock, flow, citizenship, net migration, and historical data for countries in Europe, North America, and beyond.
  • Office of Immigration Statistics -- this agency leads the collection and dissemination to Congress and the public of statistical information and analysis useful in evaluating the social, economic, environmental, and demographic impact of immigration laws, migration flows, and immigration enforcement. The Office establishes standards of reliability and validity for the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration statistics. Site contains full access to the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics from 1996 to the present.
  • TRAC Immigration Project -- the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) organization is a data gathering, data research and data distribution organization at Syracuse University that offers a variety of tools and applications to make information, such as, Border Patrol Arrests and Immigration Court Asylum Decisions, available to researchers, Congress, immigration groups, and others. The site also contains information on criminal enforcement of immigration law including statutes used. Statistics are based upon analyses of court and agency records obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.
  • United States Census Bureau: Foreign Born Population -- provides Census data and reports about immigration, including naturalized U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (immigrants), temporary migrants (such as foreign students), humanitarian migrants (such as refugees and asylum seekers), and unauthorized migrants. Statistics include survey data on the characteristics of the foreign born resident in the United States, such as country of birth, year of entry, citizenship status, and the size of the population.

Descriptions of resources are adapted or quoted from vendor websites.

Organizations

Below is a select list of national immigration advocacy organizations. To locate descriptions of additional organizations, special interest groups, and research centers, search the Gale Directory Library database.

NATIONAL ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS

  • American Immigration Council -- works to strengthen how the country thinks about and acts towards immigrants and immigration by working toward a more fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring.
  • Center for Immigration Studies -- an independent, non-partisan, research organization providing immigration policymakers, the academic community, news media, and concerned citizens reliable information about the social, economic, environmental, security, and fiscal consequences of legal and illegal immigration into the United States.
  • Center for Gender and Refugee Studies -- aims to protects the fundamental human rights of refugee women, children, LGBT individuals, and others who flee persecution in their home countries by providing legal expertise, training, research and publications, engage in appellate litigation and policy development, and use international human rights instruments to address the root causes of persecution and to advance human rights.
  • Essential Worker Immigration Coalition -- works closely with Congress to develop immigration reform legislation that addresses both future economic needs for future workers through the creation of a guest worker program and practically addresses the estimated 7-11 million unauthorized workers already in the United States. It works to create an immigration system that functions efficiently for employers, workers, and government agencies while ensuring that U.S. workers are not displaced by foreign workers.
  • Federation for American Immigration Reform -- a national, non-profit,  special interest organization that supports immigration policy reform and the reduction of immigrants into the country. The group offers information and opinions that may be helpful to investigating and understanding conservative attitudes about current immigration policy.
  • Immigration Equality -- advocates for and represent lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), and HIV-positive immigrants seeking safety, fair treatment, and freedom.
  • Migration Policy Institute -- seeks to improve immigration and integration policies through research and analysis intended to fill major gaps of understanding migration flows, immigration, and integration policy, create opportunities for learning and discussion around addressing immigration and integration issues, and develop new ways to confront complex policy questions regarding the effectiveness of current immigration and integration policies and the impact of immigration on labor markets, educational outcomes, and social cohesion.
  • National Immigration Law Center -- provides issue briefs, articles, and other material about immigration, public benefits, and employment laws affecting immigrants and refugees. Also provides analysis of pending immigration reform legislation, which includes topics such as guest workers, driver's licenses, and border controls. The site features links to related federal and California sites.

Descriptions of resources are adapted or quoted from vendor websites.