Literature Review

There are many excellent online guides to doing a lilterature review.  Samples include:

• The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It - Univeristy of Toronto
• Conducting a Literature Review - Georgetown University Medical Centre
• Literature Review - Deakin University Library
• Learn to Write a Review of Literature - University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Guidelines for Writing a Literature Review - University of Minnesota, Duluth

Introducing Summon 

The library's search tool, Summon, allows you to search for books, journal articles, media, and more with a single search. You can access Summon from the library's homepage.  Also try the Advanced Search.

Because there will be many results, it is important to narrow your search using the filters offered along the left hand side.  

However, Summon doesn't search everything that the library owns so you will still need to search other resources to find everything that you need. Summon also doesn't let you do sophisticated searches that you may be used to doing in specific databases or the library catalogue.  

Use Summon when starting research on a topic or when you are not sure which databases to use.  

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries & Handbooks

• Bilingual vocabulary for governance, public policy & administration
• Encyclopedia of Globalization
• International dictionary of public management and governance
• International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
• Language of Canadian politics
• Oxford Scholarship Online  Limit search to economics, management, political science, etc.
• Sage Knowledge
• Canadian Encyclopedia
• The Oxford handbook of Canadian politics
• The handbook of Canadian public administration
• Handbook of globalization, governance, and public administration
• Routledge handbook of political management
• The SAGE handbook of governance
   

Use citation databases to find if a particular author and/or paper has been cited by other authors.

Examples:

Web of Science    

• Select Cited Reference Search from top tool bar.
  • You have the article
    • Burstein, P.  2003   "The impact of public opinion on public policy: A review and an agenda."  Political Research Quarterly  Volume: 56   Issue: 1   Pages: 29-40
  • Enter the  author in cited author box
    • Burstein P*  (use surname, first initial and truncation symbol)          
  • Retrieve abbreviation of journal name from list provided, and enter year of publication.  POLIT RES QUART 2003
    • From the list, select the ariticle and click on Finish Search at the top of the list.
    • Results show the article has been cited 325 times - the most recent in Aug 2018.
• Note the option Create Alert to be notified of any future citings of this article.

Scopus

• Choose Author Seach from top tool bar.
  • Enter author's name and affiliation if known
    • Pal L*
    • Enter Affiliation if known.
  • Select displayed result.  All published articles by the author will be listed.  Click on article for citing references.
• Remember to see if an citing article has itself been cited.

Journal Ranking   

Journal Citation Reports - Provides citation-based metrics to rank journal within a given discipline.  Choose Select Categories and limit by subject areas such as:

• Public Administration 
• Economics
• Political Science