Find journal articles, newspaper articles, book reviews etc.

Note: the search above won't find every article, for a more comprehensive search see the information below on databases.

To find relevant and good quality information for your work, searching databases is the most effective method. You have free access to a range of searchable databases though you may need your GUID and associated password to use some of them. Databases contain quality-assessed journal or newspaper articles on particular topics.

Databases

• Central and East European Studies databases
• Criminology databases
• Economic and Social History databases
• Politics databases
• Sociology databases
• Urban studies databases

If you would like some advice on searching for information, please contact one of the College Support Librarians (see the Welcome section of this guide)  to set up a meeting.

Library & information skills moodles for Social & Political Sciences students

Check out the moodles- they are designed to help you find all the information you need

• Library basics for new students
• Advanced library skills for dissertation students
• Advanced library skills for postgraduate students in Central & East European Studies
• Advanced library skills for postgradutate students in Economic & Social History - coming soon
• Advanced library skills for postgraduate students in Politics
• Advanced library skills for postgraduate students in Sociology
• Advanced library skills for postgraduate students in Urban Studies

Referencing and citing – using your sources

What is referencing?

Referencing is the acknowledgement of items you have read and used while creating a written piece of work for your essay, dissertation, article or thesis.

It is important to keep an exact and complete record of the details of all the sources of information that you use for coursework, essays, dissertations or publications. Sources can include books, journal articles, web pages and legal cases. If you don’t keep a precise record you will have difficulty (and a lot more work) when you need to list the sources in your reference list.

Citations

When writing an essay, report or dissertation, it is usual to cite [mention] the sources that you used, referred to, or took quotes from. These references might describe journal or newspaper articles, books, government reports, web pages

Citing accurate references is important for the following reasons:

• To give credit to concepts and ideas from other authors
• To provide evidence of the extent of your reading
• To use other work to support the arguments you make
• To allow the user to locate the cited references easily
• To help you avoid plagiarism

Which style of referencing does the School of Social & Political Sciences use?

There are many styles for references, however, the most commonly used styles are Harvard (a version using author/date format) and Vancouver (numbered format). 

Referencing Styles Guides

• Harvard referencing guide from Leeds University
• Vancouver Style - guide from the University of Leicester

Managing your references using Reference Manager or EndNote software

Reference Manager and Endnote - These are reference management software programs [available locally] which help you to record and store references to books or journal articles and many other sources while you are working on a project. You can then use the stored information to generate bibliographies for your essay, thesis or article using a wide range of styles.

How do I get help with using referencing programs?

See our local Support web pages    
IT Services also runs introductory courses where you can make an online booking to attend a training session on an advertised date.

Plagiarism – what is it and how to avoid it

You must always acknowledge the sources you use. Use of material without cknowledgement of the sources is called plagiarism which is considered to be an act of fraudulence and an offence against University discipline - see the University Plagiarism webpages

TurnitinUK – in University of Glasgow, Turnitin is a program used by some departments to detect plagiarism in student work submitted for assessment. 

Newspapers

Newspapers can provide information which may not be available elsewhere, and are important sources for current topics, emerging news or historical information. They provide information about people and events and how events were perceived at the time. However, the content may be biased, rather than presenting factual information. The Library provides access to a wide range of UK newspapers in electronic format, both broadsheets and tabloids. Access is provided to current editions and archives.

Below is a listing of the key online newspaper databases:

• Newsbank - an international collection of full-text newspaper articles providing online access to both broadsheet and tabloid newspapers from across the world. Newspapers can be searched individually or together. Updated daily. Off campus access via GUID
• The Times Digital Archive (1785 - 1985) - provides access to every page as published from 200 years of The Times (London). Users are able to search the full-text of the entire newspaper, including articles, editorials and advertising and can also browse - for example, by issue date, story headline, or subject. Off campus access via GUID
• The Scotsman Digital Archive (1817 - 1950) - provides access to every edition of The Scotsman between 1817 and 1950, offering a unique insight into the history, culture and economic and social life of nineteenth and twentieth century Scotland. Users are able to search the full-text of the entire newspaper, including articles, editorials and advertising and can also browse - for example, by issue date, story headline, or subject. Note: registration required - click on 'WWW' then select the link marked 'Register now free' at top left of page. You must use your 'academic' email address, i.e ending with 'gla.ac.uk' . Off campus access via GUID
• Pravda Digital Archive - Online, digital, full-image and text-searchable archive of Pravda, from its inception in 1912 through until the end of 2011. Off campus access via GUID
• Izvestiia digital archive - Online, digital full-image and text-searchable archive from 1917 to 2011. Off campus access via GUID
• Universal Databases of Central Russian Newspapers - provides direct access to the full-text files of over 30 of the most influential Russian newspapers, accessible online for browsing, searching and analysing. Can be searched in Russian/English or using transliteration. Coverage goes back to 1980.GUID
• Universal Databases of Regional Russian Newspapers -  provides direct access to the full-text files of over 30 of the most influential Russian newspapers, accessible online for browsing, searching and analysing. Can be searched in Russian/English or using transliteration. Coverage goes back to 1980. Off campus access via GUID

Official Publications & Statistics

Information coming soon

East European Collections

• Glasgow Baltic Research Archive
• Russian and East European Collection

There are College Support Librarians for each subject within the college. If you want to know more about the Library's services, or need help with finding information please feel free to contact them at any time

College Team Librarians for the School of Social & Political Science

The Library also offers a general enquiry service : Level 2, Main Library. email: library@lib.gla.ac.uk.

For more general information have a look at the Information for students/staff/subscription members pages.