Research Guides: PADM 601: Principles of Public Administration: Recommended Article Sources

Search Term Examples

You may have to include government or non-profit as a search term.

bureaucracy
"central government"
"country comparison"
growth
"political development"
"political power"
"political science theories"
"public sector"

"corporate culture"
excellence
"high performing organizations"
"new governance"
performance
"organizational behavior"

disparities
inequalities
"social equity"
"social responsibility"

"information technology"

Sample Research terms
(Include these if there are many peer-reviewed results):

Best practices
Evidence-based
Empirical
Longitudinal

PADM 601 - Search Tips
Examples and tips for searching the Recommended Article Sources, i.e., the ProQuest and EBSCO families of databases, PsycINFO, VCU Libraries Search, Google Scholar, and Web of Science.

Nia Rodgers

Contact:

slrodgers@vcu.edu
(804) 828-8565
Cabell Library, Room 121

Subjects:Public Affairs and Political Science

1. Internal / Operational Aspects

ABI/INFORM Collection
Provides articles from a scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers on a wide assortment of leadership, management, organizational behavior, and similar topics. (ProQuest)
Business Source Complete
Citation and full text content from scholarly business journals and other sources including peer-reviewed business publications. Addresses the same types of topics as ABI/INFORM Collection. (EBSCO)
PsycINFO
Scholarly articles on all aspects of human behavior. The studies include individual behaviors, e.g., charitable behavior, and group behaviors, e.g., team dynamics, organizational behavior.

2. Policies & Issues

PAIS Index
International database focusing on public and social policies; includes articles on various theories of public administration. It has articles from a variety of sources, including journals, government reports, and gray literature. Coverage is 1915-current. (ProQuest)
Public Administration Abstracts
Similar to PAIS, but much smaller since coverage is 1978 forward. (EBSCO)
Social Services Abstracts
Current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development, 1979-present. (ProQuest)
Sociological Abstracts
Focuses on articles discussing a variety of topics within the context of their effect on the development, structure, and functioning of society. Another source of articles on various theories and overarching concepts. 1952-present. (ProQuest)
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, economics, law, and public administration and policy. Can be especially valuable for comparing countries. (ProQuest)
Political Science Complete
Similar to Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, so good for comparing countries. The two databases complement each other. (EBSCO)

3. Multidisciplinary

The following three databases cover many different subjects, but none in great depth. Very good for retrieving materials from other disciplines.

Academic Search Complete
Results will be from a broad spectrum of disciplines, and will be from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers. (EBSCO)
Google Scholar
Citations for scholarly literature from a wide variety of disciplines. Customize Google Scholar for VCU by selecting 'settings' and then 'library links.' Select both Virginia Commonwealth University and Open WorldCat; click on 'save.'

VCU Libraries Search (Advanced Search)
Records will be for books, articles, audio-visual, and other items VCU Libraries owns or subscribes to. Format of items will range from electronic to physical.

4. Cited References Search

Web of Science provides ways to find out how many times an article has been cited. Caveat: Much stronger in the sciences than in the social sciences.

Basic Search: Enter a topic, e.g., "vocational rehabilitation", sort results by 'Times Cited,' and then use the limits on the left, e.g., 'PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH.'

Cited Reference Search: Select to find articles citing a noted author and/or article.

Web of Science