- University Libraries
- Research Guides
- Subject Guides
- Political thought and philosophy
- Recommended: start here
Political thought and philosophy: Recommended: start here
What's here
This guide focuses on principal research resources in teh foundational subfield of political science. It is supplements the main subject guide for political science and international studies. The Other political science research guides tab is a menu that connects you to related research guides for the major subfields of the discipline and for related programs in the VT School of Public & International Affairs.
Resources listed on this page are clustered into Key databases for accessing scholarly literature, Background information sources; Contact information for the subject librarian; and access to Additional information.
Parts of this guide are also available in related subject guides: News/journalism/streaming media; Advice for searching/citing/engaging with related scholarly literatures; and Accessing VT Library resources off campus.
Essential resources -- start here
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Worldwide Political Science Abstracts from ProQuestWorldwide Political Science Abstracts indexes citations and abstracts from journal articles, books, essays, book reviews, working papers, technical reports, theses, and dissertations in the social sciences related to politics. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1975-present.
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EconLit with Full Text from EBSCOhostEconLit indexes citations, abstracts, and full text of journal articles, books, dissertations, and working papers on all aspects of economics. You can do cited reference searches and limit to scholarly sources. 1886-present.
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HeinOnline Law PortalThe HeinOnline portal offers a large and wide-ranging collection of contemporary and historical legal materials, mainly from the US, including constitutions; statutes and legislative histories, treaties, judicial opinions, regulations and other administrative law, and topical collections of historical law/policy documents. Contains more than 2,500 law reviews and law-related periodicals. Subjects covered include jurisprudence, political science, technology, human rights, and more. Coverage for all journals is from inception (as JSTOR does for scholarly journals); about 90% of journals are available through the current issue or volume.
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Philosopher's Index from EBSCOhostThe Philosopher's Index indexes citations and abstracts from journal articles, books, chapters/essays, book reviews in the fields of philosophy, aesthetics, metaphysics, social philosophy, and axiology. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1940-present.
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Religion & Philosophy Collection from EBSCOhostReligion and Philosophy Collection indexes citations, abstracts, and full text from journal articles, magazines, and book reviews in the field of world religions, biblical studies, religious history, epistemology, political philosophy, moral philosophy and the history of philosophy. Full-text materials are available in HTML and PDF. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1967-present.
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MLA International Bibliography with Full Text from ESBCOhostMLA International Bibliography indexes citations and full text of journal articles, books, dissertations, and scholarly web sites in disciplines such as language, literature, folklore, linguistics, literary theory and criticism, and the dramatic arts. Coverage includes literature from all over the world and includes citations to materials in many languages other than English. 1926-present.
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Open Access Digital Theological Library (OADTL)Despite its formal name, the scope of OADTL is not limited to religious studies: its coverage is wide ranging, taking in the range of topics addressed by the world's religious traditions as well as those of interest to clergy as teachers, counselors, and activists. OADTL brings together freely available articles, books, government reports, working papers and the like, using the familiar OCLC WorldCat Discovery platform
Reference and background information
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Oxford Handbooks OnlineOxford Handbooks Online provides scholarly overviews of topics through in-depth articles. We have access to handbooks in philosophy, political science, and psychology.
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Political Theory : An Encyclopedia of Contemporary and Classic Terms by ISBN: 9783133392020 -
Temporary, trial access only -- use while you can
Tech's University Libraries seek user input about possible purchases of online resources; October, February, and (sometimes) April are the primary trial months.
Let us know how (if...) a trial fits the research, teaching/learning, and public service missions of the university. Share your judgments through the short survey linked to each trial blurb and/or more detailed remarks in an email to a subject librarians. If we do not receive favorable comments about products on trial, we will not buy them.
All active trials are listed in a sidebar on the Databases A-Z guide, including their expiration dates and links to online user evaluation surveys. Here I list current trials of likely interest to the departments I serve. Hover over (i) icon to see description as it appears on Databases A-Z directory.
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Newspapers.com Library Edition This database trial runs through October 31, 2022. Newspapers.com Library Edition is an extensive database that provides online access to 4,000+ historical newspapers. Dating from the early 1700s into the 2000s, Newspapers.com Library Edition contains full runs and portions of runs of well-known, regional and state titles to small local newspapers in the United States and other countries. Please provide feedback on this database.
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ProQuest Congressional Hearings Digital Collection This database is on trial through October 31, 2022. ProQuest Congressional Hearings Digital Collection is a unique primary source collection presenting opinions and supporting materials on the issues of the day from 1824 to the present.
This valuable content is perfect for serious researchers of political science, history, social sciences, law, and more. Since the United States Congress studies everything, this comprehensive collection is an effective source for general research in many academic disciplines, in addition to research related to specific legislative proposals and laws. Please provide feedback on this database. -
IAI Database This database is on trial through October 31, 2022. IAI.tv from the Institute of Arts and Ideas promotes philosophy and seeks to uncover the flaws in today's contemporary thinking. IAI.tv provides articles and videos with debates, music and comedy. Please provide feedback on this database.
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Trismegistos This database is on trial through October 31, 2022. Trismegistos is a conglomerate of databases, with Texts, Collections, Archives, People, Places, and Authors as main sections. Arguably one of the most important databases for papyrological research, Trismegistos is an interdisciplinary portal of papyrological and epigraphical resources. The core of Trismegistos is Trismegistos Texts, which provides information about all published and semi-published texts from Egypt and the Nile valley, between roughly BC 800 and 800 AD, not only in Greek, Latin, and Egyptian, but also in Meroitic, Aramaic, Arabic, Nabataean, Carian, and other languages. Please provide feedback on this database.
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Embase This database is on trial through November 4, 2022. EMBASE is a biomedical database with in-depth coverage of drug research (pharmacology, pharmaceutics, toxicology), especially drug trials, with additional emphasis on basic biological and human research, health policy and management, biotechnology, and biomedical engineering. Please provide feedback on this database.
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Medici.tv This database is on trial through October 31, 2022. Medici.tv is an online platform for streaming classical music videos. The Medici.tv catalog provides approximately 1600 films as well as hundreds of events which are broadcast live each year. This database also hosts a rare and exclusive selection of concerts, operas, ballets, documentaries and master classes. Please provide feedback on this database.
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Cairn.Info This database is on trial through October 31, 2022. Cairn.info is a comprehensive online collection of francophone publications in the social sciences and humanities. Formed in 2005 by four European publishing houses (Belin, De Boeck, La Découverte and Erès), the collection currently offers more than 500 journals and 10,000 ebooks from more than 40 publishers, teaching institutions and learned societies, in the disciplines of economics, law, history, geography, literature and linguistics, psychology, education, political science, sociology, and sport. Please provide feedback on this database.
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Classiques Garnier This database is on trial through October 31, 2022. Classiques Garnier includes all aspects of literature and the humanities, publishing both editions of texts and studies and essays by top specialists in French literature, foreign literature, linguistics, history, art, music, law, economics and social sciences. Please provide feedback on this database.
Social Sciences & History Librarian
Office #3050
560 Drillfield Dr
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Email is the best way to contact me with questions or appointment requests.
Office hours (walk-in and/or Zoom): T 1-3:00 pm, W-Th 2-4:00 pm (Eastern time), and by appointment.
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Interlibrary Loan Services
All current Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff, regardless of your location, may request through ILLiad for materials:
- not owned by Virginia Tech (books, articles from journals and conference proceedings, book chapters, standards, and technical papers)
- owned by Virginia Tech but are unavailable for use (print books)
- owned by Virginia Tech and available in print (scans of articles from journals and conference proceedings, book chapters, standards, and technical papers)
We ship requests via UPS to users outside the immediate Blacksburg area (Montgomery, Giles and Pulaski counties).
Articles, book chapters, and many technical papers are delivered in PDF format to your ILLiad account. Occasionally, due to copyright restrictions, a paper copy of an article or standard is held for your at the Newman User Services Desk or sent o the mailing address listed on your account.