You can use LibrarySearch to search for the books you need. Just type in a few words from the title plus the surname of the author(s) into the search box. If you get stuck – please ask!

You will find most of the politics book collection at classmark 320 onwards, on the 1^st floor at Augustine House.

• 320 – Political science
• 321 – Systems of government
• 323 – Civil & political rights
• 324 – Political process
• 325 – International migration
• 326 – Slavery & emancipation
• 327 – International relations
• 328 – Legislative process

Remember also that books may be available as e-books as well as in print format and the details for these may appear separately in LibrarySearch. For example, the following book has an e-book copy available anytime, as well as one print copy at Augustine House, available for 7-day loan:

Buzan, B. (2014). An introduction to the English school of international relations: the societal approach.Cambridge: Polity.

You can browse printed copies of journals on the 2nd floor of Augustine House in the silent zone (west wing). These are for use in the library only. Most politics and international relations journals are also available online.

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations
• Contemporary Politics
• Geopolitics
• International Affairs
• International Relations
• Journal of Politics
• Party Politics
• Perspectives on Politics
• Political Quarterly
• Political Studies
• Politics
• Politics Review
• Policy and Politics
• World Politics

You can see which journals are available online by using LibrarySearch. Make sure you log in first! (You will need your university username and password).Try entering the title of a journal into the search box or using the “Find e-journals by title” link.

You can also browse e-journals by subject, using Browzine. This software allows you to read a journal like an e-book, so you can look through the whole journal rather than just individual articles. There is an app so you can use it easily on your phone or other mobile device. 

You can find individual journal articles to read online by doing a quick search in LibrarySearch. Try searching for a key word or phrase connected with your research topic, e.g. “world politics”. See our quick guide for more information.

Open access journals

The Directory of Open Access Journals includes some politics journals. Open access journals are usually scholarly, but the difference is, the publishers of these journals believe in making their research freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This means that you (or your institution) don’t have to have a subscription to the journal to be able to read the articles they publish.

Lexis+ Newspapers UK: Online access to all national and regional newspapers covering the last twenty years.

There are lots of databases that contain articles about politics and international relations, and they are all available via LibrarySearch – just click on the “Find databases” link in the left-hand menu and you will see an alphabetical list. Browse the list until you find the one you want.

The most useful databases for your subject include:

ASSIA (Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts): ASSIA is aimed at practitioners, researchers and students in the caring professions. It is focused on a core of around 500 key English language scholarly journals covering aspects of health and social care from a broadly social scientific perspective, including psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. (Guide to ASSIA)

Manchester Hive provides access to around 2000 titles published by Manchester University Press. Check out the Manchester Political Studies Collection.

SAGE Journals: Contains full-text articles from over 1,000 journals across all disciplines, including politics and international relations.

Social Policy and Practice: An important source of evidence-based social science and applied psychology research articles. In particular the database is useful for information about government policies and their impact on society. This includes topics such as the care and employment of those with mental health problems.

Taylor and Francis Online Journals: Large multi-disciplinary database providing full-text access to thousands of articles in Taylor and Francis and Routledge journals from 1997 onwards. Subjects include Politics & International Relations.

UK Parliamentary Papers (ProQuest): Includes over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present (except for the last 5 years), with supplementary material back to 1688. It delivers page images and searchable full text for each paper, along with detailed indexing.

Web of Science (WoS): A multi-disciplinary service, where you can search for articles from over 18,000 journals in the social sciences and arts and humanities fields as well as the sciences.

Wiley Online Library: Full-text access to over 4 million articles from over 1,600 journals. Subject areas include political science.

Kanopy is a great video-streaming service which includes a number of documentaries. Plus, we have access to Box of Broadcasts (BoB) which archives British TV and radio broadcasts. A great feature is that you can take clips of programmes and put them in your presentations or analyse the transcripts.

Recommended websites:

British Government and Politics on the Internet – produced by the School of Politics, International Relations & Philosophy at Keele University, these lists of websites, by country or by topic, are designed to help researchers and students of politics. Sites are included if they contain information or ideas relating to the study or practice of politics. A wide range of topics are included, such as arms and arms control, constitutions, refugees, embassies, human rights, political thought, theory and ideology, etc.

Europa – the official website of the European Union (EU) – The site is intended to help those unfamiliar with the EU to understand how the organisation works and the Information and services provided by the EU. Includes a special section on Brexit.

Politics and international relations: Websites – University of Reading’s guide to finding information in politics and international relations. Includes sources of help and links to key resources.

Politics.co.uk – a political news website for the UK, including analyses, opinion pieces and videos.