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International Social Welfare Policy

How Journal Articles Can Be Helpful for Policy Research

—Find out if researchers have done studies about effects of current policies on your topic?

—Find out if researchers have done pilot projects on proposed policy changes?

—Journal articles will not give you the most current information.  It can take over a year for journal articles to be published.  Search Google for reliable open access and news sources for more current information.

Databases for Journal Articles, Reports, Papers, Etc. on Policy Related Topics

Proquest Social Sciences Premium Collection
A collection of databases in the social sciences, including PAIS, Sociological Abstracts, Intl. Bibliography of the Social Sciences and more, and full text coverage of journal articles. The contents can be searched individually or as a group.

CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online
Working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals, and policy briefs. Open Source.

Social Services Abstracts
Urban Studies Abstracts

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is an open source search tool that spans across many disciplines and sources: it is often a very good resource for finding materials that may not appear in subscription library databases such as reports from professional societies, preprint repositories, universities, research institutes and think tanks, and other scholarly organizations.

Google & Google Scholar Tips & Tricks [pdf]