Dissertation support for Master's students
Throughout summer 2020, the Library's Teaching and Learning Support team offered a range of workshops and taught sessions to support Master's students in completing their dissertations.
The sessions ranged from academic skills sessions open to students from all backgrounds, to information literacy sessions targeted to specific schools.
All of the sessions were conducted online, allowing students to participate wherever they are currently studying.
For future announcements about our upcoming support for Master's dissertations in 2021, please visit: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/library/
Dissertation Workshops for Master's Students
From June to August 2020, the Academic Skills team ran a series of workshops on the Master's dissertation on Microsoft Teams.
218 Master's students from 50 countries attended one or more session.
Sessions covered:
- Getting started
- Research questions and dissertation structure
- Reading into writing: reviewing your literature
- Critical thinking: the discussion
- Academic integrity, citation and referencing
- Finishing your dissertation: editing and proofing
Each session included:
- A short workshop presentation on key aspect of the dissertation process.
- “Shut up and write” – 60 minutes dedicated writing time.
- Peer and tutor feedback on your work
- Q&A with Academic Skills tutors
The sessions were open to Taught Postgraduate students from all disciplines.
Future Master's Dissertation Support will be announced in early-2021 on our Workshops page.
Workshops and Online Resources for Master's Students in SMD
- Tips and technigues for effective searching
- An introduction to healthcare specific search engines
- How to search databases effectively
- Using EndNote to manage your references
Resources for Dissertations
The following resources have been selected by the Faculty Liaison Librarians for Humanities & Social Sciences at Queen Mary (Martin Beeson and Rich Evans) to help students to get the most out of what Queen Mary Library Services has to offer in support of their dissertations.
Library Subject Guides:
https://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/subject-guides/
Find and access, e-books, databases, high-quality websites and other specialist electronic resources via the Library Subject Guides which we have created for the various Humanities & Social Sciences disciplines taught and researched at Queen Mary.
‘Find it! Use it! Reference it!’ Module on QMplus:
https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6819
This module introduces students to Information Literacy Skills, which will help them to find and evaluate information sources that are appropriate for academic study, and then use and manage them effectively in their work.
Cite Them Right Online:
https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=7672
Queen Mary Library Services makes available this excellent online tool, which can help students to formulate their citations and references in a range of styles.
‘RDF: Information Literacy Skills for Researchers’ Module on QMplus:
https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=8599
This module has been designed to help postgraduate and early career researchers extend and refine their information literacy skills. The module covers literature searching, planning and carrying out an effective literature review and managing information.
SAGE Research Methods:
http://ezproxy.library.qmul.ac.uk/login?url=http://methods.sagepub.com/
Queen Mary Library Services provides access to this database which is dedicated to research methods across a range of subject areas. SAGE Research Methods supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through every step of the research process.
‘Library Services during COVID 19’ Webpage:
https://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/using-the-library/library-services-during-covid-19/
Provides links to a range of Library resources, services and support that will be useful during the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdown.
‘COVID-19: resources made available by publishers’ Webpage:
Queen Mary Library Services are sharing this list of resources made available for free by the generosity of publishers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. These resources have been selected by the Library team for their relevance to Queen Mary students and staff.
Need help finding information on a specific topic?
Contact the Humanities & Social Sciences Team at: library-hss@qmul.ac.uk
Video Lecture for Distance Learning Law Students
We have produced a specialist Information Literacy Skills lecture recorded for Distance Learner Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law PG students. The lecture looks at the skills to find, use and reference information for dissertations and other projects.
Information Resources for Politics Dissertation Students
Finding research articles for your dissertation
Queen Mary Library Discovery tool
Library Discovery searches a wide range of resources. Search for your topic and use filters to refine your results to peer-reviewed journal articles.
Find it! Use it! Reference it! module on QMplus
This module introduces students to Information Literacy Skills, enabling them to find and evaluate information sources that are appropriate for academic study, and then use and manage them effectively in their work.
A free academic search engine that can be described as the academic version of Google.
These sites provide a list of tips that will help you save time and search more effectively:
Google Scholar – The Ultimate Guide
How to find papers when you do your literature review
Looks at different places where you can find papers that could be of interest.
Resources on the Web
A range of high-quality resources for Politics are available on the web, including primary and secondary sources of information. Start exploring them here:
China
Chinese Foreign Policy Database
Offers insights into China’s foreign policy since 1949 and its relationship to ideology, revolution, the economy, and traditional Chinese culture.
Europe
Chapel Hill Expert Survey (party positions)
Estimate party positioning on European integration, ideology and policy issues for national parties in a variety of European countries.
Eurobarometer (public opinion in the EU)
Each survey consists of approximately 1000 face-to-face interviews per country. Reports are published twice yearly. Special Eurobarometer reports are based on in-depth thematic studies carried out for various services of the European Commission or other EU Institutions.
European Consortium for Political Research
Based at the University of Essex the ECPR is an independent, scholarly association, which supports and encourages the training, research and cross-national cooperation of political scientists in institutions throughout Europe and beyond.
Monitoring social change in Europe since 2002
ESO is maintained & updated by the Cardiff University Library EDC. Searchable database indexing primary and official sources, commentary and analyses, media reports, journal articles, blog posts, monographs and academic textbooks, etc. Whenever possible, links to the full content of the sources are provided.
Statistical office of the European Union, providing the EU with statistics at European level that enable comparisons between countries and regions.
Parliaments and governments database
ParlGov is a data infrastructure for political science and contains information for all EU and most OECD democracies (37 countries). The database combines approximately 1700 parties, 990 elections (9300 results), and 1600 cabinets (3800 parties).
Who Governs Europe? (Party Systems & Governments Observatory)
Extensive database from Nottingham University on the composition (cabinets & party systems primarily) of European governments 1848-present.
International and Global
A global, peer-to-peer, digital, policy platform for government that connects policymakers to the solutions, people and partners they need to solve the challenges facing our societies.
Country Indicators for Foreign Policy
Statistics & datasets conveying aspects of a country's environment for making foreign policy, includes political, economic, social & cultural information. Country reports focusing on governance, conflict risk, fragile & failed states. Based at Carleton University.
Global health sources
WHO press releases and reports: https://www.who.int/newsroom/releases
Global Health Security Index: https://www.ghsindex.org/
John Hopkins data tracker: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/
Reports global interest in social and political issues, aims to challenge power, uphold human rights and encourage democratic debate.
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)
Statistical data for member countries.
Founded in 1950, the Political Studies Association promotes the global study of politics.
Controversial website giving access to thousands of confidential diplomatic communications leaked by whistle blowers.
Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources
A frequently updated Internet directory of over 2000 annotated links to high-quality English-language sources of information and analysis covering a wide range of international affairs.
Wikipedia list of online archives
Includes statistical data and research reports.
A global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life.
Human Rights and Democracy Report (2003-) Free reports online assess civil liberties and political rights, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion, both for specific countries and around the world
Presents an overview of the state of democracy around the globe today. See especially its Freedom in the World comparative & historical data.
International Political Science Association (IPSA)
Includes the IPSA Portal gateway to top political science websites, its Paper Room of conference papers and various research committees focusing on specific aspects of political science.
International Studies Association
Promotes the study of international relations. Provides free access to many of its annual conference papers since 2000.
The Manifesto Project provides the scientific community with parties’ policy positions derived from a content analysis of parties’ electoral manifestos. It covers over 1000 parties from 1945 until today in over 50 countries on five continents.
United Kingdom
Hosts over 3 million records drawn from both private and public archives. These records are organised thematically, covering 1,000 years of world history, from politics and warfare to slavery and medicine.
Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
The UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues, supporting independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector.
Verbatim reports from the Commons and Lords published the next day on the Parliament UK website. Transcripts of Historic Hansard (from 1803) also available.
Independent social research centre; publications include the British Social Attitudes Report.
Office for National Statistics
UK national statistics collected through the census, surveys and administrative sources.
United Nations
Covers four areas: the Secretaries-General, Secretariat Departments, Peacekeeping Missions, and Predecessor Organizations. Some digitised
United Nations Digital Library
New site which aims to bring together in one place the resources (publications, voting records, speeches) from UNBISnet in a more user friendly and mobile friendly manner.
United Nations Population Division
Produces regular demographic estimates and population projects for countries worldwide. Its website provides free access to reports and data including world fertility, mortality and World Population reports
United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)
Sexual and reproductive health agency. Its website includes free access to recent editions of its annual State of World Population report which highlights recent trends.
USA
American Political Science Association
This site features the APSA Preprints website of working papers and a range of early research outputs in politics & international relations.
Official website for US federal legislative information, maintained by the Library of Congress.
Foreign Relations of the United States
The Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.
Repository for US federal documents, some available digitally
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and the Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) at Princeton University have launched a joint project that provides the public with real-time data and analysis on political violence and demonstrations in the United States It includes data on violence associated with Black lives matter demonstrations.
Open Access Resources
Features an international list of repositories and collections of working papers with anthropological content. However, coverage includes a much broader range of the social sciences.
Open Book Publishers is a UK HSS publisher which enables you to access an openly available list of Open Educational Resources (OER) which includes books and textbooks for free.
Open archive of the social sciences, provides a free, non-profit, open access platform for social scientists to upload working papers, preprints, and published papers, with the option to link data and code. SocArXiv is dedicated to opening up social science, to reach more people more effectively, to improve research, and build the future of scholarly communication. SocArXiv papers are moderated before appearing.
Published by the Sociology Department at the University of Oxford
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ The Directory of Open Access Journals makes it possible to browse journals by subject. It is also possible to search within individual journal titles for articles on a specific topic.
Open Access University Repositories
OpenDOAR portal links to global Open Access repositories
QMUL Open Access Information and Resources
QMUL’s institutional repository providing open access to QMUL research.
Queen Mary Library Subscribed Resources
These are excellent sources of good quality information relevant to Politics. You will need to sign in if you are accessing them off campus using your Queen Mary IT account credentials.
A multi-disciplinary database which provides full-text coverage of over 4,450 scholarly publications, more than 3,500 of them peer-reviewed. [Senate House Library]
Essential for understanding Black history and culture, African Diaspora, 1860-Present allows scholars to discover the migrations, communities, and ideologies of the African Diaspora through the voices of people of African descent. With a focus on communities in the Caribbean, Brazil, India, United Kingdom, and France, the collection includes never-before digitized primary source documents, including personal papers, organizational papers, journals, newsletters, court documents, letters, and ephemera. Coverage: 1860-Present
Innovative shared online off-air TV and radio recording service for UK higher and further education institutions. Choose and record any broadcast programme from 60+ TV and radio channels, schedule recordings in advance, edit programmes into clips, create playlists, embed clips into QMplus, share what you are watching with others and search a growing archive of material. Discover more about BOB National features by viewing their Video Tutorials.
Full-text coverage for more than 1,800 peer-reviewed business and social science journals. In addition, this database offers indexing and abstracts for many more journals, plus 17,000 detailed company profiles for the world's largest companies.
Full-text coverage of over 150 titles, including social and international economics.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports
A US government agency which translates the text of daily radio and television broadcasts, newspapers and periodicals, government statements, books, and other sources of unrestricted information from non-English sources around the world.
A humanities and social sciences digital primary sources archive that allows you to use a single cross- search interface to access 500 years of world history in multiple collections. For tutorials and training, please click here.
Content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling and more.
This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Coverage: 1791 – 2003.
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP)
Includes over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers. Coverage from 1715 to 2005, with supplementary material back to 1688.
Provides access to the full text of many core journals in the Politics area. It is searchable by author and subject.
Makes available the complete archives of the pioneering social research organisation Mass Observation. There are original manuscript and typescript papers, printed publications and photographs, and interactive features.
Access to regional, national and global newspapers, global financial and company information, market research data. Video Tutorials
Features 600,000 words, 3 million quotations, and over 1000 years of English.
An online resource that brings together two million digitised entries across Oxford’s dictionaries, companions and encyclopedias. Best for checking a fact or finding key information on a person, concept or term.
Provides full-text access to a collection of more than 300 journals in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Search for dissertations and theses from across the world. [Senate House Library]
A database dedicated to research methods across a range of subject areas. SAGE Research Methods supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through every step of the research process, from writing a research question, conducting a literature review, choosing the best research methods, analysing data, to writing up results and thinking about publication
Provides statistical data from a wide range of international sources on populations, industries, economics, media, public opinion, companies, politics, lifestyles and many other topics. Video Tutorial
Telegraph Historical Archive, 1855-2000
Which includes the Sunday edition - allows you to search historical data on any number of topics, and offers insight into domestic and international affairs and culture over a timespan of almost 150 years along with tutorials and training resources.
The Times Digital Archive: 1785-2011 (and rolling)
Provides access to a library of back issues of the newspaper online plus searchable images from the microfilm collection of The Times.
The Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive: 1902-2014
Offers insight, criticism, and commentary on literature and the arts from over a century.
Last updated 15/07/2020
Information Literacy sessions for Science & Engineering PGTs
We are organising sessions for all Science and Engineering Taught Postgraduate students in Mid-June. The sessions will cover how to use the reference management tools: Endnote and Mendeley, and how to access information from home. For more information and to book your place, go to:
https://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/seworkshops/
If you have specific enquiries, or need advice, and to book a 1to1 session, please email library-sande@qmul.ac.uk