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Political Science 271: Terrorism

This library research guide provides an overview of essential research resources and strategies for students in Political Science 271.

SuperSearch: Searching for Articles

Before beginning your search, first select the SuperSearch Option you want to use when you search:

  • SuperSearch: Searches the physical collection and ebooks 
  • Everything: Searches most of the physical collection, ebooks, and select databases
  • Course Reserves: Searches the collection of books at the circulation desk

Once you have the correct option selected, your searches should provide you with more helpful resources.  

Screenshot of a blank SuperSearch Advanced search page. The image has a highlight box and arrows pointing to the three search options: SuperSearch, Everything, and Course Reserves. These options are located above the first search bar and can be adjusted before entering keywords into the search bar. By default, the selected search option is SuperSearch.

Beginning an Article Search

  1. In SuperSearch's Advanced Search, in the search bar, you can type in the article's title or keywords, subject topic, or the article's author. Then, in the Material Type, click on the drop-down menu and select Articles.
  2. Then, click on the green magnifying glass Search option to search.

Screenshot of the SuperSearch Advanced search page with the beginning of an example search. To highlight where to type in keywords, there is a highlight box and a directional arrow pointing to the first search bar, which has education as an example keyword. On the right side of the search menu, to show the location of the Material Type dropdown menu, it has a highlight box and is pointed to by a directional arrow. For the example search, the Material Type is set to search for Articles. The last highlight box and directional arrow are located in the bottom right corner, around the Search button.

  1. If needed, in the left-hand toolbar, go to the Show Only section and click on the checkbox area for the Online at CSU-Pueblo and Peer-reviewed Journals options. Then, at the bottom of the toolbar, click on Apply Filters.
  2. An additional helpful filter is the Publication Date, which will let you adjust the date range of when the articles were published. This can be useful if you are looking for recently published articles or if an assignment provides a set timeframe of when articles should be published. 
  3. If needed, at the bottom of the left-hand toolbar, click on Apply Filters.

Screenshot from a completed SuperSearch example search for material connected to the keyword education. To highlight how to filter the results, a directional arrow is pointing to the left-hand toolbar, and a highlight box is around the Show Only, Source Type, and Publication Date sections. In the Show Only section, there are check marks next to the filters: Online at CSU-Pueblo and Peer-reviewed Journals. In the Publication Date section, the entered dates are 2025-2027. To apply the filters to the results, the Apply Filters button is at the bottom of the left-hand toolbar and has a highlight box and directional arrow pointing at the location.  

The Results

  1. The search results will indicate at a glance if you can download an article as a PDF, view the journal issue the article is in, and/or  view the full text online.
  2. In the full record for the article, to access the article from our database, scroll to the section called View Online. In this section, it will list each of the databases that have the article's full text.

A screenshot of an example article’s information tab that has two highlight boxes with directional arrows. The first highlight box and directional arrow are at the top of the screenshot, around the citation information for the article, the peer review icon, and the different links to access the full-text of the article. The second highlight box and directional arrow are in the middle of the screenshot, around the View Online section. This section shows which database has the full-text; if the example were a book, it would show the physical location of the book.

  1. To help you provide the reference citation for the article, scroll to the Send To section and click on Citation. Remember to double-check this citation because there might be some mistakes in this computer-generated citation. 

Note: Interlibrary Loan is a service the University Library provides, which can help gather resources we cannot immediately access. If you need assistance placing a request, please send an email or start a chat session. In addition to setting an appointment with a librarian, the LINC students are also able to assist with research questions. 

A screenshot of an example article’s information tab shows three highlight boxes and directional arrows pointing to locations that provide reference citations for the article. To use this feature, go to the Send To section and click the Citation button, which is marked with a quote symbol above the text citation. To indicate this, the citation button in the screenshot is surrounded by a highlight box and an arrow. After clicking the button, a new menu appears below the Send To section buttons. On the left side, there is a list of popular citation styles: MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard, with a highlight box around the current selection. On the right side, SuperSearch displays the generated citation, which varies depending on the selected style. To copy the citation, click the button labeled 'Copy Citation to Clipboard' located beneath the citation, which is also highlighted in the screenshot.     

Search Tips

To get the best search results, it helps to break down your research topic into its core ideas – these are your main keywords. Think about different words that describe these ideas. If your database has a thesaurus or index, it can be super helpful to check for the best official terms. Your instructor or a librarian can also give you great keyword suggestions!

A keyword search looks for matching words in titles, descriptions, abstracts, and other descriptive information. Sometimes the author provides keywords; the database will also assign subject headings (a controlled list of terms) to aid in searching.

Some ideas to get you brainstorming keywords:

  • Browse the databases, journals, or the library catalog to get a sense of the main topics the researchers are discussing in your discipline.
  • Talk with your research advisor (often your instructor) about their expectations for the project and topics that will be most helpful.
  • Consider larger fields where your topic fits.
  • Take note of popular stories on the topic that interest you. How do they talk about the topic differently from academic researchers?
  • Consult a librarian. When you talk to someone outside of the field, you can get an outside perspective that can help guide your research.

Using Boolean Operators to Focus Your Search

  • AND: This operator helps you narrow down your search by telling the database that all your keywords must be present in the results. For example, searching for "video games AND teens" will only show you results that talk about both video games and teens.
  • OR: Use this to broaden your search. It tells the database that any of your keywords can be in the results. So, "children OR juveniles" will give you results that mention either children, or juveniles, or both.
  • NOT: This is useful for excluding specific terms from your search results. For instance, "teens NOT adults" will show you information about teens, but it will leave out anything that specifically mentions adults.

Infographic of three Boolean operators: and, or, and not are in dark blue circles. The first dark blue circle is the operator and in white text is a light blue rectangular box, which contains two bullets explaining how and refining the search to retrieve articles that contain both terms, which narrows the search. The example "video games" AND "teens" in a search window. The light blue rectangular box next to the operator "or" is the explanation of how OR helps refine the search; by retrieving articles with ANY of the terms, and broadening the search, and for example, "children OR juveniles" broadens the search to different vocabulary terms. Next to this rectangular box is a dark blue circle with OR written in white text in the middle. Finally, the not operator dark blue circle with a light blue rectangular box with two bullets explaining how it refines the search, it eliminates articles containing the second term and narrows the search, and "games AND teens NOT adults," the search will narrow the results to material without the keyword adults.

Using Truncation, Wildcards, Exact Phrase, and Other Limiters

  • Asterisk (*) for Truncation: Add an asterisk at the end of a root word to find all its different endings. For example, "diet*" will find results containing "diet," "diets," "dieting," and "dietary."
  • Question Mark (?) for Wildcards: Use a question mark inside a word to replace a single letter. This is handy for catching different spellings. For example, "wom?n" will find both "woman" and "women."
  • Quotation Marks ( " " ) for Exact Phrase: Putting two or more words inside quotation marks tells the database to consider all the words as one keyword, and the words must appear in that exact order.
  • Explore Database Limiters: The database you're using likely has other ways to narrow your search, like by date, publication type, or subject. Be sure to check out the options available to you!

An infographic of four boxes, each of which provides an example of how to narrow the search results. The first example is in the top left light blue box, where an asterisk can be used as a truncation, which searches for different endings of a keyword. If you add an asterisk at the end of a root word, to can find all its different endings. For example, "diet*" will find results containing “diet,” “diets,” “dieting,” and “dietary.” In the top right dark blue box are details about using a question mark can act as a wildcard when searching. A question mark inside a word to replace a single letter. This is handy for catching different spellings. For example, “wom?n” will find both “woman” and “women.” The bottom left, dark blue box, using quotation marks, searches for an exact phrase. By putting two or more words inside quotation marks, it tells the database to consider all the words as one keyword, and the words must appear in that exact order. The bottom right, light blue box suggests using the database’s limiters or filters. Almost all databases you're using likely have other ways to narrow your search, by date, publication type, or subject. Be sure to check out the options available to you.

Plan a search strategy

  • Define your topic
  • What question do you want to answer?
  • Identify keywords and phrases that describe your answer
  • Brainstorm alternate spellings, related terms, broader concepts, and more specific concepts
  • Identify the subject area or areas that your topic may fall under

Test and refine your search

  • Test your keywords and phrases in each database
  • Use the database limiters, and if needed, adjust the Boolean Operators
  • If you don't find what you're looking for right away, try some of the alternate terms you brainstormed earlier
  • Refine your search using the side menu options
  • Review the subject terms for each result and possibly use that as an alternative term