Online resources
| Introduction to online resources | Registration | Guides to using resources | Citing electronic resources |
| Introduction to online resources |
Nuffield College Library is strongly committed to the provision of electronic resources. We have tried to make it as easy as possible to navigate through the wide variety of online resources and databases that are on offer. Please use the menu on the left or the links in the table below to view the resources which have been identified as being of particular interest to social scientists and which are accessible from the University.
For a broader range of resources OxLIP+ provides access to Oxford University’s extensive online collections including databases, collections of e-books and articles, and e-journals. OxLIP+ includes four major elements:
• "Find Database" allows you to discover and
connect to databases
• "Find e-Journal" provides access to over 28,000
online journals by title
• "CrossSearch" allows you to search a selection
of databases simultaneously
• "My Research" is your personal space on OxLIP+
For more information on using OxLIP+, please see this short guide.
If you do not find what you want on OxLIP+, you may wish to browse the web. Such searches usually retrieve a large amount of information, but it may not all be relevant, and it can be difficult to evaluate the quality of the information found.
A good place to start is the Library Gateways pages. Gateways provide access to detailed descriptions of high quality resources. They are created by people with specialist subject knowledge, usually information professionals, and every website has been carefully evaluated for quality and relevance. Sites are described in detail and grouped by subject to help you find exactly the information you want.
| Registration | [top of page] |
Most resources can be used directly if you are accessing them from within the University network, or if you have connected using a VPN. However, some will require the use of a personal registration. In addition, all resources will require registration if you are accessing them from outside the University network.
Registration is through a Single Sign-On (SSO) system. Once you login via SSO, any associated service that you are entitled to use will then allow access without you having to re-enter your username and password. Your SSO account is administered by OUCS and is separate from any other local college or departmental accounts you may have. For more details, please visit this page.
A small number of resources do not use SSO. For these, any necessary registration procedures should be indicated when you try to access the resource via OxLIP+.
| Guides to using resources | [top of page] |
Most resources have guides to using them in the 'about' or 'help' section. We have collected here direct links to the guides of some of the leading social science databases. In addition, Intute's Virtual Training Suite and Internet Detective will help you to learn how to evaluate resources.
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) is an online bibliography produced by the Library at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and published by Proquest. The database, which contains over 2.5 million records, focuses on the disciplines of anthropology, economics, politics and sociology.
Web of Science
Web of Science indexes over 10,000 high-impact journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities, as well as international proceedings coverage for over 120,000 conferences. Additional tools include cited reference searching, Citation Maps, and the Analyze Tool.
Web of Science quick reference card (PDF)
Zetoc
Zetoc provides access to the British Library's Electronic Table of Contents of around 20,000 current journals and around 16,000 conference proceedings published per year. The database covers 1993 to date, and is updated on a daily basis. It includes an email alerting service to enable you to keep up-to-date with relevant new articles and papers.
| Citing electronic resources | [top of page] |
Below is a brief guide to citing electronic journal articles using APA style. APA (American Psychological Association) is the most commonly used style for the social sciences. The examples below are based on how works would appear in a reference list using the 6th edition (2009). This is followed by a short list of webpages that give details on citing other reference types.
Electronic journal article - Digital Object Identifier (DOI) assigned
Basic format: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number (issue number), pages. doi:0000000/000000000000
Example: Belot, M., Bhaskar, V., & van de Ven, J. (2010). Promises and cooperation: Evidence from a TV game show. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 73(3), 396-405. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2010.01.001
Electronic journal article - no DOI assigned
Basic format: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number (issue number), pages. Retrieved from http://www.website.com/
Example: Duch, R. M. (2001). A developmental model of heterogeneous economic voting in new democracies. American Political Science Review, 95(4), 895-910. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3117720
Recommended Resources
American Psychological Association (APA) style guide
Research and Documentation Online's guide to documenting social science sources using APA
The Internet Public Library's list of major styles and resources for citing electronic sources
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Maintained by Elizabeth Martin - elizabeth.martin@nuffield.ox.ac.uk
Last Modified Tuesday, 25 January 2011. © Copyright Nuffield College.