Research Guides: PLSC 4380: Big Data and IR: Overview

Scholarly Reference Resources

Get an overview of the scholarship and find links to relevant citations.

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed encyclopedic articles on politics
Oxford Bibliographies This link opens in a new window
Overviews & annotated bibliographies on a variety of subjects

Articles & Books

General Search Tools

Ebsco Political Science Search
First stop for articles from political science. This link searches across three databases relevant for political science.

Library Search - Advanced This link opens in a new window
Articles, books, & media among SMU Libraries' collections & databases. Look for linked subject headings in the record to find more.
Political Science Complete This link opens in a new window
Everything about political science
PAIS This link opens in a new window
Public Affairs Information Service covers public & social policies, international relations, & world politics
Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) This link opens in a new window
U.S. Homeland Security policy, strategy, & organizational management
Science and Technology Collection This link opens in a new window
Fulltext articles on science & tech
Westlaw Campus Research This link opens in a new window
Law, news, & business publications
For all current SMU students, faculty & staff

Journals

Magazines

Foreign Affairs (1922-present)
News and analysis on global issues and policy, from the Council on Foreign Relations.
Cyberscoop
Reports on news and events impacting technology and security.
Wired
Monthly American magazine focusing on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics.

Books

Handbook on the Politics and Governance of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
Publication Date: 2023
Covers political and regulatory developments in AI and big data governance, the political implications of big data and AI on international relations, as well as emerging initiatives for legal regulation.
Research Handbook on Cyberwarfare
Publication Date: 2024
Analysis of cyberwarfare, the actors' objectives and strategies and the application of international law and ethics.
The Oxford Handbook of Cyber Security
Publication Date: 2022-02-04
A comprehensive approach to the still evolving topic of cyber security. Demonstrates how the scope of cyber security manifests on many levels of human interaction, including policy, economy, technology, sociology.

Policy Papers

Policy briefs or policy papers summarize a policy issue and argue for a particular solution. Many policy briefs from think tanks, NGOs, and research institutes can be found online. Include the keywords "policy brief" or "policy paper" or "white paper" in your search.

Be sure to evaluate the organization.

General Search Tools

Policy Commons: Global Think Tanks This link opens in a new window
Objective, fact-based research from the world’s leading policy experts, think tanks, IGOs and NGOs

Think Tank Search Engine
Try this custom think tank Google search below to limit your results

Recommended Think Tanks

If a site's search function is not good, use a Google site search to find relevant pages within an organization's website.

Data & Society
An independent nonprofit research organization dedicated to understanding the role of technology in social change.
Brookings Institute
Conducts in-depth research for national and international social change.
Rand Corporation
Focuses on such issues as health, education, national security, international affairs, law and business, the environment, and more.
Center for Security Studies
A database of reports and studies on international relations and security-related issues from think tanks, research institutes and NGOs from around the world.
Center for Strategic & International Studies
Lawfare
Non-profit multimedia publication dedicated to “Hard National Security Choices.” Coverage ranges from national security law, threats to democracy, cybersecurity, executive powers, content moderation, domestic extremism, and foreign policy, among many others
War on the Rocks
A platform for analysis and debate on strategy, defense, and foreign affairs.
Council on Foreign Relations – Net Politics
CFR experts investigate the impact of information and communication technologies on security, privacy, and international affairs.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and advance peace.
Atlantic Council – Cybersecurity
Focuses on strategy and foresight and shifts attention from singular incidents to better understand larger cyber campaigns.

Research Librarian

Megan Heuer

Contact:

mheuer@smu.edu
(214) 768-1856

Subjects: Economics, Government, International & Area Studies, Journalism, Political Science, Public Policy & International Affairs, Writing & Reasoning

Class Materials

Synthesis Matrix for Research Papers: Excel

Related Guides

Political Science
Political News and Opinion
Recommended news publications
International Relations & Foreign Policy
Includes resources for U.S. foreign policy and global security

Evaluating Organizations

Being non-profit or even being humanitarian does not mean that an organization does not have a bias in favor or against a certain subject, industry or policy. Just because an organization has a bias does not mean that you would not use information from them.

Check the "About" page to understand the mission of the interest group.
Do some searching on Google to see what more you can find out.
Check to make sure that any research conducted was well done.
Look for other groups that may have different positions.
Look for citations to the organization from reputable news media, government bodies, etc.
Find out who funds the organization. Be aware that some think tanks are run by corporations as a way to generate positive public relations.

Transparify
Rates the financial transparency of major think tanks.
SourceWatch
"Well-documented information about corporate public relations (PR) campaigns, including corporate front groups, people who "front" corporate campaigns, and PR operations."