Political Science

Books

Textbooks
Search for textbooks by course number.

Print Books
Search for books in the Library's catalog. Also find print materials via the "Books and eBooks" tab on the Library website. Search by topic, title, author, etc.

• Circulating Books: Located on the Lower Level. Check out up to 10 books for 2 weeks at a time with your FSC ID
• Reference Books: Located on the First Floor. Must be used within the Library. Includes encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, test prep books, etc.

eBooks
Search for ebooks via the "Books and eBooks" tab on the Library website. Search by topic, title, author, etc. View materials as a PDF and access from off campus with your FSC username and password.

Websites

US Department of State information on countries and areas
Information on countries throughout the world, including travel information and advisories, news, US relations facts sheets, and more.

Country Studies

CIA World Factbook
The World Factbook, produced by CIA's Directorate of Intelligence, is a comprehensive resource of facts and statistics on more than 250 countries and other entities. 

Data.gov
The home of the U.S. Government’s open data. You will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.

Dictionary of Occupational Titles - O*Net
Online resource to research occupations. 

GovInfo.gov - Discover U.S. Government Information

IRS Tax Forms and Publications
Download copies of hard-to-find tax forms and complete instructions. Adobe Acrobat required.

National Center for Education Statistics (U.S. Department of Education/Institute of Education Sciences)
Searchable resource for national education statistics.

National Center for Health Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Online research for Health Statistics

NFPA - National Fire Protection Association 

Occupational Outlook Handbook
Search occupation data, including educational requirements and job responsibilities. 

Statistical Abstract of the United States - 2012
Census data. 

U.S. Census
The Census Bureau is the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy.

US Government Publishing Office

U.S. Congress

U.S. House of Representatives

Local laws/Building Codes
Online version of the New York State Building Codes

USA.gov 

Library of Congress Browse Government Page

US Patent and Trademark Office
Search patents/trademark databases, or file an application online. 

Citing Sources

See below for basic guidelines and examples of APA citation style.
APA Style Quiz

Why Cite?

Why you need to cite sources:

• Citing sources is the only way to use other people’s work without plagiarizing (i.e. if you are using any resource [journal article, book, website, report, interview, etc.], you NEED to give credit to the original source).
• The readers of your work need citations to learn more about your ideas and where they came from.
• Citing sources shows the amount of research you’ve done.
• Citing sources strengthens your work by lending outside support to your ideas.

In-Text Citations

In-text citations give credit to sources in the body of your paper. Use in-text citations when paraphrasing, directly quoting, or using ideas from sources.

• APA citation style uses the author-date method for in-text citations: Author(s)’ last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text.
• Names may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the date should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.
• Include page numbers if you are directly quoting the material. 

See APA How to Format Citations and Helpful Tips

Reference List

Citations in the Reference List must correspond to in-text citations; The word or phrase you use in your in-text citations must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the Reference List.

See APA Sample Title Page and Reference List

Formatting

• • Separate page labeled “References,” double-spaced, same margins as rest of paper.
  • Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations by 0.5 inches to create a hanging indent.

Author Names

• • Alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
  • Authors' names are inverted (last name, first initial).
  • List all authors of a particular work for up to and including seven authors. If the work has more than seven authors, list the first six authors and then use ellipses (...) after the sixth author's name. After the ellipses, list the last author's name of the work.

Capitalization and Punctuation

• • Capitalize only the first word of a title and subtitle and proper nouns (books, chapters, articles, web pages).
  • Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
  • Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections.

NoodleTools

Access NoodleTools

NoodleTools is a citation manager that can help you generate and format citations correctly.

• Select the type of resource you are citing (article, book, website, etc.) and NoodleTools will prompt you to enter required information. A citation is then generated in your selected format.
• NoodleTools requires an account, so every time you log in your citations will be saved for you.
• When you are finished entering information, a reference list can be generated for you and exported to MS Word or Google Docs.

Citation Help

For more details and examples of APA citation style, visit the following websites:

• Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)
  • APA Formatting and Style Guide
  • APA Sample Paper
• APA: The Basics of APA Style Tutorial 
• The Writer’s Handbook: APA Documentation Guide (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
• Plagiarism.org: How Do I Cite Sources?

Associations