Starting your research

  • How to find books and journals?

    Search the SOAS Library catalogue . This will find print and electronic books and print journals. Widen your search to include other research libraries in the UK and Ireland by using COPAC .

  • How to find journal articles?

    If you know the article you are looking for search the Library catalogue and/or eJournal and eBook Finder for the title of the journal if you want to find what articles have been written on a certain subject then start with EBSCO Discovery searching tool.

  • How do I find multimedia resources?

    In the Library you can search by classmark for DVDs and CDs .

  • How do I find secondary data?
    • SOAS Library subscribes to a number of statistics databases. For details, please consult our Data and Statistics listing.
    • For free sources of data and statistics, and other external data sources, please see the thematic resources .
  • How do I find newspapers?
    • World-wide newspapers 1996- (including UK) on Access World News. This includes retrospective access to the Financial Times, up until the previous month.
    • UK Newspapers on Lexis Library
    • For other sources of newspapers, please consult our list of News Sources .
  • How to find legislation & international treaties?

    In many instances where students are referred to specific pieces of domestic legislation or international/regional treaties by members of academic staff direct links will be provided on reading lists on MOODLE.

    However if you are looking for domestic legislation from specific jurisdictions or international /regional treaties and you have no direct links use the available law databases as follows:

    The United Nations International Law website is an especially important additional source for international treaties and agreements, in particular the UN Treaty Collection .

    For all other countries/jurisdictions use links provided by the World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII)

  • SOAS Research online

    SOAS Research Online :Open access e-print repository of academic publications (articles, book chapters, theses etc.) by SOAS staff and students. Content dates mainly from the 1990s, though the earliest items are from 1959.

  • What if SOAS Library does not hold what I need?

    Try our e-book collections:

    Try other libraries. For Politics, the following nearby libraries are recommended:

    • Senate House Library (University of London)
      SOAS students have access to the 8 collaborating libraries, which contain a vast range of different materials. Collections include the Commonwealth collection and collections on the Americas.
    • LSE
      LSE holds vast Social Science collections, particularly rich in economics, statistics, political science and public administration.
    • Institute of Commonwealth Studies
      Part of the University of London, the Institute focuses on the recent history of Commonwealth countries and is a major resource for those working on the Commonwealth as a whole, or on any of its member states.
    • British Library
      The national library and manuscript collection of the U.K.

    Try searching other libraries’ holdings using Copac (Research Libraries UK Union Catalogue) & SUNCAT .

    Try consulting the regional subject guides for listings of relevant libraries.

    Try using the Inter-Library loans service to request books from other Libraries.

    Information on accessing other libraries – including use of electronic resources - can be  accessed at Access to other Libraries .

  • How do I cite and reference sources?

    Citing and referencing is the way in which you provide details of quotations, arguments and ideas of others that you included in your own work. To avoid plagiarism, always keep notes as you go along of what you have been reading. Using a reference organising software (e.g. Zotero and Endnote Web ) would be recommended.

    There are a number of different citing and referencing systems. Check with your Department and Academic which referencing system they prefer being used. The key is to be consistent.

    Referencing guides are available from the Skills for Success site from MOODLE.

    A comprehensive guide to the Harvard System has been created by Anglia Ruskin University.

  • I'd like further training. Who do I ask?
    • Check the Library Events pages for upcoming training sessions.
    • Try the Moodle Skills for Success Site to develop both your library and study skills. Courses are available to all students and staff but you will need to register the first time you log on. To access go to BLE Moodle and select the Skills for Success tab.
    • Contact the Subject Librarian for Politics.