The resources and research tips on this page support the Short Paper assignment in Dr. Lana Mobydeen's PSC 111, Section 2 class, Fall 2024. This information was presented to students by the Political Science Librarian, Diane Kolosionek, on Thursday, October 24, 2024.

Who are the Presidential Candidates on the ballot in Ohio? View the Sample Ballot from the Ohio Secretary of State.

Start with Google to find biographical information on your candidates and for evidence to support your arguments/reasons why you are voting/not voting for a particular candidate.

ALSO USE ONLINE RESEARCH TOOLS provided by the Michael Schwartz Library to find reputable sources of information!

Look for ARTICLES using the Research Databases, like Academic Search Complete and Nexis Uni.

Use OneSearch (big, orange search box on the library's homepage) to find books, eBooks, and articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers.

The candidate's campaign website will include biographical information and policy positions, of course.

Also see Ballotpedia - Presidential Candidates, 2024.

Try adding various keywords to your Google searches, like biography, resume, childhood, early life, education, career, professional achievements, scandals, controversy, controversies, platform, policy positions, economic policy, immigration policy, education policy, foreign policy, abortion, criminal justice, climate change, environment, guns, healthcare, jobs, inflation, privacy, taxes, tariffs, war.

For example:

Kamala Harris biography

Donald Trump immigration policy

You will find results from NEWS sources, advocacy organizations, policy organizations, and think tanks in your results.

How will you determine the credibility/reliability of a source? How do you know it is a REPUTABLE source? What evaluation criteria will you use?

Check these media bias charts for perspective:

Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart

AllSides Media Bias Chart

Investigate the source! Wikipedia is helpful for this. For example, try a Google search on the source name and Wikipedia, like:

Epoch Times Wikipedia

That will lead you to information about the source so you can assess its credibility.

Look for an About Us page on the website. Advocacy/policy organizations and think tanks should disclose if they have a "slant" or partisan point of view, like liberal or conservative. Or, they may by nonpartisan, centrist, or bipartisan.

Helpful criteria to evaluate sources include date of publication, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose, and point of view.

You may not be able to access the full text of NEWS articles or other sources when using search engines like Google. Remember, all information is NOT freely available on the Internet! You may encounter paywalls when trying to view the full text.

The Michael Schwartz Library subscribes to over 200 Research Databases where you can access the full text of articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers. The library pays for these databases...they are not free!

Tip: Activate your complimentary subscriptions to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. See the box below.

Thanks to the Michael Schwartz Library, CSU students have FREE digital access to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal!

Activate your complimentary subscriptions so you can search for and view the full text of articles on their platforms without a paywall! Access requires individual account creation.

Create your accounts when you are ON CAMPUS and using CSU's secured wireless. Sign up using your CSU/academic email address.

Use fact-checking sites like the ones listed below to investigate the factual accuracy of claims. In an era of fake news, misinformation, and disinformation, it is very important to develop good fact-checking skills!

Off campus?

Many electronic resources (like Research Databases and eBooks) are limited to current CSU students, faculty, and staff when accessed remotely. You may be prompted to authenticate by entering your CampusNet ID and Password.  

More information about signing in

Use the Michael Schwartz Library's Research Databases to find articles from academic journals, magazines, and/or newspapers containing biographical information on your candidates, their policy positions, and evidence to support your decision to vote/not vote for them.

Search on different keywords and combinations of terms to find information, like:

Kamala Harris AND abortion

Donald Trump AND tariffs

Use limiters, such as Publication Date, to narrow or refine your search results.

Here are just a few databases to get you started:

Use OneSearch to find books, articles, and more -- all in a single search!

Go to the Advanced Search. Enter your keywords into the separate search boxes. Use the Boolean operator AND to combine your search terms.

Use the limiters in OneSearch to narrow your results.

• You can limit results to Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals.
• You can limit results by Publication Date.
• You can limit by Source Type, for example, to see Books, eBooks, Academic Journals, Magazines, or News.

-Many articles are available full text online in HTML or PDF format inside the research databases.

-If not, then select the yellow Find It! button or the Full Text Finder(s) link to determine the availability of a specific article when searching the databases. You may be able to connect to the full text of the article in another database. Just follow the links!

-If the article is NOT available in the database or by selecting the other links, then check Journals at CSU. Use Journals at CSU to determine if the Library provides full text access (either online or in print) to the TITLES of specific journals, magazines, and newspapers.

-Search for the article title on Google Scholar.

-If the article is not available in any of the sources mentioned above, then request it through Interlibrary Loan.