Choose a Topic
Great research topics are all around us! Start with your professor's instructions - is there a particular subject area you must stay within?
You may want to consult:
- Course materials - textbook, handouts
- Personal interests and experiences
- Various news outlets (TV, print, online)
- Library databases - Try the following:
- Newspaper databases (found under 'Newspapers')
- In Context: Global Issues and In Context: Opposing Viewpoints Tip: In Opposing Viewpoints, choose 'Law and Politics'
- Academic Search Complete
- In Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window Opposing Viewpoints offers material to support differing views to help develop critical thinking skills on thousands of current social topics in the forms of primary source documents, statistics, websites and multimedia. Find overviews, news, and opinions on hundreds of today's important social issues, including racism, capital punishment, global warming, and voting rights with reference sources, newspaper and magazine articles, scholarly journals, court cases, government documents, viewpoints, maps, images, audio, video and websites.
- Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window Featuring a dynamic design and a wealth of features, Issues & Controversies helps researchers understand today's crucial issues by exploring hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture. Issues and Controversies provides up-to-date, in-depth and objective information on prominent and hotly debated issues. It combines objective analysis with clear explanations of opposing points of view. Chronologies, illustrations, maps, tables, sidebars, bibliographies and contact information augment the balanced, accurate coverage of current and historical events.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Academic Search Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,400 journals.
- In Context: Global Issues This link opens in a new window Designed to support global awareness, In Context: Global Issues ties together a wealth of authoritative content that empowers students to critically analyze and understand the most important issues of the modern world. Explore issues within government, law, health, science and technology, society and culture; it contains 250 country pages and more than 400 issue pages along with 6,000 viewpoint commentaries.
Search Newspapers
- U.S. Major Dailies This link opens in a new window U.S. Major Dailies provides access to the five most respected U.S. national and regional newspapers: The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. Search all of these newspaper titles conveniently in one search portal.
- Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new window Provides cover-to-cover full text for 45 U.S. & international newspapers. The database also contains selective full text for 389 regional (U.S.) newspapers, including the New Haven Register and New London Day. It includes newswires, news magazines, television and radio transcripts, news video clips, and more. It is updated daily with the most recent news. Wire sources include the Associated Press (AP), CNN Wire, PR Wire, UPI (United Press International), and Xinhua (China). Television and radio news transcript sources include ABC News (United States), ABC (Australia), CBC (Canada), CBS News, CNBC, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, MSNBC, NPR, and PBS.
- Hartford Courant (1992-current) This link opens in a new window Daily newspaper from Hartford, Connecticut. Coverage: 1992 - current. The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in Connecticut. Founded in 1764, it also is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States.
- New York Times (1985-present) This link opens in a new window This ProQuest version of full-text articles from The New York Times newspaper (Coverage Dates: 1985 to Present) includes local, regional, national, and international news coverage, including archived articles. Alternately, if you are looking for access to The New York Times Online Edition, please create a free library account at https://library.ctstate.edu/nytimes
- New York Times Online Edition This link opens in a new window Requires creation of free account using campus email address. Use your free account to access popular features, such as Today's Paper, Currently Trending, Wirecutter, The Athletic, Games including The Crossword, Cooking, Recipes, The Learning Network, Opinion, Politics, The Daily (podcast), New York Times Video and TimesMachine, which provides page scans of every issue of The New York Times published between 1851 and 2002 in browsing and searching formats.
- Wall Street Journal (1984-present) This link opens in a new window This ProQuest version of full-text articles from The Wall Street Journal newspaper (Coverage Dates: 1984 to Present) includes local, regional, national, and international news coverage, including archived articles. Alternately, if you are looking for access to The Wall Street Journal Online Edition, please create a free library account at The Wall Street Journal Online Edition. The Wall Street Journal is an American business and economic-focused international daily newspaper based in New York City. The Journal is published six days a week.
- Wall Street Journal Online Edition This link opens in a new window The Wall Street Journal, a national daily newspaper publishing news, information, commentary, and analysis with an emphasis on business and financial news. This online version includes access to Barron's Magazine, MarketWatch and the WSJ puzzles and games. It includes coverage of U.S. and world news, education, politics, technology, real estate, sports, health, and the arts. Requires creation of free account using campus email address.
Develop a Search Strategy
1. What are the main concepts of your topic and what keywords might you use when searching?
- Example topic: Does playing violent video games lead to violent behavior in adolescents? Key concepts are in bold. Other possible keywords: Media violence, aggression, popular culture, teenagers or youth, psychological aspects, social aspects.
- Modify your search strategy after you begin searching. Use the power of the databases (limiters, suggested subjects, and more) to further develop your search. Use broader concepts when searching the online catalog for books. Ask a librarian for help if you need it.
2. Determine what information you need. Follow your instructor's syllabus carefully. Ask yourself the following questions:
- How many sources do I need? (Did your instructor give you a number?)
- What types of sources do I need? (Books? Articles? Websites?)
3. Get background information on your topic.
- Use our online reference databases to gather information on the broader context of your topic. This preliminary research will also help identify more keywords for searching. [See the box below "Search the Online Reference Databases for Background Info".]
Search the Online Reference Databases for Background Info
By searching the reference databases (below) using your subject keywords, you will find information from encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and more. This background info will help you get up-to-speed quickly on your topic, start an outline for your paper, and assist you in writing your introduction.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window Credo Reference is a general knowledge database providing articles, images, charts, maps and other materials on thousands of topics. With 750+ searchable, full-text titles, Credo Reference places particular emphasis on subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and reference handbooks. Also included are more than 1,100 short reference videos, more than 475,000 high-resolution art images, photographs, and maps across all subject areas.