School of Human and Social Sciences subject guide
Welcome video
Welcome to the School of Human and Social Sciences subject guide. My name is Anna Lazarczyk and I am your subject librarian. I share the school with Naomi Smith who is the subject librarian for Criminology, Global Black Studies, Youth Studies and Youth Justice. We are both here to support you throughout your course and teach you the skills you need to effectively find relevant information for your studies. You can contact us via any of the below methods:
- Email: Anna.Lazarczyk@uwl.ac.uk or smithna@uwl.ac.uk
- Phone: 0208 209 4038 or 0208 2312649
- MS Teams: Search for Anna Lazarczyk or Naomi Smith
What the Library can offer you
Where do I begin? Reading lists, ebooks and LibSearch
Reading lists
Begin with your module’s reading list. Each module has a reading list which gives access to the books, articles and other items the teaching team would like you to read in order to engage properly with the learning material.
Reading lists can be found in each module’s Blackboard space but you can also search for your reading lists online, either by module name or module code.
Books and e-books
The library has a wide range of material to support you, both within the Paul Hamlyn Library and via the Digital Library.
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Looking for a book?
A specific book or books on a subject:
- If you are looking for a book on a particular subject, or you know the author or title, try searching LibSearch. After you have typed in your keyword(s) in a search box, use the ‘Catalogue only’ filter to only see books/ebooks.
- Book on a reading list: If the book is on a module reading list, you can find it straight from your reading list on UWL Reading Lists.
- Can’t find the book you’re looking for? Try requesting an Inter-Library Loan, suggesting the book to your subject librarian or visiting another library.
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E-books
The best way to find ebooks is by using LibSearch, our academic search engine.
If you are looking for a particular book, adding the author's surname is a good way to narrow your search quickly.
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LibSearch
When you are looking for information on a certain subject or you are not sure where to start, LibSearch can help you. It can check the library catalogue, databases, and even external resources, all with a single search. It will help you explore your assignment topic in greater depth and explore a wider range of resources quickly and easily.
- We have short video tutorials that can help you to use Libsearch effectively available on the Libsearch page.
Key databases and specialist resources
In addition to using LibSearch, there are specialist sources you can use to find additional information specific to your subject. Below are the ones I would recommend to you for your studies (please note, you will need to log in with your student username and password for some of the links below):
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Addiction Studies
Academic Search Elite offers information in a broad range of areas including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies and many more.
CINAHL Complete is a research tool for nursing and allied health professionals. Users get fast and easy full text access to top journals, evidence-based care sheets, quick lessons and more. It provides broad content coverage including 50 nursing specialties, speech and language pathology, nutrition, general health and medicine and more. It includes more than 1,300 full text journals and over 5,400 indexed journals.
Medline (EBSCO) is the most comprehensive and highly-regarded database indexing and abstracting the journal literature in Clinical Medicine and the Biosciences. It covers more than 5,500 journal titles in over 40 languages from 1948 onwards.
PsycARTICLES database contains over 134,000 full text peer-reviewed scholarly articles from the American Psychological Association (APA). Coverage includes clinical, health social and industrial/organisational branches of psychology.
PsycINFO is an expansive abstracting and indexing database with more than three million records devoted to peer-reviewed literature in the behavioural sciences and mental health, making it an ideal discovery and linking tool for scholarly research in a host of disciplines.
Sage Journals provides access to over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects in the health, biomedical and social sciences including business, criminology, education, politics and social work.
ScienceDirect gives you access to journals published by Wiley in a range of subjects including life, health and physical sciences, social science and the humanities.
- Please note, UWL does not subscribe to all journals on Science Direct and unsubscribed journals are not available in full text.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
Access Wiley Online Library (journals) in a range of subjects including life, health and physical sciences, social science and the humanities.
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Criminology
Academic Search Elite offers information in a broad range of areas including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies and many more.
JSTOR archival journal collections include more than 2,000 journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. JSTOR offers 15 Arts and Sciences collections that span 60 disciplines, and the Life Science Collection comprises more than 160 journals in the field sciences and broad coverage of the health sciences.
Lexis+ UK has full-text legal information in the form of separate ‘sources’ you can search or browse. The sources are grouped as cases, legislation, commentary (such as Halsbury's Laws of England), forms and precedents and journals. There is a cases citator (index of citations) service called CaseSearch, indicating the status of a case and its judicial history, and a Legal Journals Index ‘PLUS’, covering 500 UK and international journals. You can search across all or individual sources, as well as browse (select from a list of contents).
Medline (EBSCO) is the most comprehensive and highly-regarded database indexing and abstracting the journal literature in Clinical Medicine and the Biosciences. It covers more than 5,500 journal titles in over 40 languages from 1948 onwards.
ProQuest is the platform and host to five databases: British Periodicals, Design & Allied Arts Index, Periodicals Archive Online, ProQuest Business Collection and UK Newsstand. The Business Information collection covers seven individual business databases, including ABI/Inform Complete (5,745 journals, 80% in full text), Accounting & Tax Periodicals, Entrepreneurship, Banking Information Source and UK Newsstand.
Sage Journals provides access to over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects in the health, biomedical and social sciences including business, criminology, education, politics and social work.
ScienceDirect has access to over 2,000 full-text e-journals covering a range of subjects including medicine, forensic science, chemistry, computer science, biochemistry, immunology and microbiology, pharmacology, toxicology, humanities, psychology and social sciences.
- Please note, UWL does not subscribe to all journals on ScienceDirect and unsubscribed journals are not available in full text.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
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Education Studies
Academic Search Elite offers information in a broad range of areas including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies and many more.
JSTOR Arts & Sciences Collections include more than 2,000 journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. JSTOR offers 15 Arts & Sciences collections that span 60 disciplines, and the Life Science Collection comprises more than 160 journals in the field sciences and broad coverage of the health sciences.
Sage Journals provides access to over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects in the health, biomedical and social sciences including business, criminology, education, politics and social work.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
Taylor and Francis Education Collection has over 210 education titles that feature subjects such as early years education, education research, educational leadership and management, further and higher education, history of education, science education and sociology of education.
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Forensic Science
Academic Search Elite offers information in a broad range of areas including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies and many more.
Embase is a medical database that emphasises biomedicine, health policy, psychiatry and genetics.
Lexis+ UK has full-text legal information in the form of separate ‘sources’ you can search or browse. The sources are grouped as cases, legislation, commentary (such as Halsbury's Laws of England), forms and precedents and journals. There is a cases citator (index of citations) service called CaseSearch, indicating the status of a case and its judicial history, and a Legal Journals Index ‘PLUS’, covering 500 UK and international journals. You can search across all or individual sources, as well as browse (select from a list of contents).
Medline (EBSCO) is the most comprehensive and highly-regarded database indexing and abstracting the journal literature in Clinical Medicine and the Biosciences. It covers more than 5,500 journal titles in over 40 languages from 1948 onwards.
ProQuest is the platform and host to five databases: British Periodicals, Design & Allied Arts Index, Periodicals Archive Online, ProQuest Business Collection and UK Newsstand. The Business Information collection covers seven individual business databases, including ABI/Inform Complete (5,745 journals, 80% in full text), Accounting & Tax Periodicals, Entrepreneurship, Banking Information Source and UK Newsstand.
Sage Journals provides access to over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects in the health, biomedical and social sciences including business, criminology, education, politics and social work.
ScienceDirect has access to over 2,000 full-text e-journals covering a range of subjects including medicine, forensic science, chemistry, computer science, biochemistry, immunology and microbiology, pharmacology, toxicology, humanities, psychology and social sciences.
- Please note, UWL does not subscribe to all journals on ScienceDirect and unsubscribed journals are not available in full text.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
Westlaw UK full text legal information, grouped as cases, legislation, commentary, the EU and journals. In addition to full text sources there is the Legal Journals Index, which indexes and abstracts over 800 UK and international journals. As well as searching, you can browse (select from a list of contents) and search individual publications.
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Global Black Studies, Youth Studies and Youth Justice
Academic Search Elite offers information in a broad range of areas including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies and many more.
JSTOR archival journal collections include more than 2,000 journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. JSTOR offers 15 Arts and Sciences collections that span 60 disciplines, and the Life Science Collection comprises more than 160 journals in the field sciences and broad coverage of the health sciences.
ProQuest is the platform and host to five databases: British Periodicals, Design & Allied Arts Index, Periodicals Archive Online, ProQuest Business Collection and UK Newsstand. The Business Information collection covers seven individual business databases, including ABI/Inform Complete (5,745 journals, 80% in full text), Accounting & Tax Periodicals, Entrepreneurship, Banking Information Source and UK Newsstand.
Sage Journals provides access to over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects in the health, biomedical and social sciences including business, criminology, education, politics and social work.
Science Direct has access to over 2,000 full-text e-journals covering a range of subjects including medicine, forensic science, chemistry, computer science, biochemistry, immunology and microbiology, pharmacology, toxicology, humanities, psychology and social sciences.
- Please note, UWL does not subscribe to all journals on ScienceDirect and unsubscribed journals are not available in full text.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
Open access databases
- Culture Art Society Instagram account - curatorial platform founded by Awa Konaté: Archival research, African/diasporic visual culture, Black radical thought, exhibitions and programmes.
- Feminist Africa Archive
- Free Black University
- African Journals Online
- CRT Collective Zotero Library
Please note, there is a living list of scholarly journals that UWL hopes to purchase that are yet to be available through the library’s physical or online repositories. It is envisaged that this will be of significance and relevance to the formation of a dynamic and imaginative liberatory curriculum for the Global Black Studies program and extensions of the spirit of its strategic intentions, honouring the work and vision of the program’s founder, Professor William Lez Henry and the legacy of ancestors, Professor Herbert Ekwe Ekwe and Dr Marcia Worrell. Importantly, the aim of this list is to work towards ensuring the holdings of UWL’s library reflect the brilliant scholarship of people racialised as black, with particular emphasis on the work of Black women.
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Nutritional Therapy
Academic Search Elite offers information in a broad range of areas including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies and many more.
CINAHL Complete is a research tool for nursing and allied health professionals. Users get fast and easy full text access to top journals, evidence-based care sheets, quick lessons and more. It provides broad content coverage including 50 nursing specialties, speech and language pathology, nutrition, general health and medicine and more. It includes more than 1,300 full text journals and over 5,400 indexed journals.
Medline (EBSCO) is the most comprehensive and highly-regarded database indexing and abstracting the journal literature in Clinical Medicine and the Biosciences. It covers more than 5,500 journal titles in over 40 languages from 1948 onwards.
Natural Medicines provides unbiased, evidence-based information and ratings on over 90,000 dietary supplements, natural medicines and integrative therapies.
Nutritional Science Collection is a database that will help you find reliable, relevant scientific information and keep up-to-date with the latest research. It is the key resource for students, researchers and academics seeking information in the sciences of food and health.
PsycARTICLES database contains over 134,000 full text peer-reviewed scholarly articles from the American Psychological Association (APA). Coverage includes clinical, health social and industrial/organisational branches of psychology.
PsycINFO is an expansive abstracting and indexing database with more than three million records devoted to peer-reviewed literature in the behavioural sciences and mental health, making it an ideal discovery and linking tool for scholarly research in a host of disciplines.
Sage Journals provides access to over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects in the health, biomedical and social sciences including business, criminology, education, politics and social work.
ScienceDirect gives you access to journals published by Wiley in a range of subjects including life, health and physical sciences, social science and the humanities.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
Access Wiley Online Library (journals) in a range of subjects including life, health and physical sciences, social science and the humanities.
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Politics and International Relations
Academic Search Elite offers information in a broad range of areas including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies and many more.
JSTOR archival journal collections include more than 2,000 journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. JSTOR offers 15 Arts and Sciences collections that span 60 disciplines, and the Life Science Collection comprises more than 160 journals in the field sciences and broad coverage of the health sciences.
ProQuest is the platform and host to five databases: British Periodicals, Design & Allied Arts Index, Periodicals Archive Online, ProQuest Business Collection and UK Newsstand. The Business Information collection covers seven individual business databases, including ABI/Inform Complete (5,745 journals, 80% in full text), Accounting & Tax Periodicals, Entrepreneurship, Banking Information Source and UK Newsstand.
Sage Journals provides access to over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects in the health, biomedical and social sciences including business, criminology, education, politics and social work.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
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Psychology
Academic Search Elite offers information in a broad range of areas including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies and many more.
CINAHL Complete is a research tool for nursing and allied health professionals. Users get fast and easy full text access to top journals, evidence-based care sheets, quick lessons and more. It provides broad content coverage including 50 nursing specialties, speech and language pathology, nutrition, general health and medicine and more. It includes more than 1,300 full text journals and over 5,400 indexed journals.
European Newsstream - read the full text of newspapers including UK national and Sunday papers. Choose 'publications' to see a list of newspapers covered. Please note that current access to The Times and The Sunday Times is no longer available.
Medline (EBSCO) is the most comprehensive and highly-regarded database indexing and abstracting the journal literature in Clinical Medicine and the Biosciences. It covers more than 5,500 journal titles in over 40 languages from 1948 onwards.
PsycARTICLES database contains over 134,000 full text peer-reviewed scholarly articles from the American Psychological Association (APA). Coverage includes clinical, health social and industrial/organisational branches of psychology.
PsycINFO is an expansive abstracting and indexing database with more than three million records devoted to peer-reviewed literature in the behavioural sciences and mental health, making it an ideal discovery and linking tool for scholarly research in a host of disciplines.
Sage Journals provides access to over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects in the health, biomedical and social sciences including business, criminology, education, politics and social work.
ScienceDirect gives you access to journals published by Wiley in a range of subjects including life, health and physical sciences, social science and the humanities.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
Access Wiley Online Library (journals) in a range of subjects including life, health and physical sciences, social science and the humanities.
Critical information literacy
- View our Critical Information Literacy video to find out more about critical information literacy for the health promoting professional (with many of these ideas applicable to all subjects).
- View our document, Critical Information Literacy (pdf, 384kb).
Do you know where information comes from? Who creates it? How does information find its way into the public domain? Which authors are published, and which aren’t, and who decides this? Do prominent professional organisations exclude unpopular opinions? Is all research 'reliable? What is ‘good’ and ‘bad ‘research?
Linked above is a 'Critical Information Literacy' pdf which can also help you think about issues you encounter and the need for decoloniality practices and approaches to research.
Help with writing your assignments
The following tips and guidelines will help you write your assignments and develop your study skills:
- Planning your assignment
- Tips for completing your dissertation - how to prepare for your assessments
- Completing your assignments - writing a literature review
- Writing a technical report (.docx, 26.63 KB)
- Reflective writing
- Critical writing
- Writing an introduction and conclusion
- Exam tips
- Advice on studying mathematics
- Academic top-tips guide for international students
Referencing
When writing assignments, you need to acknowledge your use of another author's ideas so that you:
- Give the original author credit
- Support your arguments
- Enable the reader to find your sources
- Prove to your lecturer that you have read around the subject
- Avoid accusations of plagiarism
Accurate referencing will help you avoid accusations of plagiarism and possible loss of marks.
Your referencing style for your assignments depends on a subject of your studies. Most SHSS students use Harvard Cite Them Right. The exception are Psychology and Education students who use APA 7th edition while Addiction Studies students use either APA 7th edition or Harvard Cite Them Right.
- For more information see Cite Them Right Online, an online comprehensive referencing guide that helps you cite and reference resources you use in your assignments. It includes examples of how to reference many different types of resources, and also provides numerous tips and frequently asked questions, covering different referencing scenarios.
RefWorks is web-based reference management software available to students and staff at University of West London. It allows you to manage and share your references, insert in-text citations (or footnotes) to a document and build a references list/bibliography.
Practice exercises
Below are some exercises to help you to get familiar in searching for information using the Library sources:
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LibSearch
LibSearch is available from the Library homepage and allows you to search for information on your keywords that has been published in journals, books, reports, etc. It is important to be confident in using the "All filters" section to enable you to narrow down the results to the most useful ones to read.
Use the below steps to search LibSearch and answer the questions below:
- Search for: Brexit Referendum 2016
- Use the filters menu to narrow down to:
- date range last five years
- academic journals
Questions:
Who wrote the article ‘Suddenly I Felt Like a Migrant: Identity and Mobility Threats Facing European Self-Initiated Expatriates in the United Kingdom under Brexit’
What year was it published?
What journal was it published in?
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Ebooks
Ebooks are accessible via LibSearch.
The best way to find them is to:
- Search for keywords that describe your topic, for example: "stop and search"
- Within the "All Filters" option, narrow down to:
- Ebook
- Full Text Online
- Limit your search by date (last 12 months, last three years) to find only the most recently published books
When you have found a book to read, you have the option to read it online. Be sure to sign out of the book once you have finished looking at it.
Questions:
- Find the ebook "Forensic science" (by Jackson)
- How many pages can you copy of the book? (Hint: this information is on the page before you 'read online')
- When was the book published?
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Journals
Journals are incredibly rich in content and you will find them useful for your course throughout your studies. The Library subscribes to thousands, so it is important to be able to find the relevant ones for you. If you don't have a particular title you want to find, you can search via keyword in LibSearch. If you are looking for a specific one, then you can use the e-journals search on the library homepage.
Use the below steps for journals and answer the questions below:
- Enter into LibSearch the title of the journal you are looking for, for example "British Journal of Criminology"
- Look at the date range that is available for the journal
Questions:
- What is the oldest year that is available for "British Journal of Criminology"?
- Open the journal and browse to 2021. How many issues were published that year?
Research
Below are a range of resources for those who are undertaking a substantial piece of work such as a dissertation, thesis or systematic review, in which detailed and comprehensive searching of the research and professional literature is required.
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Useful books
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Theses and dissertations
Doctoral Theses at the University of West London
The theses of successful UWL doctoral candidates are available through the UWL Repository.
British Library theses (formerly EThOS)
The main British Library catalogue now provides access to digital doctoral theses held in UK institutional repositories. To access these documents, search for a thesis and then click on a title of interest to view the full details for that work. TOnhe link can be found under the section labelled "View line - External Resource Available" (in green) just above the "I want this" section (in red) at the bottom of the page.
EBSCO Open Dissertations is an open-access database built to assist researchers in locating both historic and contemporary dissertations and theses. It contains records (some with links to full-text) for more than 800,000 electronic theses and dissertations from around the world.
If the dissertation you require is not open access, please request an inter-library loan
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Useful databases
- Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources and subject coverage for the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering, life and health sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics and biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.
You can search via basic Boolean AND, OR and NOT
- Visit the Elsevier Support Center page for further advice.
- Comprehensive guidance on searching Scopus and understanding its metrics via the Elsevier Scopus LibGuide page.
- Visit the Support for Research page to see how the Library supports scholarly communication, bibliometrics/altmetrics analysis and open access.
- OpenGrey - examples of Grey literature include technical or research reports, doctoral dissertations, some conference papers and some official publications.
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Literature Research Process
Conducting literature research allows you to acquire an understanding of your topic, becoming aware of the key issues and relevant research that has already been done relating to your
topic. Searching, evaluating, and selecting from the vast range of published information can be a time-consuming process, so it is important to know how to plan and carry out this task effectively. You generally need to work through the following stages:
- Define your research question
- Select subject terms and keywords
- Choose appropriate search sources (eg library catalogue, internet search, subject database or newspapers/media).
- Apply search terms and Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT.
- Evaluate the information you've found in terms of QUALITY, QUANTITY and RELEVANCE. Is your literature suitable? Redefine, narrow or expand your research question if the answer is "no" and refer back to number 2. Continue to number 6 if the answer is "yes".
- Conduct your literature review
- Additional literature required? Redefine, narrow or expand your research question if the answer is "no" and refer back to number 2. Continue to number 6 if the answer is "yes".
- Cite your sources.
Searching for information
Basic search strategies (part 1)
Basic search strategies (part 2)
Evaluating your search results
- For more information, please visit the completing your assignments page
