While primary sources and scholarly articles will be the main focus of your research in this course, don't leave out the value of reference sources. These include items like encyclopedias and subject dictionaries that can provide basic definitions to key terms, and provide "who/what/where/when/why" style answers to a research topic. 

Additionally, literature reviews can be tremendously helpful in providing context for your research topic and give you clear starting places for articles and scholars to search for. Because they discuss the articles and books published about a topic, they can offer a 10,000 foot view of which scholars are talking about which topics in scholarly literature (articles, books, etc.). 

As you begin your research assignments for this class and any other research-intensive courses, before diving right into scholarly articles and/or primary sources, consider searching for reference sources first to provide a more focused approach to your research.

• Annual Review publications
  • Annual Reviews provides literature reviews that capture current understandings of topics, including what is well-supported and what is controversial. These articles also set the topic in historical context, highlight the direction of future research, and outline the general significance of the research to society. Subjects are wide-ranging from the science to law to social sciences to politics.
  • Annual Review of Political Science
  • Annual Review of Resource Economics
• Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, etc.
  • Poverty: An International Glossary
  • Encyclopedia of Africa
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History
  • Encyclopedia of World Poverty
  • Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy