Foreign Policy Research
Assignment
Political Science 2231
Bruce Fyfe
September 16, 2014
Agenda
• What is Grey Literature
• Your Assignment
• Getting started with the research
Grey Literature
IDEA!
IDEA!
Index & make
accessible
Scholarly Publication Cycle
Ethics
Approval
ISIS/ISIL
XL Pipeline
Donetsk – Russia and Ukraine
Ebola Crisis
Chinese Cyber-espionage
United States Border: Child
Immigration
Publish!
If accepted
Peer review
process
Synthesize &
Write
Present at Conference,
post working paper,
consult colleagues, IR
If rejected
Revise &
Resubmit
Collect data
– conduct
research
Submit to
Journal
Revise & rewrite
Grey Literature
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__aRKyOdj1U
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/tutorials/greyliterature/
Information Sources
Background
Sources
Focused Sources
Encyclopedias
Scholarly Books
Course Textbooks
Scholarly Articles
Class Notes
Government Information
Wikipedia
Think Tank/Research Institute
Grey Literature
The Foreign Policy Research
Assignment
• Due October 10th
• Worth 5% of your final grade
• Conduct a grey literature search in support of a
policy recommendation for the Canadian Prime
Minister.
• Choose from one of the topics listed:
•
•
•
•
•
•
ISIS/ISIL
XL Pipeline
Donetsk – Russia and Ukraine
Ebola Crisis
Chinese Cyber-espionage
United States Border: Child Immigration
Why this Assignment?
• The first step towards your policy
brief
• Get started early on your research
• Master effective search techniques
• Critically evaluate sources
• Write and format a list of Works Cited
Your Assignment Will Include…
2. Write a preliminary policy recommendation
that indicates the focus of the Brief that
would be given to the Canadian Prime
Minister.
This policy brief recommends: to protect
Canadian Arctic Sovereignty the Canadian
government should pursue a policy of
increased cooperation with international
partners on Arctic transportation, research
and energy development.
Your Assignment will Include…
3. Identify and list at least 3 key concepts
(keywords) in your brief.
This policy brief will recommend that to
protect Canadian Arctic Sovereignty the
Canadian government should pursue a
policy of increased cooperation with
international partners on Arctic
transportation, research and energy
development.
Your Assignment will Include…
3. Identify and list at least 3 key concepts
(keywords) in your brief.
This policy brief will recommend that to
protect Canadian Arctic Sovereignty the
Canadian government should pursue a
policy of increased cooperation with
international partners on Arctic
transportation, research and energy
development.
Your Assignment will Include…
4. Provide 3 synonyms for each Key
Concept for the essay topic.
• Canadian Arctic : Canada, Arctic, Northern
Canada, Nunavut, Inuit, Yukon, Northwest
Territories
• Sovereignty: Jurisdiction, control, dominion
• Transportation: shipping, passage, transit
• Energy development: “oil and Gas”, “Natural
resources”, mining
Your Assignment will Include…
5 a. Combine the key concepts in the most effective
manner, ie. Write a search string, to search for current,
scholarly information that is relevant for the essay.
Search String:
Canada
AND (Arctic OR Nunavut OR Northwest Territories)
AND (Sovereignty OR jurisdiction)
AND (“Natural resources” OR mining)
Why use a Search String?
Some interfaces do it for you…
Why use a Search String?
Some don’t.
Your Assignment will Include…
5 b. Provide a rationale for the search
strategy: what is the goal of this search
string, what do you hope to discover?
Rationale:
I am trying to find research and government
policy related to Arctic sovereignty and
natural resources.
Your Assignment will Include…
6. Find and access the following resources:
Minimum 4 Government information sources (e.g., white paper,
hearings, Parliamentary research paper, Debates, Hearings,
committee report…)
Minimum 2 Think Tank resources (e.g., Policy paper, report)
Minimum 2 Academic research resources that ARE NOT Peer
reviewed journal articles (e.g., thesis or dissertation, working paper,
conference papers, preprints)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyMT08m
D7Ds&index=12&list=PLBC826C3769B18E1F
Your Assignment will Include…
6.a Work cited list: properly formatted
using MLA Style Citation rules
6b. List of resources by Source type.
You will be evaluated on:
Completeness of citation
Correct formatting
Correct order of information
Getting Started
Questions?
Bruce Fyfe
519-661-2111
ext. 84818
bfyfe@uwo.ca
Weldon
Research Help
519-661-3162
dbwlib@uwo.ca
Check Research Guides: http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/index.html