Research paper help

[Swagula]

I'm doing a research paper on how the the war on terror and the Iraq war changed America's foreign policy. My problem is I need two special reference sources that would apply to this. Does anyone know what kind of special reference source would have information on that, and also where I could find it online?

Thanks

[gibbie99]

What do you mean by 'special'. How old are you? College? High school? It matters. I'd say ask your teacher/prof for clarification, it always helps so they know what to expect and there are no surprises. I learned this the hard way. Generally on these things I would ask the instructor "i'm thinking of doing topic X, what do you think and can you recommend a source to get references? Maybe there is a particular journal that is appropriate.

[Deleted]

You should try to browse through your school's available databases and resources which could be Google Scholar, Web of Science, and JSTOR just to name a few.

[Swagula]

I'm in college. A special reference source would be like an encyclopedia, dictionary, almanac, things like that. The trouble is all the databases seem to be giving me periodicals and books instead of what I need.

[dusketernal]

Considering that I teach college composition, and I've never used (nor actually heard) the term "special reference source," you definitely need to ask your teacher what he or she means. The assignment guidelines are the place to start.

[nixcookies]

Considering that I teach college composition, and I've never used (nor actually heard) the term "special reference source," you definitely need to ask your teacher what he or she means. The assignment guidelines are the place to start.

Same here I occasionally teach part-time at my university and I've also never heard of a special reference source, but maybe this is due to us being from different countries?

Also with the special reference sources you provided, why would any of them discuss in detail of the impact the Iraq war had on America's foreign policy? As to my knowledge, although reliable, they wouldn't be the best sources for this information.

edit: Also what exactly are you looking for? Are you looking for something short and to the point, or are you looking for an in-depth analysis and many interruptions on this issue?

[dusketernal]

Really? A college teacher is letting you use generalized sources like that for a research paper? Those are among the worst sources for a true research paper - scholarly journals tend to have the most credible information.

However, all quibbling over source types aside, I think you're going to have a hard time finding a direct source for that, as the topic is one which, while getting older, is still relatively new in terms of the material on it that would be considered legitimate. Your best bet would be looking at perhaps Congressional records or just a very very recent encyclopedia's "American Foreign Policy" entry (provided it even has one). You can also try to do sideways research - instead of dismissing the periodicals and books out of hand, actually go get them, and look through their lists of sources. That's part of the research process - sometimes you have to go to one source and then look up its sources to find what you actually need.

[Swagula]

I think I've found a good database with special reference sources pertaining to my topic. For example; The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History. I think I should be able to find the necessary material here.

Thanks for all the quick responses.

[Deleted]

It does sound odd that you can use an encyclopedia as a source for your paper, you would honestly be better off looking through some political journals and I am sure you can find one that focuses on foreign policy and is up to date.

[Swagula]

It does sound odd that you can use an encyclopedia as a source for your paper, you would honestly be better off looking through some political journals and I am sure you can find one that focuses on foreign policy and is up to date.

It's not that I can't use journals or periodicals or anything else, its just at this present time its necessary to find two books and two special reference sources for a grade. Journals, periodicals, websites, and more will be necessary down the line.

[margret875]

When I was struggling with my research paper. I found this website DegreePeer.com and I can't tell you how much this website helped me gather ideas for my research paper. This website features sample papers and presentations that are shared by other users. So its like a community where users help each other out by sharing their papers and other work.

And best of all its free...

Also they have an option to ask questions that too are answered by other users. So I found it quite helpful.

Good luck with your research