ENVS 300/500 Library Guide
Critical Thinking and Communication in Environmental Science and Policy
Background reading for possible case study topics
Do some background reading on your topic to determine whether it's feasible before selecting it for your case study.
The library's reference and book collections can serve as a starting point for learning about the scope and terminology of your topic, and as a way to locate citations to articles on it.
Look up books in OneSearch by author, title, subject or keyword
Check here for a quick list of books on:
environmentalism and environmental movements
global warming and climate change
Also consider these as sources for ideas for possible research topics:
Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy
Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources
Environmental Justice: A Reference Handbook
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Energy
Locate and read issue papers on your topic that introduce you to the policy implications
Congressional Research Service Reports
Scan some articles on your topic
Do a preliminary search in the Academic Search Premier database to find and scan various types of articles about your topic:
- News articles from newspapers and news magazines
- General magazine articles
- Scholarly articles from academic journals
Selecting a topic
Based on what you have read during your exploratory searching, consider the following:
- Can your topic be rephrased in the form of a research question?
- What did your preliminary literature search tell you about whether your topic is feasible, i.e., not too broad/narrow, an adequate number of scholarly publications appear to be available, etc.?
Policy is created at different levels of government and by different types of agencies and departments.
U.S. federal/national
Issue Papers on Federal Policy
Congressional Research Service Reports
Federal Laws, Regulations and Legislation
Congress.gov (Congressional bills and legislation; was Thomas)
Search Government Publications via GPO Federal Digital System
- Search Congressional Hearings
- Search Congressional Reports
- Search Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations
Additional Resources
Westlaw (statutes, regulations, court cases) select the Federal Materials tab
Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (federal agency publications)
PAIS International (search for public policy journal articles)
Environmental Regulatory Documents (from SBA.gov)
Science.gov (now includes policy and regulatory documents)
U.S. Supreme Court Decisions (since 2007)
Coastal Zone Information Center (selected federal and state documents 1951-1999)
Federal Departments and Agencies
All Federal Agencies, Departments and Commissions
EPA website | Archived EPA website
Major U.S. Environmental Legislation
Clean Air Act of 1955 1966 Amendments 1970 Amendments 1977 Amendments 1990 Amendments
Clean Water Act of 1972 (amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act) 1977 Amendments
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 2006 Reauthorization
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 1988 Amendments 1994 Amendments
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 1980 Amendments 1984 Amendments 1992 Amendments 1996 Amendments 2000 Amendments
California state
Issue Papers on State Policy -- California
California Research Bureau Reports
Legislative Analyst's Reports on Environment & Natural Resources
California Senate Office of Research
State Laws, Regulations and Legislation -- California
California State Legislative Portal
Digital Democracy search for CA bills, videos/transcripts of hearings, speakers and their affiliations
California Assembly and Senate Bills (2016 and earlier only; use CA Legislative Portal for 2017-)
California Code of Regulations
All States
Westlaw (statutes, regulations, court cases) select the State Materials tab
Open States bills and legislation from all 50 states
State Departments and Agencies -- California
All State Agencies, Departments and Commissions
Environmental Protection Agency (Cal-EPA)
Fish and Wildlife (was Fish and Game)
California local and regional
City and County Codes
California Local Codes and Charters
California Municipal and County Codes
City, County and Regional Governments and Agencies
Tri-County Municipal Government links
Guide to California Local and Regional Government
International
International Agencies
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) includes fisheries
United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)
PAIS International (search for public policy journal articles)
Suggested databases
Science Indexing & Abstracting Databases:
Agricultural & Environmental Science Database (includes AGRICOLA and Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management) interdisciplinary index to the literature of agriculture and the environment
Earth, Atmospheric & Aquatic Science Database (includes Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts) marine biology, oceanography, freshwater science, fisheries
GreenFILE environmental science and policy
MEDLINE all areas of medicine and health
Scientific Publisher Databases:
Annual Reviews Backfile authoritative scientific review articles synthesizing prior research
JSTOR Retrospective Journal Collection
Multidisciplinary Databases:
Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)
ERIC education
See also the library's Research Guides in relevant disciplines
Economic/Business Aspects:
Westlaw (replaces Lexis-Nexis)
Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)
Agricultural & Environmental Science Database
JSTOR Retrospective Journal Collection
See also the library's Research Guides to Business & Economics
Policy/Regulatory Aspects:
Congressional Research Service Reports
Search Government Publications via GPO Federal Digital System
GreenFILE environmental science and policy
Westlaw (replaces Lexis-Nexis)
Agricultural & Environmental Science Database
See also Researching Policy and the library's Research Guide to Public Policy
Popular Publications, News, Opinions:
Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)
NewsBank California newspapers
Web sites from organizations or corporations
See also the library's Guide to News & Current Events
OneSearch - Articles
Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style
Scientific style and format : the CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers : REF T11.S386 2006
(THIS IS THE RECOMMENDED FORMAT FOR ENVS, MSCI and BIO COURSES)
This guide from the Council of Science Editors (CSE) provides both citation and writing style guidelines for the sciences and related fields.
See also these Web sites for how to cite references using the CSE style guidelines:
Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style Guide from Ohio State University Libraries
CSE Citation Examples from Dakota State University
CSE Style Guidelines from Weber State University Library
Council of Science Editors Documentation Style from University of Wisconsin
Try CSE Citation Wizard from 21st Century Information Fluency to format your citation on the fly. Be sure to check the results carefully.
Citing Government Publications
Guide: Citing U.S. Government Publications from Indiana University Bloomington
Citation Management Software
As you are researching a topic and locating literature sources, you may want to consider using a citation manager tool to collect and store the citations and sources, then use it to create your list of references for the paper you're writing. When selecting a citation manager, be sure that it offers central online storage of the citations and sources so that you can get to them from whichever computer you happen to be using. There are a variety of commercial software packages for managing citations and bibliographies, but also two free resources to consider:
- Zotero is a free download that is locally installed for Windows. MacOS or Linux. It is also available as a plugin that works with the Firefox browser. As of Fall 2013, Zotero has been pre-installed on most of the campus computers. You will need to register for a free user account at zotero.org
- Mendeley is a free download that is locally installed for Windows, MacOS, Linux or iOS. Please note that it is not installed on campus lab or library computers, so you will need to install it on your own laptop or desktop.
- Both services offer free web storage of your citations and documents that can be synced with the computer you're working from. This is the recommended strategy when using any of the campus computers.
APA style guide
APA (American Psychological Association) Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (CSUMB Reference Collection REF BF 76.7 .P82 2010)
Literature Reviews - An Overview
What is the role of a literature review in research? What's it mean to 'review' the literature? Get the big picture of what to expect as part of the process. This 9-minute video was created by North Carolina State University Libraries.