Asian Conversations 110: Global Flow

Identifying Scholarly Sources

Differences Between Scholarly & Popular Materials
This guide from NC State University illustrates the differences between scholarly sources, popular sources, and trade publications.
Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly Sources
This interactive slideshow highlights differences between scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021
"The Political Handbook of the World provides timely, thorough, and accurate political information, with more in-depth coverage of current political controversies than any other reference guide. The updated 2020-2021 edition will continue to be the most authoritative source for finding complete facts and analysis on each country’s governmental and political makeup."

Europa World Plus This link opens in a new window
Economic, political, geographic, and statistical data by country (throughout the world); maps; introductory essays on a wide range of regional issues; and lists of sources for further research. Also available in print.

Freedom House
Ranks countries via a matrix of individual 'freedoms' as noted in the openness of media, expression, religion, governmental policy, etc.
U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets (aka Background Notes)
Facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty. Fact Sheets are published and maintained by the State Department's Office of Electronic Information and Publications of the Bureau of Public Affairs.
World Factbook
Published by the Central Intelligence Agency, the World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.

BBC Monitoring Library This link opens in a new window
Full-text news coverage from over 150 countries, from state-owned, independent, and clandestine radio, television, press, internet, and news agency sources. Materials in languages other than English are translated. Covers materials published/broadcast 1996-present. Note: An optional, free personal account allows access to additional features (RSS feeds, site preferences, etc.).
Access World News This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from a variety of local news sources. Dates of coverage vary by newspaper.
New York Times Online This link opens in a new window
Academic site license access to New York Times Online.
Note: You will need to register the first time you access this site. If you have previously registered your email address on The New York Times site, you will click the "Already have an account?" "Log in here" link (below the "Create Account" button).
Wall Street Journal Online This link opens in a new window
Academic site license to the Wall Street Journal Online. Note: You will need to set up an account on the WSJ website because an individual site account is required to finish the registration.