Libraries Ask Us

SPP 494DI Public Policy Capstone Lab

Articles and reports

Discovery Search
Find articles across a large number of library resources with just one search! Begin your generalized research here.
Free to use for anyone to find records. Some results, and detailed information such as PDFs and full text links, are available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

UMass subscription databases and free sources

Public Administration Abstracts
Citations and abstracts for journals covering essential areas related to public administration, including public administration theory, 1974 - present.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
PAIS International
Articles, government documents, reports in the fields of political science, public and social policy, international relations 1915-.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
PolicyFile
Full text policy papers from think tanks, research institutes, and agencies.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Policy Commons 2025 Open Collection
Policy Commons is a platform that contains millions of documents from think-tanks, NGOs, IGOs, and other policy analysts, on a diverse set of topics, domestic and international. To view premium content that we subscribe to, please search for the Policy Commons: Global Think Tanks resource in the Databases A-Z list.
The Policy Commons 2025 Open Collection is an initiative to rescue and preserve materials from government organizations facing the removal of public information and data—reports, blog posts, videos, and podcasts.
Majority of content is freely available for use by all.
CRS Reports
Reports by the public policy research arm of the U. S. Congress on current issues and their legal and legislative status, 1970-present. Library doesn't subscribe to tabbed extras like Bills, Memebers & Votes, etc.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

CRS Reports (Congress.gov)
GAO reports and testimonies
GAO Reports are produced by the Government Accountability Office. The GAO is a non-partisan government "watchdog" that investigates how agencies spend tax dollars.

ProQuest Political Science
Full text political science periodical articles. Dates vary by title.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Westlaw Campus Research
Legal encyclopedias, law reviews, and legal treatises; case, statutory, and regulatory law; newspapers and magazines; business data, 1980s-present.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Nexis Uni
News, business and legal sources
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

Other Public Policy databases

Web resources

Law: Digital Commons Network
Open access academic research in law from top universities in the world. Includes law review articles, working papers, theses, and dissertations.
Law Review Commons
Open access database of law review and law journal articles.
Legal Information Institute (LII)
Open access to legal resources such as federal and state legislation and case law, and rules of procedure; WEX legal encyclopedia; subject guides (by area of law); table of popular names of legislation.
Massachusetts Reports of the Legislative Research Council
A collection of legislative research reports (similar to CRS reports) for Massachusetts. 1964-1994