"Think tanks are public policy research analysis and engagement organizations that generate policy-oriented research, analysis and advice on domestic and international issues, thereby enabling policymakers and the public to make informed decisions about public policy....Think tanks bridge the gap between academia, where the research is produced, and political institutions that have the power to apply the research to solve real problems."
Think tanks are doing what you are attempting to do in the assignment,
The Harvard Kennedy School of Government has created a customized Google search that helps you locate the publications of hundreds of U.S. and international think tanks.
JSTOR provides access to thousands of "Research Report" documents produced by 140 research institutes around the world. While these reports are not peer-reviewed, they are written by experts and are used to influence legislation in countries around the world. The filter for "Research Report" is available as a limit to your search in the left column of your search results.
Federal and state governments publish lots of information that doesn't always get captured by our library resources. While the domain name of ".gov" will capture some that information in a Google search, the websites below will help you locate expert analysis and testimony on issues important in the U.S.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a special research service that the Library of Congress makes available to members of Congress and their staff. This is one way our senators and house members stay on top of the myriad issues their voters expect them to know about. You can access these reports, too.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) - economic information like cost and pricing indexes, unemployment, productivity, and other key business statistics.
Census Bureau - demographic info about the U.S. population, but some economic statistics, too.
USA.gov lets you search for information from individual federal government agencies and departments, or leads you directly to the best page for that government entity.
U.S. Founding documents lets you review the text of the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and The Bill of Rights.
This database is also a useful tool for locating statistics, many of which are published by government agencies.
You may already know an expert, especially if you're writing about a topic that is informed by a job or an internship you've had. A former student wrote a paper discussing how trucking regulations impacted the transportation of live animals. One of that student's sources was a truck driver who transported livestock and could speak in great detail about how the industry standards negatively affected the well-being of the animals.
If you don't already know an expert, many journal articles publish the author's email address. You could approach an academic expert and ask them to respond to a question or maybe even ask if you could interview them for your paper. They might delete your email without responding, but they might agree to provide some information, recommend a source, or have a Zoom interview with you.
When you are researching current events, you should consider that your source may be biased.
AllSides.com presents news stories and labels the sources of that information as Far Left, Left-leaning, Center, Right-leaning, or Far Right so you can begin to see how the information is presented.
A library database that provides a wide range of viewpoints is:
The Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart displays information sources based on their political leaning (left = liberal, right = conservative) AND the sources reliability. Sources that are highly reliable are positioned at the top, sources with a low degree of reliability are positioned at the bottom. Ideally, your sources should be high and in the center. Sources that you use that stray to the right should be balanced with sources from the left and vice versa.
Select the newspaper you want from the Library Database list, use your BVU.edu email address to set up access, then you can download the newspaper app to your personal device for more convenient and immediate access.