STS 375: Science and Politics: Getting Started

You need to identify one subject encyclopedia entry for your bibliography, but it's likely you'll need to look at several before selecting the one most relevant to your research. 

Look for:

• A fairly substantial entry (at least several paragraphs long)
• A signed entry (what is the name and background of the scholar who wrote the entry?)
• Discussion of areas of controversy or disagreement, in addition to the topic overview
• Identification of primary source materials
• A bibliography of selected secondary, scholarly sources.

Consider:

• What is the disciplinary framework of the subject encyclopedia in which you find the entry?  How might this affect coverage of the topic?
• Are any cross-references to other topics provided?  How does this information help you determine the parameters of your topic?

Sometimes the subject encyclopedia collections can be too overwhelming at first.  If you need a place to start, try one or both of these publications: