For quick access to high quality information for your assignments, try the links on these pages.

Set up the University VPN system to access these resources any time, anywhere!

New - 1st May 2025: Changes happening to Ebook Central.

Reading Lists

  • School of Education, Languages and Linguistics

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Your lecturers spend a lot of time deciding which resources to recommend, so always look at your module reading lists first. The link above takes you to the lists for courses in SELL.

Key Starters for Essays, Projects and Dissertations/Research Projects

After looking at your online reading list, try these to help with your assignments

  • Think about what you need to find.
  • Look at your topic and identify keywords and phrases which will help you find relevant information.
  • Ask yourself whether other words are often used to describe parts of the topic e.g. teenagers, youths, adolescents and note these down for your search too.
  • Decide what type of information you need and where you are going to search. The details below and the other sections on this subject page will help you with this.

It is important to understand the type of information you need when researching for your assignment.  For example you may want to start by finding definitions or background information. You may have been asked to find journal articles. Alternatively you may be seeking professional information, statistics or research findings. Once you have decided what type of information you need, you can use the Ocean of Information to help you understand the value of different sources and how to access them. When using the Library's Discovery Service to search, you will find that you can get a list of sources to choose from by clicking Add filters under the search box, then moving down to Source Types in the column which pops out on the right.

Evaluating your sources is also crucial when writing a piece of academic work - the Evaluating information section on the library website will guide you through this process.

Books often provide an excellent overview of a topic and are a great resource when starting an assignment.

To find print books:

Search the Library Catalogue (second search box on the page)
For each book, note the floor, number and letter code e.g. FIRST FLOOR 658.00721 BRY - save time by taking a photo!

To find ebooks:

Search the Library Catalogue (second search box on the page)
Filter your search on the left hand side to 'Electronic Books'.  
Click on the title of the ebook to load the full record, then use 'Online access' to view.

If you want to search within ebook packages, you will find those most relevant to you in the next 2 sections.

 

  • Credo Reference

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Explore Credo for trusted reference sources like dictionaries - a great alternative to Wikipedia! 

    Watch these short videos to get started:

    1. Search tips
    2. Using the automated mind map

  • Ebook Central

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Access around 200,000 ebooks across all subject areas.

  • Europa World

    Up-to-date, key facts and statistics, and background essays, for countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe.

    To access off campus if not on the VPN:

    Click Login and then choose Login via Institution. 

  • Routledge Handbooks Online

    Over 250 unlimited access in-depth guides to current and classic research across a range of subject areas. If you can't access something via this site, put the book title into our general Portsmouth catalogue as we have some titles via Ebook Central instead.

  • Europeana

    A cultural gateway into over 50 million digitised documents, maps, images and newspaper archives from across Europe. Thematic collections include World War I, fashion, industrial heritage, personal stories and sport. Special newspaper collections include issues covering the Paris World Exhibition of 1889, World War I and Eastern Europe in 1989.

  • Karlsruhe Virtueller Katalog

    Search lots of German and Austrian Library catalogues in one go. This site also gives access to Italian libraries.

  • REBIUN

    Search all Spanish University Library catalogues in one go.

  • SUDOC

    Search all French University Library catalogues in one go.

Dictionaries

  • Collins Dictionaries

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Freely available, high quality dictionaries in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish with translations into other languages also provided. Audio files give the pronunciation for every word listed.

  • WordReference.com

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    A well-established site offering online language dictionaries (and verb conjugators for French, Spanish and Italian)

  • Your Dictionary

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Access a range of English and multilingual dictionaries, including synonyms, abbreviations and acronyms

Finding Articles

For most assignments, our Discovery Service will give you enough articles to work with. This short video shows how to get the best from Discovery.

Sometimes you may want to try specific databases or journals - perhaps your lecturer has recommended particular sources as a good way of finding articles. This section lists key sources for French, German, Italian and Spanish.

  • ÍnDICEs CSIC

    The Spanish equivalent of JSTOR covering over 2000 Humanities and Social Science journals published in Spain. Although this can help you locate articles written in Spanish, you don't get the full article for everything.

  • CAIRN

    CAIRN lets you browse or search recent issues of journals written in French covering history, politics/IR, economics and contemporary society. Journals on CAIRN go back to about 2002 so if you want anything earlier or need other French journals use Persée.

  • JSTOR

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Provides access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, reports and primary sources in 75 disciplines.
    Watch this video for great tips.

  • Persée

    The French equivalent of JSTOR providing thousands of articles in French on humanities and social science topics. 'Revues scientifiques' is the French term for academic journals - just click that link if you want an alphabetical list of the journals available.

  • ZDB: Zeitschriftendatenbank

    Search e-journals and reports gathered by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - useful if you want articles in German. If searching for words with Umlauts, replace the Umlaut with the letter "e" e.g. ue. As the search results will contain a mixture of free articles and those that need paying for, tick the option on the left to see the free articles and reports.

  • German History

    The top, peer-reviewed journal covering German history.

  • German Politics

    The leading, international, peer-reviewed journal covering German politics and public policy.

  • German Politics and Society

    A useful source of peer-reviewed articles about German social and political topics from the early twentieth century onwards.

  • Journal of Modern Italian Studies

    A very popular peer-reviewed journal covering a broad range of Italian topics.

  • Modern Italy

    A key peer-reviewed journal whose focus is the history, politics and social, economic and cultural studies of Italy, Italian affairs and the Italian peoples from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century.

  • South European Society and Politics

    A good source of peer-reviewed articles covering social and political topics across Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.

  • International Journal of Iberian Studies (IJIS)

    A key source of peer-reviewed articles about Spain and Portugal from the beginning of the twentieth century onwards.

  • Journal of Latin American Studies

    The most well-known, peer-reviewed journal on Latin America - it covers many aspects of Latin America as taught at Portsmouth.

  • Latin American Perspectives

    A peer-reviewed journal which offers a multidisciplinary view of the forces that shape the Americas. Most issues focus on a single problem, nation, or region, providing an in-depth look from participants and scholars.

  • Latin American Politics and Society

    A peer-reviewed journal which focuses on the states, societies, economies, and international relations of the Americas.

  • Latin American Research Review

    An excellent source of peer-reviewed articles on Latin America. A distinctive feature of this journal is the large review essay section in each issue which compares and contrasts 5 or more books on specific topics (different each issue).

  • South European Society and Politics

    A good source of peer-reviewed articles covering social and political topics across Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.

  • Association for Language Learning language zones

    ALL's language specific journals comprise Francophonie for French, Deutsch Lehren und Lernen for German, Tuttitalia for Italian, Vida Hispánica for Spanish and Portuguese, and Rusistika for Russian. They feature links to resources, articles in English and the target languages, reviews of publications and resources, plus details of forthcoming events. This online site also includes resources for Mandarin and Arabic. Make sure you go to Language Zones to access specific material.

    This resource is restricted to members of the University of Portsmouth

    You have two ways to access the login instructions:

    1. Contact the Library from any Library enquiry desk or by contacting us:

    2. Connect to the University VPN and use the link below:

    View restricted access information for resources

    To verify you are a University member, please use your university email account or include your student/staff number in your message. If calling, please have your student/staff card ready.

  • Contemporary European History

    A popular, peer-reviewed journal which covers the history of Eastern and Western Europe, including the United Kingdom, from 1918 to the present.

  • Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe

    A peer-reviewed journal covering German and East European history, politics and current affairs

  • European History Quarterly

    A good source of peer-reviewed articles covering all aspects of history across Europe from the later Middle Ages right up to the end of the twentieth century.

  • Journal of Contemporary European Studies

    A key, peer-reviewed journal covering many cross-Europe topics of interest to courses taught at Portsmouth.

  • West European Politics

    One of the most authoritative, peer-reviewed journals covering political and social issues in Western Europe. It always provides excellent coverage of all national elections in Western Europe.

News Sources

Newspapers, Magazines and Political Commentary

  • Nexis Uni

    Full text articles from many news sources and trade journals both UK and international. Archives sometimes stretching back to the mid 1980s. For use in the UK only.

  • PressReader

    PressReader lets you access UK and international newspapers, plus a wide range of magazine content. Everything is full colour with archives varying in length depending on the publication.

    Login guidance

  • The Economist historical archive 1843-2015

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    This archive gives you highly respected commentary and analysis of global news each week from 1843 to 2015. Search by subject or browse by date. The articles are full facsimiles, including photos and charts.
    Read about financial crises as they happened.

  • The Guardian and Observer Archives

    Access stories and photos from The Guardian (1821-2003) and The Observer (1791-2003). Use Nexis if you want to search up to the current day.

  • The Times: Digital Archive 1785-2019

    Search over 200 years of articles. Articles are full facsimiles of what was published on the day and you can view the article in its original page location if you want.

    Watch this video showing you how to make the most of the features available.

Statistics and Public Opinion

Statistics and sources for Public Opinion

  • CIS: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas

    Information and survey data about Spanish society.

  • CSA

    Access detailed results from French public opinion polls. We also have a great series of books called L'Etat de l'opinion going back to 1987 at 303.380944ETA on the library shelves which cover French public opinion on a range of popular topics each year.

  • Eurobarometer surveys

    Access public opinion surveys of EU citizens on a wide variety of topics from 1974 onwards.

  • IFOP

    French public opinion

  • IPSOS

    French public opinion and market research

Films, TV and Radio

  • BoB: On demand TV and radio for education

    An archive of UK television and radio programmes from free to air channels (1998 onwards). For use in the UK only. Find some great tips about how to use BoB in these short videos.

  • Franceinfo

    French television and radio news website

  • Kanopy

    A unique collections of films including award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases on every topic imaginable. Content can be searched or browsed.

  • RTVE

    Website of RTVE Spanish television

Other Recommended Sources

  • Chatham House online archive

    This archive contains analysis, research, debates and speeches from the Royal Institute of International Affairs from 1920-2008. Topics covered include the Cold War, energy security, nuclear disarmament, decolonisation etc. You can also listen to recordings of meetings and speeches as well as seeing the transcript in many cases.

    Watch this short introductory video.

  • Empire Online

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    A brilliant source containing essays, maps, primary sources and an interactive chronology on the theme of Empire across the last 5 centuries

  • The Encyclopedia of Empire

    Read in-depth coverage about empires across the world from ancient to modern times. Entries include the Suez Crisis of 1956, the partition of Africa, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dutch East Indies, propaganda and empire, decolonization in the French and British empires, postcolonialism and much more.

  • Europeana

    A cultural gateway into over 50 million digitised documents, maps, images and newspaper archives from across Europe. Thematic collections include World War I, fashion, industrial heritage, personal stories and sport. Special newspaper collections include issues covering the Paris World Exhibition of 1889, World War I and Eastern Europe in 1989.

  • Eurydice – European Encyclopedia on National Education Systems

    Detailed information allowing you to compare education across 38 countries in Europe from pre-primary through to adult education.

  • Popular Culture in Britain and America: 1950-1975

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Explore documents, fanzines, photos and newsreel footage to help understand these key decades when consumer culture and pop music took off and protest movements were big news.

  • Charles-de-Gaulle.org

    Comprehensive details about the former French President and war leader.

  • Cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration

    Useful for immigration in France from 1820 onwards.

  • Drancy

    Detailed information about the infamous French Second World War transit camp.

  • ECPAD: Médiathèque de la Défense

    Historic photos and video clips from the French Ministry of Defence

  • France Diplomatie

    The official website of the French Foreign Ministry.

  • French Studies Web

    A highly recommended list of top quality websites covering many different aspects of France, French speaking countries and the French language.

  • Gallica

    Access thousands of documents on this free service provided by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF). The service also contains e-books which you need to pay for, so if you find something of interest which isn't free, please contain your Faculty Librarian.

  • INA: Institut national de l’audiovisuel

    French video clips on a wide variety of topics including French history.

  • Larousse

    Free online encyclopedia from a major French publisher. The site also has access to bilingual dictionaries.

  • Pratique.fr

    Detailed information about many aspects of daily life in France.

  • Service Public

    Site produced by the French Government aimed at those living in France containing practical advice on a wide range of topics from housing to education

  • Vie publique

    Information about current French politics, economics and social topics produced by the French government.

  • Italian Studies

    A highly recommended list of top quality websites covering a broad range of Italian topics, including cinema, culture, history, language, literature and politics.

Referencing

Use Referencing@Portsmouth to find out how to reference all the sources you have used:

Everyone on courses including languages uses APA 7th edition.
Use Search APA 7 inside Referencing@Portsmouth to locate specific referencing advice on chapters, articles, reports, as well as abbreviations, appendices, tables and more.

New to referencing? Watch this short APA basics video.

 

Can I use ChatGPT/AI to generate references? 

Be aware that ChatGPT and similar tools invent academic references (see the more button for why). Using such fabricated information in your work is considered academic misconduct so you should always double check any AI generated references. The University has guidance for students on the use of AI and the Library has produced guidance on citing and referencing generative AI.

ChatGPT is a large language model which has been trained on which words should appear and in what order - hence similar authors/titles/journals get linked with each other, producing very plausible sounding references that actually don't exist - the words simply have connections to each other within its training data. When prompted "How does ChatGPT predict which words come next?" ChatGPT stated that it "predicts which words come next based on the patterns it learns from the training data. When given a prompt or context, the model uses its knowledge of language patterns to generate likely sequences of words that would follow the input" ... "it predicts one word at a time, based on the previously generated words" ... " and then calculates the probability distribution of the next word in the sequence based on the patterns it has learned from the training data" (OpenAI, 2023).

Reference

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 23 Version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

All reference generators make errors! 

Ensure you check and edit your references before submitting your work.  Here are some common errors.

There are many different ways to generate APA citations:

  • Quick options:
    • Look for a "Cite" button in EBSCO databases like Discovery, or in Ebook Central, Statista, Google Scholar etc.
  • Advanced options:
    • See our referencing tools page. The humanities and social sciences librarian supports the use of EndNote Online.

We do not advise using the referencing tool in Word.