Types of Resources
There are many different types of valuable resources and data for research. This list is a starting point of additional existing data sets, government resources, newspapers, images, and statistical sources.
Find Think Tank Content
The subscription database CIAO: Columbia international affairs online searches within many well-known think tanks, with a focus on International Relations. The search box below is a custom search created in Google; it is in no way complete, but may provide a useful starting point.
Find Government Resources
U.S. Federal Government Resources
Social Explorer: Explore over 500,000 data indicators and over 220 years of data for the United States from present to 1790, including all Decennial Censuses, American Community Surveys and many other datasets.
U.S. Government Publishing Office Federal Digital System: GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
U.S. Government Budget Fiscal Year 2025: Details governmental budget allocations and priorities for the fiscal year.
ProQuest Congressional: Covers abstracts and indexing for hearings, reports, documents and committee prints.
USA.gov: This website allows you to discover government information and services by topic.
U.S. Census: This portal will connect you to information related to the last census.
Congress.gov: The legislation collection includes records for every bill and resolution introduced in the U.S. Congress.
House Ways and Means Committee Green Book: Green Book provides data and other information on federal programs within the purview of the House Ways and Means Committee, which includes social security and child care services.
State Government Resources
Library of Congress State and Local Government Information: Provides detailed information on legal materials by state jurisdiction
Mass.gov: This website provides information on local state policies including housing, unemployment, and healthcare access.
Fiscal 50: State Trends & Analysis: An interactive web platform that offers context and details on states' fiscal health with regional benchmarks, state trends, and various data points.
Find Data Sets and Repositories
APA Links to Data Sets and Repositories: Links to numerous data sets and repositories provided by the American Psychological Association.
re3data.org: Offers detailed information on more than 2,000 research data repositories.
ICPSR: An international data archive of more than 500,000 files of research in the social sciences.
Child Care & Early Education Research Connections: An online policy library for research in child care and early education.
UNC Dataverse: The Odum Institute Dataverse Network provides access to data collections curated by the Odum Institute.
NIF: Neuroscience Information Framework: The largest searchable collection of neuroscience data, the largest catalog of biomedical resources, and the largest ontology for neuroscience on the web.
Find Statistical Sources
Social Explorer: Explore over 500,000 data indicators and over 220 years of data for the United States from present to 1790, including all Decennial Censuses, American Community Surveys and many other datasets.
Policy Map: This link opens in a new window Easy-to-use online mapping and visualization tool. You can download demographic, economic, and social data by city, state, zip code, county, or census tract. Data points include crime, housing, health, education and occupation.
Statistical Insight: Indexes U.S. Federal, state government, and international statistics. This is available to you as a BU affiliated through a Boston Public Library card (available as an electronic card, here).
Statistical Tools at BU
BU provides access to three statistical software programs: JMP, SAS, and SPSS. More information about this can be found on the IS&T Website.
