SMU Twin Cities Library | CQ Researcher

CQ Researcher

CQ Researcher is a good starting point to discover potential research topics. This database offers in-depth, balanced articles covering current and controversial news events in the fields of health, criminal justice, education, the environment, technology, and the economy.

Accessing  |  Searching  |  Citing, Saving, Printing, Emailing

Accessing CQ Researcher

  • Go to TC Library's homepage: http://www.smumn.edu/tclibrary
  • Select the Articles tab. Click the Databases A-Z link and select CQ Researcher.
  • Off-campus users: You will be prompted to enter your Saint Mary's University username and password after you select a database.

Searching CQ Researcher

CQ Search

Create a focused search using the Advanced Search feature. You can search for specific words or phrases, reports within a specific date range, limit results within one of the listed topics, or just search within a specific report element.

CQ advanced search

 

Search Results

Each CQ Researcher report is written in a standard format: an introductory overview of the issue, background and chronology, assessment of the current situation, tables, maps, pro and con statements from opposing points of view, and a bibliography of key resources. Click on a report Title to view a report. Result lists may be Sorted by publication date, title, report section, or relevancy score. Just click on the icons underneath the column headers to sort.

CQ search results

Reports saved to the Favorite List or Saved Searches will only be saved for your current searching session. You may permanently save your research search string and favorite reports by creating a personal CQ Researcher Profile. See below for details.

Citing, Saving, Printing, and Emailing Your Article Results

Citing

In the tool bar at the top of the report, click the CiteNow! link to get the information you need for a full APA citation. You may select the text, then copy & paste the citation into your document. OR, to save to a file, click Export citation to: .rtf word processor format. Citation formats are often changing so remember to double-check the citation for formatting accuracy.

 CQ citation

Saving, Printing, and Emailing

CQ save print email

Use View PDF to access a PDF version of the report and SAVE the report to to your computer.

You may EMAIL the report citation and link with the Send as E-mail drop-down box.

You may also PRINT the report text with the Print drop-down box.

With the Email and Print functions you have the option of capturing the full report or a report section.

Creating Your CQ Researcher Profile

  1. Click on the Log In link, in the Your Profile section of the left navigation column.
  2. Enter a unique username, such as your email address.
  3. Click the radio button I want to create a new account. Then, click Proceed.
  4. Enter a password. Enter it again, to verify your typing.
  5. To help yourself remember the password you selected, type in a hint. A couple of words or a short sentence will do.
  6. Click Create Profile.

To log into your profile account click the Log In link, select I already have a password, and then enter your username and password.

Saving Articles to Favorite List

  1. Make sure you have logged into Your Profile. (See above for creating a Profile account.)
  2. In your Search Results list mark the Save check box in front of the documents you wish to save.
  3. Click the Save to Favorite List link.
  4. Click the Favorite Documents link, on the left side of your screen, to view what you have saved.
  5. In the Favorite Documents list, you may open a document to view it by clicking on the document title.
  6. To email a document, or to remove a document from your favorites list, first mark the titles's check-box, then click an option, E-mail Marked Records or Remove Marked Records.

Saving a Search

You may save a search query to your profile account. This is a nice feature when you are doing several queries or when you would like to come back and run a query again at another time.

  1. Make sure you have logged into Your Profile. (See above for creating a Profile account.)
  2. In your Search Results, click the Save Search link.
  3. Enter a descriptive name for your search. Click the Save button.CQ save
  4. To view your searches, click on Saved Searches in the left-hand navigation panel.
  5. From the Saved Search page, you may rerun a query by clicking on the search name. You may modify a search with the Edit link.

Tutorial Formats

PDF iconprintable pdf