Social Sciences & Humanities
Political Science & Public Policy Research: Data, Journals and Methods
Political science and public policy research runs on shared archives and a few long-standing professional bodies. The American Political Science Association runs an annual meeting and oversees the American Political Science Review, which Cambridge University Press has published continuously since 1906. In Europe the ECPR runs a General Conference, Joint Sessions and a Methods School, and its journals include the European Journal of Political Research. IPSA holds a World Congress of Political Science. On the policy side, APPAM was formed in May 1979 by representatives of 15 policy schools and research institutes and publishes the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.
Data comes from named programmes. ICPSR, founded in 1962 at the University of Michigan, holds roughly 16,000 studies; the American National Election Studies began under a National Science Foundation grant in 1977, and the Roper Center, now at Cornell, archives public opinion surveys. The European Social Survey gained ERIC status in 2013, and the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems runs numbered modules. The Manifesto Project codes party platforms for 67 countries. V-Dem measures five principles of democracy, UCDP counts state-based conflicts of at least 25 battle-related deaths a year, ACLED monitors violent conflict and protest worldwide.
Causal work is increasingly registered and coordinated. EGAP keeps a registry and coordinates Metaketa clusters that test one governance innovation across several settings, while J-PAL supports randomized evaluations. Human-subjects review under the Common Rule (45 CFR 46) applies to surveys and interviews, and in the United States the Evidence Act of 2019 shapes how agencies build evidence and share data. SocArXiv carries social science preprints. The specialisations below take up each sub-field.
New to the field? What is Political Science & Public Policy? →
Reviewed 5 November 2026 by CASRAI Editorial Board
- American Political Science Review(read 5 November 2026)
- Journal of Peace Research(read 5 November 2026)
- American Political Science Association (APSA)(read 5 November 2026)
- European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR)(read 5 November 2026)
- International Political Science Association (IPSA)(read 5 November 2026)
- Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)(read 5 November 2026)
- EGAP(read 5 November 2026)
- J-PAL(read 5 November 2026)
- ICPSR(read 5 November 2026)
- American National Election Studies(read 5 November 2026)
- Roper Center for Public Opinion Research(read 5 November 2026)
- European Social Survey(read 5 November 2026)
- Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)(read 5 November 2026)
- Manifesto Project(read 5 November 2026)
- Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP)(read 5 November 2026)
- ACLED(read 5 November 2026)
- Common Rule (45 CFR 46)(read 5 November 2026)
- Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018(read 5 November 2026)
- SocArXiv(read 5 November 2026)
- Comparative Study of Electoral Systems(read 5 November 2026)
Field at a glance
Journals
- American Political Science Review
- Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of APSA; the page says it has published continuously since 1906, covering theory, American and comparative politics, IR and public policy.Website ↗
- Journal of Peace Research
- Founded by Johan Galtung and published by PRIO, which also owns Security Dialogue; the main journal for conflict and peace research.Website ↗
Societies
- American Political Science Association (APSA)
- Runs the annual meeting and publishes APSR, Perspectives on Politics and PS; its site also lists APSA Preprints, a data policy and ethics resources.Website ↗
- European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR)
- Runs the General Conference, Joint Sessions and Methods School; journals include EJPR, EJIR, Political Data Yearbook and Political Research Exchange.Website ↗
- International Political Science Association (IPSA)
- Holds the World Congress of Political Science and publishes the International Political Science Review and International Political Science Abstracts.Website ↗
- Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
- Formed in May 1979 by 15 policy schools and institutes; publishes the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and holds a fall research conference.Website ↗ · Our guide →
Funders and programmes
- EGAP
- Research network on governance and accountability; coordinates Metaketa studies of one innovation across contexts and keeps a registry and methods guides.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- J-PAL
- MIT centre founded in 2003 that supports randomized evaluations; offers manuals, survey templates, Stata tools and ethics and transparency guidelines.Website ↗
Archives, facilities and data
- ICPSR
- Founded 1962 at the University of Michigan; Wikipedia lists over 760 member institutions and roughly 16,000 studies.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- American National Election Studies
- Established by an NSF grant in 1977, continuing studies from 1948; surveys around every presidential election, based at the University of Michigan.Website ↗
- Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
- Founded 1947 and hosted at Cornell; Wikipedia counts over 27,000 datasets, searchable by question in Roper iPoll.Website ↗
- European Social Survey
- Became a European Research Infrastructure Consortium in 2013; data and documentation are available only through the ESS Data Portal.Website ↗
- Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)
- Disaggregated democracy dataset built around electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative and egalitarian principles; also downloadable via Demscore.Website ↗
- Manifesto Project
- Covers 67 countries, 884 elections and 1,429 parties; current dataset 2026a with codebook, manifestoR package and API.Website ↗
- Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP)
- Georeferenced Event Dataset and the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset from 1946; state-based conflict needs 25 battle-related deaths in a year.Website ↗
- ACLED
- Independent monitor of violent conflict and protest covering all countries and territories; offers a data export tool, files and an API.Website ↗
Standards and formats
- Common Rule (45 CFR 46)
- US ethics rule for human-subjects research from 1991, with Subparts A to D; a significant revision took effect in July 2018.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018
- Signed 14 January 2019; Title I evidence capacity, Title II OPEN Government Data Act, Title III statistical confidentiality.Website ↗
Preprints and indexes
- SocArXiv
- Open social science archive launched in 2016, founded by Philip Cohen with the Center for Open Science; University of Maryland Libraries host it since 2021.Website ↗ · Our guide →
25 pages across 6 topic areas
Research Methods & Statistics
- Difference-in-Differences: Evidencing Parallel Trends and the Staggered-Adoption Problem
Parallel trends is a counterfactual assumption, not something a pre-trend plot can confirm. This guide sets out what each diagnostic actually establis…
- Policy Diffusion: Definition, Mechanisms and How to Measure It
What policy diffusion is, how it differs from internal determinants, and how to model it with event history analysis, with a worked example.…
- Public Policy vs Public Administration: What Is the Difference?Comparison
Public policy asks what government should do and whether it worked; public administration asks how programs are organized, managed and delivered. A si…
- Regression Discontinuity Design: Bandwidth, Running Variable, and the McCrary Test
A practical guide to regression discontinuity design: sharp vs. fuzzy RD, what makes a running variable valid, the bias-variance trade-off in bandwidt…
- Survey Mode Effects: Selection vs. Measurement Effects in Mixed-Mode Design
Mixed-mode surveys combine mode selection effects (who chooses which mode) with mode measurement effects (how the mode itself changes answers). This g…
- Survey Weighting: Design Weights, Post-Stratification, and Raking
Design weights correct for unequal selection probability, post-stratification corrects for a known population-margin mismatch, and raking (iterative p…
- Synthetic Control Method: Constructing a Weighted Counterfactual for a Single Treated Unit
A synthetic control builds a weighted composite of untreated donor units to serve as a counterfactual for a single treated unit. This guide covers don…
- What Is Political Science? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A complete introduction to political science: what it studies, its major subfields, the real federal and private funders behind political science rese…
- What Is Public Administration? Field, Methods, and Careers
A complete introduction to public administration as a field: how it differs from public policy and political science, its subfields, methods, MPA trai…
- What Is Public Policy? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths
A complete introduction to public policy as a research field: the policy cycle, policy analysis and program evaluation, evidence-based policymaking, m…
Scholarly Publishing
- APSA Preprints Guide: Submissions and Policies
A guide to APSA Preprints on Cambridge Open Engage, explaining submission workflows, moderation, open-access licensing, and journal submission pathway…
- EGAP: Evidence in Governance and Politics
EGAP (Evidence in Governance and Politics): Global research network profile, OSF registry transition, Metaketa multi-site experiments, and search work…
- European Consortium for Political Research Guide
Explore how the European Consortium for Political Research supports scholars through institutional membership, major conferences, and leading journals…
- European Social Survey: Data, Methods, and Access
Learn how the European Social Survey operates, how to access ESS data on the official portal, its survey methodology, and key comparative alternatives…
- UCDP (Uppsala Conflict Data Program): Datasets, Definitions and API
UCDP is the Uppsala Conflict Data Program: how it defines conflict and one-sided violence, which dataset to use, and API basics.…
- V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy): Dataset, Indices and How to Use It
V-Dem explained: which of four dataset files to download, how experts and Bayesian models build the indices, and how to cite version 16.…
Grants Management & Research Funding
- APSA Congressional Fellowship Guide
A detailed guide for political scientists on the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program, covering eligibility, orientation, Capitol Hill placement, and…
- DAAD Scholarships: Research Grants, EPOS & How to Apply
DAAD (Germany’s academic exchange service) is not a single scholarship. This guide breaks down its main research-relevant funding lines -- Research Gr…
- Evidence Act: Federal Requirements and Compliance Guide
Understand the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, its agency mandates, evaluation requirements, and researcher access protocols.…
Scholarly Writing
- APSA Citation Guide: Formats & Examples
Official guide to APSA citation style: author-date in-text rules, reference list templates, manuscript examples, and common formatting pitfalls.…
- APSA Format Guide: Layout, Title Page & Template
Comprehensive guide to APSA format: manuscript page setup, 12-word title rules, abstract limits, heading levels, and a complete downloadable sample pa…
- Writing a Policy Brief: Translating Research Findings for Policymakers
How to translate research findings into a policy brief: structure, register, evidence-vs-recommendation framing, and where it fits into funder dissemi…
Research Data Management
- ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data): Coverage, Coding, Access and Citation
What ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data) records, how events are typed, how to access the data, and how to cite it and stay within its terms.…
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI): Six Indicators, Data and Citation
The six World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, estimate vs 0-100 scores, margins of error, data access and how to cite the 2026 update.…
Research Tools & Software
- UN Digital Library: Research Search Guide
A researcher guide to the UN Digital Library: query syntax, document symbol structures, voting records, linked parliamentary data, and source verifica…
Key terms
- American Journal of Political Science (AJPS)
- American Political Science Review Metrics
- American Politics Research
- Annual Review of Political Science
- British Journal of Political Science: Overview & Metrics
- European Journal of International Relations (EJIR)
- Impact evaluation
- Journal of Politics: Overview and Impact Factor
- OPEN Government Data Act
- Perspectives on Politics: Journal Metrics
- Policy brief
- Political Research Quarterly
- Political Science Quarterly
- PS: Political Science & Politics
- QDR (Qualitative Data Repository)
- World Politics Journal
