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Environmental Studies/Science

This guide will help students researching topics in Environmental Studies.

What are Think Tanks?

Think tanks or policy institutes are organizations that exist to conduct research and promote, or advocate for, positions related to ideologies of the founding members. Think tanks promote views and agendas related to social policy, foreign policy, economic issues, science and technology, and industrial or business policies.

These organizations often publish results of their research or their position or policy papers in magazines, newsletters and journals, which may be freely accessible on their web sites, or may also be available in databases such as Nexis Uni and Academic Search Complete. One example is the CATO Journal.

To determine if a publication is produced by a think tank or policy institute, and to determine a potential bias:

1. Search for the publication in Google or another search engine.

2. Find the home page for the publication. This will be the publisher's site.

3. Examine the publisher's web site, clicking on the "About" section to learn about the organization's focus and agenda(s).

Identifying Non-governmental Organizations

Non-governmental organizations may focus their efforts on politics and national security, the environment, economics, business and development, health and medicine or social and cultural issues. To find an NGO that has something to say about your topic:

  • Read the articles you find for references to organizations that are involved in the issues related to your country.
  • Try to imagine that an organization exists that might have something to say about your topic and then use Google to find out. For example, when considering the topic of Iceland and mackerel overfishing, one might search Google using the terms "fisheries" and "North Sea" and "regulation." The list of search results leads to the European Commission/Fisheries site.
  • Try searching the Worlwide NGO Directory or the Duke University NGO Database.
  • The library at the Kennedy School at Harvard created a Google Custom Search for finding information produced by think tanks:  Google Custom Search: Think Tanks. They define think tanks as "institutions affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and businesses that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity."
  • The UC Berkeley Library has a list of environmental organizations. These environmental organizations will have links to their policy documents.
  • See also the Wikipedia page, List of Environmental Organizations. This listing contains links to international organizations and organizations in specific countries. 

Policy Commons is a comprehensive database of public policy research. Access full text publications from the world's leading policy experts, think tanks, IGOs, and NGOs. You must create an account to view search results.