Help
- Registration
- Account
- Technical requirements
- Alerts
- Reference Lists
- Factiva
- Polit-X
- Content
- Search
- Pollux current publications services
Registration
What are the differences between the different account types?
Although reference lists can be used with a standard account, licensed content such as electronic full texts and factiva cannot be accessed. This kind of access requires an account for political scientists. Search functionality is available without registering an account.
Who can register for an account for political scientists?
In order to be able to use licensed content via Pollux, a researcher in political science must be employed at a university or non-commercial research institution in Germany or be a member of a German political science association. The FID Political Science office will check whether the account is authorised to use licensed content after registration.
When can an account be used after registration?
After successful confirmation of the email address, you can immediately log in with your Pollux account to use the reference lists. The activation for the use of the licensed contents takes place promptly after the authorisation has been checked.
Account
Can a standard account be converted into an account for political scientists?
The type of account can be changed. When changing from a standard account to an account for political scientists, however, the access authorisation must first be checked by the FID Political Science office. For the conversion of an account, please contact kontakt@pollux-fid.de.
Can I change the password of an account?
The password can be changed in the user settings under "Account" after the old password has been entered. Additionally a password can be changed using the "Forgot password?" function when logging in.
Technical requirements
What are the technical requirements for using Pollux?
Only a web browser is required to use Pollux. We support all recent browsers, e.g. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari. Internet Explorer is outdated and therefore no longer supported.
Alerts
What are alerts?
Alerts draw attention to literature and datasets that have been newly integrated into the Pollux search space. Only entries that correspond to the individually defined search criteria are displayed. For example, it is possible to be informed only about new books on the subject of "Middle East conflict". In the search definition, it is possible to set filters that can, for example, limit the media type.
How often are alerts updated?
An alert is updated if new entries have been integrated into Pollux that correspond to the defined search criteria of the alert. Pollux constantly updates the search space with new entries.
How do I know if there are new entries for my alert?
If new entries for alerts have been found, a notification appears for registered users next to the menu item Alerts in the navigation bar.
Example: 34
What can I do if an alert returns too many or too few results?
The result set of an alert depends on how generally the search query is defined. The preview provides an overview of the potential result set. Using the preview, it is possible to adjust the search query according to requirements.
Can alert entries be exported?
The alert entries can be exported by selecting "Export all entries" when the alert is open. This option is only displayed if entries exist. You can also export displayed results directly using the Export button.
How many alerts can be created?
There is no limit to the number of alerts.
Reference Lists
What are reference lists?
Reference lists can be used to permanently save and manage hits from search queries or alerts. For your convenience, an initial reference list is automatically created and available from the moment the account is set up, while further lists can be created as required. Saved titles can be moved between lists.
Can reference lists be exported?
Reference lists can be exported to files using the .ris data format via the option under the menu item "Actions".
How many reference lists can be created?
There are no limits to the number of reference lists that can be created.
Factiva
Who can use Factiva?
Every user with an account for political scientists can access the Factiva database via Pollux. An exception are political scientists, who already have access to the database via the following institutions:
- State and University Library Bremen
- State and University Library Hamburg
- Mannheim University Library
- Central Library for Economics Kiel
Researchers who can gain access through these institutions will be redirected to the respective registration page of their institution for Factiva.
How is Factiva used?
As an introduction to the use of Factiva, the following video tutorials are available:
- YouTube tutorial "Factiva Search Builder"
- YouTube tutorial "Enhancements to Search in Factiva"
Polit-X
Who can use Polit-X?
All users with an account for political scientists (PLUS account) can access the Polit-X database free of charge via Pollux.
What is Polit-X?
Polit-X is a data-driven political monitoring and analysis tool that provides you with an extensive database of political documents and other entries at federal, state and European level. By means of an alert function, a daily updated and automated monitoring via e-mail is also possible for your search terms.
What options do I have for using Polit-X?
There are two ways to use Polit-X via Pollux.
You can directly access the Polit-X database and use the following functions there in particular:
- Access to relevant documents and entries on state, federal and European level as well as from associations, scientific institutions and other organisations
- Use of the extensive possibilities of the search function with the help of machine learning functions
- Download documents
If you want to use the other functions of Polit-X, you can create a personal account. This includes the following functions in particular:
- Access to relevant documents and entries at the state, federal, and European level
- Use of the extensive possibilities of the search function
- Download documents
- Create email alerts about new documents related to your search terms
- Storing the documents in collections
- Generate reports
- Parliamentarian monitor with data on MPs
- Germany analysis to identify stakeholders in state and federal government
- Europe analysis to identify stakeholders in Europe incl. process tracking in Europe
How do I register with Polit-X for advanced features access?
To do so, visit Polit-X.
- There you will find a bar at the bottom of the screen Create an account for more features!
- Click on Register now.
- Enter your name, title and e-mail address in the form and set yourself a password.
- You will then receive an email asking you to confirm your email address.
- You can now log in directly to Polit-X with your username (your email address) and the password you set.
How does the search at Polit-X work?
An introduction to your search options can be found here: polit-x.de/en/search-info
Content
Which contents can be found in Pollux?
Pollux contains political science publications such as monographs, articles from journals and collective works as well as Open Access data from the BASE database and the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). So far, the licensed monographs include titles from Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Berghahn Books.
How can the full texts of search results be accessed?
The level of access for a particular record is indicated both on the overview page of the search results and on the full display of the record. If a licensed full text is made available to political scientists, a link "Full text via Pollux" is displayed. Further access options are "Full text" and "Subito", where access via Pollux is not possible. In the case of "full text", the user's local library could offer this full text if necessary, while "Subito" can be used to deliver documents for a fee.
How can I download ebooks provided on the EBook Central platform?
The EBook Central (EBC) platform provides the titles of the publishers Berghahn Books, Pluto Books, Verso Books and Zed Books. Every logged-in and and verified user with an account for political scientists can read online via the platform. However, an EBC account is required to download chapters and full texts in PDF format. The account must first be activated by the Pollux office, but can then be used immediately when further EBC titles are called up. Accounts created by other institutions for the use of EBC cannot be used to access EBC ebooks via Pollux.
Who can I contact if I have further questions?
If you have any questions about Pollux and its functions, please contact kontakt@pollux-fid.de.
Search
What search options are available in Pollux?
In Pollux, Boolean operators, placeholders and phrase search can be used for the search. For the Boolean operators 'AND' or '+', 'OR' as well as 'NOT' or '-' can be used. Without inserting Boolean operators, all words of up to three search words are linked with 'AND' by default. With more than three search words, half of the search words must be contained in each case, so that these are displayed in the results. Placeholders are '?' for one character and '*' for several characters. These can be used at the end and also within a word, but not at the beginning of a word. A search for a specific phrase is possible using double quotation marks ("...") to specify the complete phrase text.
What is advanced search?
Advanced search allows searching in specific fields using boolean operators in an easy way. All searches are phrase searches and the extended search syntax cannot be used.
What is extended search syntax?
In Pollux you can now design your search very precisely. Thanks to the extended search syntax, all field codes (document properties) available in Pollux can be specifically selected in the search field. The alerts can thus also be defined very precisely.
Which search fields are available in Pollux?
Following fields can be used for search:
| Field | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| author | Author | author:"Cheng, Christine" |
| title | Title | title:peacebuilding title:"multilateral governance" |
| year | Year | year:2018 year:[2000 TO *] year:[* TO 2000] year:[2000 TO 2007] |
| language | Language (ISO 639-2) | language:ger |
| doi | DOI (Digital Object Identifier) | doi:10.1142/9789814366984_0009 |
| isbn | ISBN | isbn:9783205992028 |
| issn | ISSN | issn:0720-4809 |
| keyword | Keyword | keyword:"Political indicators" |
| type | Publication type (article, book, book_chapter, journal, newspaper, oa, dataset, blog, blog_entry) | type:book |
| publisher | Publisher | publisher:"Oxford University Press" |
All fields can be combined using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).
How do the placeholders (truncation) work?
With * you can define several characters as wildcard, with ? you can define single characters as wildcard.
Examples
Following search examples demonstrate how to use extended search. It is important that there are no spaces between the field identifier and the query term:
- All works that contain the word "governance" in title and have been published since 2000
title:"governance" AND year:[2000 TO *] - All works of the author "schmidt" in German language
author:"schmidt" AND language:ger - All works with the keyword "nation building" in English language
keyword:"nation building" AND language:eng - All works with the phrase "Global affairs" in the journal "Global Governance" with the ISSN number: 1075-2846
issn:"1075-2846" AND "Global affairs" - The record with the DOI: "10.1057/ip.2010.21"
doi:10.1057/ip.2010.21 - Right truncation with a star in the search term "peace" finds peace as well as peacebuilding, peacekeeping, etc.
peace* - Right truncation with star at the search term "america" finds american as well as america
america* - A wildcard ? leads to works with both America and Amerika
ameri?a
Pollux current publications services
What is the Pollux current publications service
For Pollux we continously choose new releases of publishers relevant to the field of poltical science. Registered political scientists can order new books for loan free of charge. All new releases are included in the Pollux search and recognizable by the Loan (via Pollux) button. Pollux covers the acquisition costs. The book will then be sent to you as soon as possible to the delivery address you specify. At the end of the loan period you are only obliged to return the book to Pollux. A stamped adressed envelope is included. In case the envelope gets lost, please send the book back at your own expense to:
Pollux Fachinformationsdienst Politikwissenschaft
Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen
Bibliothekstraße 9
D-28359 Bremen