UCWR CQ Researcher Tutorial

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Welcome to the CQ Researcher tutorial! 

CQ Researcher is a unique research tool that issues a report each week on an important issue in society or politics, including health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. The weekly reports have been written for decades so it is possible to see how some topics have developed and changed. CQ Researcher is an excellent tool for accessing background information on various topics. 

In this tutorial, you will learn: 

  • How to browse for topics in CQ Researcher to use for your researched essay assignment
  • How to find reports on topics that provide information such as the Current Situation, Chronology, Pro/Con and more...
  • How to find other relevant sources to use for your research
NOTE: If you're off-campus, you will be asked to sign in with your LUC username and password. 

Use the arrows below to navigate through the tutorial. 

Browse for Topics

There are a few ways to browse for potential research topics through CQ Researcher. On the right hand side of the main page, there is a list of Hot Topics. You can also click Browse Reports on the top menu and browse reports by date, Issue Tracker and Pro/Con.

On the top menu, there are several drop-down options.

  • Click BROWSE TOPICS and choose a topic that interests you from the drop-down menu. 
  • After you pick a general topic, click one of the subtopics that interests you. 
  • Then click one of the report links that interests you. Feel free to browse and explore during this process. (The reports are listed in chronological order.) 

Browse Topic Reports

The report will have the following sections through which you can browse: 

  • Introduction
  • Overview
  • Background
  • Current Situation
  • Outlook
  • Pro/Con
  • Chronology
  • Short Features
  • Maps/Graphs
  • Bibliography
  • The Next Step
  • Contacts
  • Footnotes
  • About the Author
Click through some of the sections on the left side to explore information on the topic. Background, Current Situation, Outlook, Pro/Con and Chronology are especially helpful sections. 
 

You can also download the PDF of the report if you'd like to save it. Click View PDF in the upper left corner to save or download the report. 

NOTE: If you click View PDF, you will be taken out of the tutorial experience. You can right click and choose open in a new tab to prevent this from happening. 

Find Links to Other Relevant Sources

Topic Reports from CQ Researcher are compiled from a variety of sources. You can potentially use these sources for your research paper. 

  • Click the Footnotes section of the report
  • Skim through the sources listed and if you find one that interests you, click the link next to the source. It should take you to the actual source.  
  • If there is no link, try copying and pasting the title of the article into the LUC Library Catalog on the main page of the LUC Libraries website - http://libraries.luc.edu/
  • If you're still unable to find the article, please Ask a Librarian for assistance. 

Wrap Up

Congratulations! You’ve completed the UCWR CQ Researcher Tutorial.

You can always access CQ Researcher from the Loyola University Chicago Libraries website in the Databases List under C or through the UCWR Research Guide under Most Used Resources on the first page or in the Types of Sources page. 

To get additional help from a librarian, please click here or stop by the Information Commons or Lewis Library Reference Desk.

Thank you! 

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