English and American Literature: Articles

The Purpose of this Page

This page is designed to link you to resources that will enable you to identify and access current and recently published articles from journals, magazines, and/or newspapers. The emphasis is on resources that will connect you with articles likely to be of interest to researchers in the areas of English or American Literature. The extent to which the databases on this page range backwards to cover older articles is highly variable. If you know that you are looking for articles from the mid twentieth century or from earlier centuries, you should work with the Older Articles page in this guide. Resources that do not include current or recent articles (such as Readers Guide Retrospective) will be found on the Older Articles page only.

Start out with:

  • MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO)
    MLA International Bibliography offers a detailed bibliography of journal articles, books and dissertations. Produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), the electronic version of the bibliography dates back to the 1920's and contains over 2.3 million citations from more than 4,400 journals & series, and 1,000 book publishers. The indexed materials coverage is international and includes almost 60 titles from J-STOR's language and literature collection as well as links to full text.
     
  • Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature: ABELL (ProQuest)
    "Contains more than 900,000 records covering monographs, periodical articles, critical editions of literary works, book reviews, collections of essays and doctoral dissertations published anywhere in the world; unpublished doctoral dissertations are covered for the period 1920-1999. . . . a number of items published between 1892 and 1919 have been indexed retrospectively. All aspects and periods of English literature are covered, from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. British, American and Commonwealth writing are all represented. Coverage is international, including scholarly material in languages other than English."
     
  • ►Persons wishing to be thorough in their research on English-language literature should search both of the above databases. There is some overlap; but each database includes many items not listed in the other.

General Resources for Literary Studies

  • Book Review Digest Plus
    "Brings together book reviews on a wide range of topics from thousands of sources."
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.
     
  • EBSCOhost Research Databases  
    Allows you to search simultaneously across more than one hundred databases in a variety of fields. Includes key databases in Art, Architecture, Business, History, Education, Psychology, Religion, Social Sciences, and Science. Also includes Historical collections such as AAS Historical Periodicals, Arte Publico Hispanic Historical Collection, and ATLA Historical Monographs Collection. Includes full text access to many journal articles, e-books, and e-book chapters.
     
  • Google scholar   
    "Provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations." When you Use the link above to connect to Google Scholar, you will also have direct access to articles in online journals to which Columbia subscribes.
     
  • Humanities Full Text
    "Includes many of the most important academic journals in the humanities with the full text of articles from over 300 periodicals dating back to 1995, and high-quality indexing for almost 700 journals . . . dating as far back as 1984. The database provides coverage of feature articles, interviews, bibliographies, obituaries, and original works of fiction, drama, poetry and book reviews, as well as reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, radio and television programs, plays, operas, and more. Topics covered include classical studies, literary & social criticism, philosophy, religion & theology, literature, art, dance, film, folklore, music, performing arts, area studies, communications, gender studies, history, journalism, linguistics, archaeology, and much more."
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.

  • JSTOR
    "JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. JSTOR helps people discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content through a powerful research and teaching platform, and preserves this content for future generations." Journals in JSTOR are covered back to their first issues. Recency of coverage varies by title. Some titles are covered up through latest issue; others only up through five years ago, etc.

  • Literature criticism online
    Provides essays or articles, or excerpts thereof, about an extensive range of literary works written as far back as 1400 and recently as the 21st century. Major literary works will typically be the focus of numerous entries in Literature criticism online. Each entry provides a mini-anthology of critical responses across a range of years. The earliest critical responses will typically be from as close as possible to the time of the work’s original publication or performance; the latest can be as late as the 21st century.

  • MLA directory of periodicals (EBSCO)
    "The MLA Directory of Periodicals, produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), provides detailed information on thousands of journals and book series in the fields of literature, language, linguistics, film, rhetoric and composition, and folklore. Entries cover publication details, contact information, submission requirements and editorial policies, subscription terms, electronic availability and advertising, and useful statistics such as circulation, average number of articles submitted and published, time from submission to decision, and time from decision to publication. All periodicals and book series indexed in the MLA International Bibliography are listed in the directory."

  • Project Muse
    "Project MUSE is a leading provider of digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community.  Since 1995 the MUSE journal collections have supported a wide array of research needs at academic, public, special, and school libraries worldwide. MUSE is the trusted source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies, with over 120 publishers currently participating. UPCC Book Collections on Project MUSE, launched in January 2012, offer top quality book-length scholarship, fully integrated with MUSE's scholarly journal content."

  • Readers Guide Full Text
    Coverage:  items published 1983 to the present Brief summaries of articles from popular and general-interest periodicals. Coverage includes literary works published in those periodicals (short stories, poetry, etc.).
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.

Specialized Resources That May Be Useful for Your Literary Research

  • America: History and Life
    Type of Resource: Index, with accessible full text for selected items
    Coverage: items published 1955 onwards, updated monthly
    Covers writings about the history and culture of United States and Canada from prehistory through the recent past. Provides listings for journal articles, book articles, book reviews, media reviews, and dissertations, along with brief summaries of journal and book articles. Also provides links to full text for selected journal articles.
     ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.
     
  • Art Source
    "Covers a broad range of related subjects, from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. Providing over 600 full-text journals, more than 220 full-text books, and a collection of over 63,0000 images, it is designed for use by a diverse audience, including art scholars, artists, designers, students and general researchers."
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.
     
  • ATLA Religion Database + ATLAS
    Type of Resource: Index, featuring full text for selected items
    Coverage: Religion Index 1 - Periodicals, 1949-present; Religion Index 2 - Multi-author works, 1960-present; Research in Ministry, 1981-present; Index to Book Reviews in Religion, 1949-present; Methodist Reviews Index, 1818-1985.
    An international index of religion and theology journals, festschriften, and essay collections, with some links to full-text articles.
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.
     
  • Bibliography of British and Irish History
    Type of Resource: Index, with abstracts; and with accessible full text for selected items
    Coverage: items published 1900 onwards (with some pre-1901 publications), updated 3 times a year
    Provides listings of historical writings "dealing with the British Isles, and with the British empire and commonwealth, during all periods for which written documentation is available - from 55BC to the present." It "aims to be as comprehensive as is practical for publications since 1900."  Includes books, articles in journals and collective volumes, and review articles. Now includes data from Irish History Online and London's Past Online. The database as a whole contains listings for over 387,000 items.
     
  • Black Studies Center
    "A fully cross-searchable gateway to Black Studies including scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, reference books, and much more. It combines essential resources for research and teaching in Black Studies, including The Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, Index to Black Periodicals Full Text, Black Literature Index, and the Chicago Defender historical newspaper from 1912-1975."
     
  •  Gender Studies Database
    "Gender Studies Database combines Women’s Studies International and Men’s Studies databases with the coverage of sexual diversity issues. GSD covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. Several thousand links to freely available and indexed full-text articles and documents on the Internet are available. Source documents include professional journals, conference papers, books, book chapters, government reports, discussion and working papers, theses & dissertations and other sources. Several hundred links provide access to carefully selected and important websites. This database includes more than 921,000 records with coverage spanning from 1972 and earlier to the present."
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.

  • Historical Abstracts
    Type of Resource: Index, with abstracts; and with accessible full text for selected items
    Coverage: 1954 onwards
    Covers the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada), as represented in more than 2,000 journals published throughout the world. Provides listings for journal articles, book articles, books, and dissertations.
     ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.
     
  • International Index to Performing Arts Full Text
    Use this to find articles about: Dance, Theater, Film, Mime, Opera, Puppetry, Radio, Television, Storytelling, Video, and/or Performance Art.
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in ProQuest.
     
  • International Medieval Bibliography Online
    Type of Resource: Index
    Indexes articles, notes, and similar literature on medieval subjects in journals, Festschriften, conference proceedings, and collected essays. Covers all aspects of medieval studies within the date range of 400 to 1500 for the entire continent of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa for the period before the Muslim conquest and parts of those areas subsequently controlled by Christian powers. Includes more than 300,000 articles published 1967- , all of which are fully classified by date, subject and location.
     
  • The Music Index
    Type of Resource: Index
    Coverage: 1978 onward
    Covers topics in "every aspect of classical and popular" music as reflected in more than 670 international music periodicals.
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.
     
  • Social Sciences Full Text
    Provides listings of, or access to, articles from a wide range of social sciences journals. Subjects covered include: “Addiction Studies, Anthropology, Global Studies, Community Health & Medical Care, Corrections, Criminal Justice, Criminology, Economics, Environmental Studies, Ethics, Family Studies, Gender Studies, Geography, Gerontology, International Relations, Law, Minority Studies, Planning & Public Administration, Policy Sciences, Political Science, Psychiatry, Psychology, Public Welfare, Social Work, Sociology, Urban Studies.”
    ►May also be searched simultaneously with many other databases in EBSCOhost research databases.