Databases@Cornell

Databases at CornellCornell icon Identify relevant scholarly databases available via Cornell University Libraries.


Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures Cornell icon (ONLINE) Ed. Suad Joseph. 6 volumes. Leiden: Brill, 2003-2007.(online & Olin Reference HQ 1170 .E53 2003 +) --Volume 1. (2003): Methodologies, paradigms and sources; v. 2. (2005): Family, law and politics; v. 3. (2006): Family, body, sexuality and health; v. 4. Economics, education, mobility, and space; v. 5. Practices, interpretations and representations; v. 6. Index. A long-term, interdisciplinary project to bring together "upwards of 1,000 scholars to write critical essays on women, Muslim and non-Muslim, and Islamic cultures in every region where there have been significant Muslim populations." [Introduction].

SA: EWIC Scholars Database Search Form

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women Cornell iconBook coverCall Number: Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) Oversize BP173.4 .O94 2013 + ISBN: 9780199764464. Publication Date: 2013-10-16

Provides clear, current, comprehensive information on the major topics of scholarly interest within the study of Islam and women. With more than 450 articles written by leading international experts and with a concentration on contemporary issues, it is a single source for accurate overview articles covering all aspects of this flourishing area of research. Organized around the central conceptual themes in research on Islam and women including Self and Body, Immigration and Minorities, Culture and Expression, Politics and Polity, and Community and Society, as well as Science, Medicine and Education among others, this work examines the scholarship on Islam and women that has expanded exponentially over the past twenty years, as well as cross-pollination between other fields and disciplines.

Women and Islam - Oxford Islamic Studies Online Cornell iconresource coverThis resource holds nearly 4000 entries from many Oxford publications, such as the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World and The Islamic World: Past and Present. It encompasses a variety of resources including biographies, scholarly works, translated articles, essays, seminal books and speeches by influential figures of the Islamic world, translations of the Qur’an, maps and images, and teaching aids. [For further information on how to use the Oxford Islamic Studies Online].


Women of Islamic Studies Women of Islamic Studies is a crowdsourced database of women scholars who work on Muslims and Islam. This ongoing project is in its beta version. Once sufficient data has been collected I will partner with a university for a more stable home.


Survey Database

Topics on Modern Muslim Women Database Compiled by: Rubina Ramji, Lucy MacDonald and Alyssa MacDougall. This research database offers articles and media dealing with topics on Muslim women. [Religion and Diversity Project, hosted at the University of Ottawa,]

"Middle East Women’s Activism digital archive is a collection of interviews with 96 women of different generations in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, which form the basis of a monograph, entitled, Embodying Geopolitics: Generations of Women’s Activism in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. All interviews were conducted by Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick, in 2013-2014 as part of a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship exploring the relationship between gender and geopolitics in the context of the Middle East. The research received approval from the University of Warwick Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee and consent was given at the time of interview to make this material publicly available.

The archive will be of interest to researchers in the fields of gender studies and post-independence social history in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. The interviews consist of women’s personal narratives of their family background and education, how they became involved in public work (al-‘amal al-‘am), information about their activism and how it has changed over time and the impact of/their involvement in major national events, amongst other details." More.

Middle East Women's Activism

Theses & Dissertations

Islam. Multidisciplinary and General Databases

Islamic Studies Databases

In order of usefulness for Islamic Studies Research (note that other basic reference works are listed after the first section below)

  • Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition
    • Current
      • Encyclopaedia of Islam Online (EI Online) sets out the present state of knowledge of the Islamic World and is a unique reference tool, an essential key to understanding the world of Islam. It includes biographical articles on distinguished Muslims of every age and land, on tribes and dynasties, on the crafts and sciences, on political and religious institutions, on the geography, ethnography, flora and fauna of the various countries and on the history, topography and monuments of the major towns and cities. In its geographical and historical scope it encompasses the old Arabo-Islamic empire, the Islamic countries of Iran, Central Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Indonesia, the Ottoman Empire and all other Islamic countries.
  • The Encyclopaedia of Islam Three
    • 2007-<2014> The new edition (1960–2005) offered vastly expanded coverage (more than 11,000 pages, in twelve volumes), and in the long course of its appearance increasingly reflected new trends in scholarship on Islam and Muslim societies, in terms of both method and content
  • Index Islamicus log in
    • 1906-present-
      • Index Islamicus is an international bibliography of publications in European languages covering all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, including history, beliefs, societies, cultures, languages, and literature. The database includes material published by Western orientalists, social scientists and Muslims.
  • Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies
    • Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the range of lived experiences and textual traditions of Muslims as they are articulated in various countries and regions throughout the world. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. Contains a "My OBO" function that allows users to create personalized bibliographies of individual citations from different bibliographies. [In Persian, Arabic, Urdu, English, Turkish English, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu.]
  • Encyclopaedia Islamica
    • Encyclopaedia Islamica Online is based on the abridged and edited translation of the Persian Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī, one of the most comprehensive sources on Islam and the Muslim world. A unique feature of the Encyclopaedia Islamica Online lies in the attention given to Shiʿi Islam and its rich and diverse heritage. In addition to providing entries on important themes, subjects and personages in Islam generally, Encyclopaedia Islamica Online offers the Western reader an opportunity to appreciate the various dimensions of Shiʿi Islam, the Persian contribution to Islamic civilization, and the spiritual dimensions of the Islamic tradition.
  • Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
    • Online & [print]Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) Oversize BP40 .E525x 2004 +
      • Looks at Islam's role in the modern world, doing so in context of the religion's history and development over the last 13 centuries. Contains thematic articles, biographies of key figures, definitions, illustrations, maps and more.
  • Encyclopædia of the Qur'ān Online
    • Online & [Print] Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) Oversize BP133 .E53 2001-2006 +
      • EQ is an encyclopaedic dictionary of qur’ānic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur’ānic studies. Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān (EQ) is the first comprehensive, multivolume reference work on the Qur’ān to appear in a Western language. The EQ Online includes access to 62 Early Printed Western Qur’āns Online. With regular updates. Drawing upon a rich scholarly heritage, EQ combines alphabetically-arranged articles about the contents of the Qur’ān. With nearly 1000 entries the EQ is the first comprehensive reference work on the Qur’ān to appear in a Western language.
  • Oxford Islamic Studies Online
    • Current
      • Oxford Islamic Studies Online is a comprehensive reference center with a global perspective and is a source of timely, reliable, and accessible information on the history, peoples, beliefs, individuals, and cultures that constitute the world of Islam. The site includes two essential English-language interpretations of the Qur'an, the first electronic version of the standard Concordance used by English-speaking scholars around the world, and primary source documents. Special features and tools include timelines, Qur'an Verse Look-up, a Date Converter for Western and Islamic calendar dates, and more.
  • Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures
    • Online & [Print] Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) Oversize HQ1170 .E53 2003 +
      • The Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures Online is an interdisciplinary, trans-historical, and global project embracing women and Islamic cultures in every region where there have been significant Muslim populations. It aims to cover every topic for which there is significant research, examining these regions from the period just before the rise of Islam to the present. The Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures Online crosses history, geographic borders and disciplines to create a groundbreaking reference work reflecting the very latest research on gender studies and the Islamic world.

v. 1. Methodologies, paradigms and sources for studying women and Islamic cultures
v. 2. Family, law, and politics
v. 3. Family, body, sexuality, and health
v. 4. Economics, education, mobility, and space.

General Databases. Multidisciplinary

Index Islamicus ProQuest logoThis database is a comprehensive index to publications on Islamic subjects throughout the world. Records cover almost 100 years, from 1906 to the present. The scope includes the Middle East, the Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, plus Muslim minorities elsewhere in the world. Over 3,000 journals are monitored for inclusion, together with conference proceedings, monographs, multi-authored works and book reviews. Journals and books are indexed down to the article and chapter level. Coverage: 1906 - current. [How to use Index Islamicus].


Ciao logo Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs. [How to use CIAO].


Factiva logo Cornell icon Connect to Factiva

An electronic news article service. It contains newspaper articles, newswire reports and magazine features from a variety of international sources. It has a limit of three simultaneous users. [How to use Factiva].


ProQuest logo ProQuest Research Library It contains bibliographic descriptions, abstracts, and lots of full-text articles covering over 150 subjects and topics such as business, economics, education, health, industrial relations, management, public policy, religion and statistics. ProQuest Research Library provides one-stop access to thousands of full-text periodicals from one of the broadest, most inclusive general reference databases. Search from a highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, professional and trade publications, and magazines. [How to use ProQuest].


JSTOR logo It is a not–for–profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive of over one thousand academic journals and other scholarly content. Note: JSTOR has a moving wall that excludes the last 3 to 5 years of journal issues. The agreements with publishers establish a lag period for each title that defines the point at which the JSTOR archive stops.

Oxford Islamic Studies Online

Oxford Islamic Studies Online (Home) [ONLINE]

Encompassing over 5,000 A–Z reference entries, chapters from scholarly and introductory works, Qur'anic materials, primary sources, images, maps, and timelines, Oxford Islamic Studies Online offers a multi-layered reference experience designed to provide a first stop for anyone needing information and context on Islam. The current core content titles include the following:

  • The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics (2013) provides a comprehensive analysis of what we know and where we are in the study of political Islam. It enables scholars, students, and policymakers to understand the interaction of Islam and politics and the multiple and diverse roles of Islamic movements, as well as issues of authoritarianism and democratization, religious extremism and terrorism regionally and globally.
  • The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture (March 2009), a three-volume reference work offering the most comprehensive coverage of Islamic art throughout the world, beginning with the inception of Islam and continuing to the present day
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (March 2009), a six-volume work covering the full geographical and historical extent of Islam. Starting in 2011, the OEIW has expanded to include updated spinoff editions, including The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women (2013), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics (2014), and The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam (2014).
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, available in full on the site with access to archived articles that have been updated in the new Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World
  • The Islamic World: Past and Present, an accessible A–Z reference covering key people, events and concepts in Islamic history
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, in addition to being an integral part of the cross-searchable site content, all 2,500 entries in this authoritative quick reference are free to the public. Anyone can access or cite Dictionary content by using the on-site browse or major Web search engines
  • The Oxford History of Islam, a chaptered work containing authoritative essays by leading Muslim and non-Muslim scholars on the origins of the faith, arts, sciences, and history to the present-day situation of Islam
  • What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, a question-and-answer guide by John L. Esposito, in which he responds to the most commonly asked questions about Muslim culture and Islam with thoughtful, unbiased replies
  • Teaching Islam, edited by Brannon M. Wheeler for the American Academy of Religion's Teaching Religious Studies series, this work brings together leading scholars to offer perspectives on how to teach Islam
  • Makers of Contemporary Islam, a chaptered work by OISO editor in chief John L. Esposito and senior editor John O. Voll that explores the lives and thought of some of contemporary Islam's most important thinkers
  • Two Oxford World's Classics versions of the Qur'an: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem's The Qur'an, a prose translation, and The Koran Interpreted, a renowned verse translation by A.J. Arberry
  • Hanna Kassis' Concordance of the Qur'an.