Recommended Databases for Finding Scholarly Articles
PERIODICAL INDEXES
Note: The Articles & Full Text feature on the main Library web page allows you to perform simple searches across multiple databases. Because the various databases are structured differently, search results may vary widely. For more precise searching, it's best to search the databases individually. See the recommended databases below.
For more options, see the Databases list.
- International Medieval Bibliography Online (IMB)The International Medieval Bibliography (IMB) is the world's leading interdisciplinary bibliography of the European Middle Ages, covering Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the period 400-1500. The IMB was founded in 1967 with the support of the Medieval Academy of America. Its editorial staff is based at the International Medieval Institute at the University of Leeds, and the project is supported by over 50 teams of contributors in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan. The database comprises over 300,000 articles derived from regular coverage of some 4500 periodicals and 5000 miscellany volume (conference proceedings, essay collections, Festschriften and exhibition catalogues). All articles are classified with full bibliographical details and subject classifications and indexing familiar to medievalists.
- Iter : gateway to the Middle Ages and RenaissanceA bibliographic database of interdisciplinary journal literature pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, 400-1700. Includes articles, reviews, bibliographies, catalogs, editions, abstracts, discographies, and notes.
- Feminae: Medieval women and gender indexAn index to journal articles, book reviews, and essays in books about women, sexuality, and gender during the Middle Ages. Books written by a single author are not indexed. The time period covered is 450 C.E. to 1500 C.E. and the geographic area is Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Subject coverage for gender and sexuality means that articles on masculinity and male homosexuality are included.
- MLA International BibliographyThe premier scholarly bibliography covering languages, literatures, folklore, film and linguistics from all over the world. Online coverage back to 1926. Includes books, articles in books, and journal articles. Does not index book reviews.
- ProQuest One LiteratureFormer name: Literature Online. Offers a full-text collection of poetry, drama, and prose with complementary references sources as well as articles, monographs and dissertations from the Annual bibliography of English language and literature (ABELL); full-text articles from literary journals; and biographical information on widely studied authors.
- Historical AbstractsPublished since 1954, Historical Abstracts currently covers over 1,700 journals published worldwide in over forty languages. The database comprises over 720,000 entries from periodicals, with full-text links to over 135,000 articles and dissertations and masters' theses. Each year, the editors of Historical Abstracts add over 16,000 abstracts and citations, over 3,000 book citations, and over 1,200 citations of dissertations and masters' theses to the database from the current literature and publications. Additional bibliographical entries are also added to the database by editorial projects such as retrospective coverage of journal issues published prior to 1954.
- JSTORJSTOR is a fully-searchable database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business, and other fields. It includes the following collections: Arts & sciences I, II and III, General science, Ecology and botany, Business, Language and literature.
- Project MUSESearchable database that provides access to the full text of journals and ebooks published by university presses in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Covers such fields as literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and others.
- Bibliography of British and Irish HistoryIndexes books, articles, book chapters, etc. in the area of British and Irish history. Excellent. Began in the late 19th century.
Art & Architecture Databases
- Art & Architecture SourceThis database covers a broad range of subjects from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. It features full-text articles as well as detailed indexing and abstracts for an array of journals, books, podcasts and more. International in scope, Art Source includes periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Dutch and is designed for use by a diverse audience, including art scholars, artists, designers, students and general researchers.
- Avery Index to Architectural PeriodicalsThe Avery periodical index offers a comprehensive listing of journal articles published worldwide on architecture and design, archaeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation. Avery indexes not only the international scholarly and popular periodical literature, but also the publications of professional associations, US state and regional periodicals, and the major serial publications on architecture and design of Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. Expanded coverage includes obituary citations. Coverage is from the 1930s (with selective coverage dating back to the 1860s) to the present.
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How to Identify Scholarly Journal Articles
Evaluating the sources you find is a crucial step in the process of scholarly research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, or multimedia sources are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item or have the item in hand.
Watch this video to learn how to identify scholarly journal articles.