Selected Article Databases
Scholarly and substantive articles on fantasy and science fiction have been appearing in academic journals with regularity since the 1970s. While there is no database exclusively devoted to indexing secondary work these genres, the sources listed below include articles published in academic journals centered on literary, film, and cultural studies.
Note that these resources generally do NOT index creative work in science fiction magazines (e.g., Strange Horizons, Interzone) or material appearing in fanzines and other amateur publications.
The Library provides networked access to many more secondary source databases -- indexes and full-text -- than can be listed here. Others may be located through the Library Catalog and Databases.
- Academic Search PremierThis multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 8,500 journals, including full text for more than 4,600 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles.
- America: History & LifeAmerica: History and Life (AHL) is a complete bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Published since 1964, the database comprises over 530,000 bibliographic entries for periodicals dating back to 1954. Additional bibliographical entries are constantly added to the databases from editorial projects such as retrospective coverage of journals issues published prior to 1954.
- Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL)ABELL covers monographs, periodical articles, critical editions of literary works, scholarly book reviews, collections of essays and doctoral dissertations published anywhere in the world from 1920 onwards. 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. Also accessible through Literature Online.
- FIAF International Index to Film PeriodicalsContains over 500,000 article citations from more than 345 academic and popular film journals. Each entry consists of a full bibliographic description, an abstract and comprehensive headings (biographical names, film titles and general subjects). Coverage extends back to 1972.
- Film Literature IndexIndexes 150 film and television periodicals from 30 countries cover-to-cover and 200 other periodicals selectively for articles on film and television. The periodicals range from the scholarly to the popular. More than 2,000 subject headings provide detailed analysis of the articles. The FLI Online contains approximately 700,000 citations to articles, film reviews and book reviews published between 1976-2001.
- Humanities International IndexIndexes articles and books across the arts and humanities disciplines from a multitude of U.S. and international publications. HII also provides citations for original creative works including poems, fiction, photographs, paintings and illustrations. Many links to full text.
- Performing Arts Periodicals DatabaseFormerly the International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA) covers dance, film, television, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, broadcast arts, circus performance, comedy, storytelling, opera, pantomime, puppetry, and magic. Full text from 1999 onward.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Periodicals Index OnlineIndex to thousands of periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences across more than 300 years, covering each periodical from its first issue. Every article is indexed. The scope is international, including journals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and other languages. Previously known as Periodicals Contents Index (PCI).
- Project MuseFull text of scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Covers such fields as literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, and others.
- ProQuest Research LibraryProQuest Research Library, formerly known as Periodical Abstracts, is a comprehensive database available through the ProQuest online system. It indexes and abstracts general interest magazines and scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities and sciences. It comprises two components: a core list of periodicals covering about 800 publications, and 15 subject-specific modules that supplement the core list. Modules cover arts, business, children, education, general interest, health, humanities, international studies, law, military, multicultural studies, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women's interests. Full text of many articles is provided.
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Research DatabaseAn on-line, searchable compilation and extension of Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index 1878-1985, Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index 1985-1991, and Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index 1992-1995 (all by by Halbert W Hall), including material located since publication of the last printed volume. Based at Texas A&M.
- Web of ScienceChoosing "All Databases" allows you to search an index of journal articles, conference proceedings, data sets, and other resources in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Indexes/Bibliographies for Secondary Sources
Bibliographies are rich sources of citations to both journal articles and monographs. To locate these in the Library Catalogs, enter the word bibliography as a Subject term in conjunction with keywords such as fantasy, science fiction, gothic, Asimov, etc. A few general bibliographies appear below.
- Bibliographie der Utopie und Phantastik 1650-1950 im deutschen Sprachraum byCall Number: Olin stacks PN6071 F25 B56 2002Publication Date: 2002Bibliography of German-language utopian and fantasy fiction, including translations into German from other languages.
- Ecrits sur la science-fiction : bibliographie analytique des études & essais sur la science-fiction publiés entre 1900 et 1987 : littérature, cinéma, illustration byCall Number: Library Annex Z5917 S36 S64x 1988Publication Date: 1988International bibliography of secondary works on science fiction (literature, film, art). Covers books, periodical & newspaper articles, and theses published between 1900 and 1987 in English, French, and other languages.
- Science fiction, fantasy, and horror reference : an annotated bibliography of works about literature and film byCall Number: Olin Reference Z5917 S36 J96Publication Date: 1989An annotated bibliography of 300 secondary works on science fiction and fantasy literature.
- Fanzine index : listing most fanzines from the beginning through 1952 : including titles, editors’ names, and data on each issue byCall Number: Uris stacks Z5917 F3 P33 1965 +Publication Date: 1965
Academic SF/Fantasy Journals
The Library subscribes to several academic journals focusing on science fiction and fantasy. Here is a selection of currently received titles, as well as some freely available online:
Bulletin (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) - OLIN PS374.S25 S41
Extrapolation - OLIN PN3448.S45 E96 + (online 1994 -)
Femspec - online only
Horror Studies - online and print: OLIN P96.H65 H67
Journal of Dracula Studies
Journal of the fantastic in the arts - online and print set OLIN PN56.F34 J86
Mythlore online and in print - OLIN PR6039.O49 Z93+
Science fiction film and television -
Science-fiction studies online and in print- OLIN PN3448.S45 S44
SFRA Review - freely accessible online from 2001; latest issue available 10 weeks after print publication)
Studies in the Fantastic