Guides: ENG 5304 Bibliography & Research Methods: Finding Scholarly Articles

Finding Scholarly Journal Articles

Good starting points for secondary sources at the article level include MLA International Bibliography by the Modern Language Association (in the US) and Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) by the British Modern Humanities Research Association.

Both indexes comb through publishers' catalogs and the journals, providing an organized listing of the contents and abstracts of the items indexed.

MLA international bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes over 3,000 journals and series. Also covers relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies, and other formats. Areas covered include literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Has some very useful special search features for searching authors and literary works which you'll want to ask about, Covers British and American scholarship, but better represents American scholarship. See the entry for ABELL below for fuller coverage of British scholarship, or the specialized discipline-focused databases listed below.
ABELL This link opens in a new window
Covers English language and literature published anywhere in the world from 1920 onwards. Contains monographs, periodical articles, critical editions of literary works, book reviews and collections of essays.

MLA International Bibliography Tutorials

Keyword vs. Subject Searching
This short video discusses the difference between these two search modes (and the principles hold true for almost all online searching).
NOTE: Baylor's link to the MLA IB will take you to the advanced search screen.

Search Tips
This tutorial covers useful features in composing a search including how to use the information in the MLA IB record to select a subject term, using the Thesaurus to "explode" or narrow a search term, and using the * for truncation or letter substitution.

Understanding Results/Finding Full Text
A very useful overview of the parts of an MLA IB record and it's various fields, how to use these to best advantage, and general info on finding the full-text.
NOTE: to find full-text for articles not directly listed in the MLA IB, use the BU INFOLINKS link or button.

Searching for Scholarly Journals Beyond Literature

Below is listed the main database to search besides MLA International Bibliography and ABELL for the intersection of religion and literature.

ATLA religion database with ATLASerials This link opens in a new window
Indexes comprehensively scholarly and non-scholarly journals in religion and theology.

In the area of art and architecture there are several database and they are of two kinds: journal article and image. The journal databases are listed first, then the image databases.

Art & architecture source This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text coverage to over 600 full-text journals, over 200 full-text books, and over 60 000 images in art and architecture from 1929-present. Combines content from Art Index/Art Index Retrospective and Art & Architecture Complete.
Art index retrospective This link opens in a new window
Provides access to mid 20th-century art history literature and contemporary criticism of art through periodicals, yearbooks, and select museum bulletins. Cumulates citations to Art Index volumes 1-32 (published between 1929 and 1984).
Performing arts periodicals database This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles from around 400 scholarly and popular periodicals, as well as some books. Includes reviews, biographical profiles, obituaries, interviews, and more.
Covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, film, television, drama, theatre, musical theatre, stagecraft, opera, circus performance, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, and more.
Index of Medieval art This link opens in a new window
Emphasizes primarily western Europe. The "Index" is a record of Christian art in over 17 media types from the early apostolic times to 1550 (some collections include up to the mid 16th century). Recently Christian art from the Coptic and Near Eastern Christian traditions has been included. Each image is assigned a primary subject (the person(s), event, or scene in the image) and other subject fields to identify the other items in the image. Information on the image includes (as applicable): artist, name and location of work, medium, object type, style, school, date, dimensions, and description. Browse pre-defined fields by keywords, simple and advanced search features are also available. The online version contains only about 30% of the images and information available in the card index available at Princeton University. In 1957 the 100 000th image was added to the record and approximately 1 000 images have been added to the collection annually since then. The online database began in 1991 and contains nearly 80 000 works of art. Not all images are available for viewing due to copyright restrictions. Image quality varies greatly and may be black & white or color. Image records include a bibliography of scholarship on the image where it exists. N.B.: FROM SEARCH RESULTS LIST click on the number in the left column to access the images and bibliographic information in which you are interested. Princeton University.
The largest database of medieval art in existence with full-text records for over 23,000 works of art dating from early apostolic times to A.D. 1400. Seventeen different media are represented in the archive, including manuscripts, metalwork, sculpture, painting, glass, etc.

Image databases provide you with easy access to a variety of collections, most of which may be used in lectures, presentations, and web sites which are not publicly accessible.

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Provides access to more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences.

Linguistics and language behavior abstracts This link opens in a new window
Indexes and abstracts scholarly works on linguistics and the study of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics.

America: history and life This link opens in a new window
Scholarly and peer reviewed articles on the history of the United States and Canada.
Bibliography of British and Irish history This link opens in a new window
Indexes scholarly writing by historians on the British Isles, the British Empire, and the British Commonwealth.
Historical abstracts This link opens in a new window
Indexes and provides abstracts to scholarly journal articles, conference papers, dissertations, books and book reviews in history for all countries except the United States and Canada (for the U.S. and Canada use America: History & Life). Since every subject has a history all subjects are covered, from accounting and biology to warfare and zoology, not just traditional "history.", Includes research on eras from prehistory to the present. Basic, advanced, and visual search features, limits by time period, country, year of publication of article, language of publication, in addition to subject, author, keyword, etc. EBSCO.

Browzine: How to keep up with Scholarly Journals

Browzine will allow you to access the electronic journals Baylor subscribes to and keep current with scholarly journals in your field. Follow these steps to sign up for a Browzine account:

Open your favorite web browser.
Go to browzine.com.
Click Choose My Library
Select Baylor University.
Go to Settings.
Under BrowZine Account, click Login
Click Sign up create an account.

Videos below describe some of the useful features.

ENG 5304 Bibliography & Research Methods

Finding Scholarly Journal Articles

MLA International Bibliography Tutorials

Searching for Scholarly Journals Beyond Literature

Browzine: How to keep up with Scholarly Journals

University Libraries