Databases for literary reference sources and articles
- MLA International BibliographyScholarly articles about literature, including language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory & criticism, dramatic arts, as well as the historical aspects of printing and publishing.
Part of the Database Offerings in GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library. - Literary Reference Center PlusArticles and reference sources about literature, including thousands of plot summaries, synopses, and work overviews; articles of literary criticism; author biographies; full-text literary journals; book reviews; classic and contemporary poems and short stories; classic novels; author interviews; and images of key literary figures
Part of the Database Offerings in GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library. - Literature Online (LION)Biographies and articles about literature, including an extensive Author Index.
Also a good source for African-American Poetry (1760-1900), American Poetry (1600-1997), and English Poetry (600-1900) full-text primary materials.
Part of the Database Offerings in GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library.
- American Literary ScholarshipFrom Duke University Press, annual essays reviewing major publications in scholarship about American literature, covering online the years 2000-2018. This link takes you to the online version. Annual print editions 1963-2014 are available on the third floor shelves at call number PS3 .A47.
Other databases for scholarly articles
- JSTORFull-text articles from the back issues of selected core journals.The goal of the project is to build a "reliable and comprehensive archive of important scholarly journal literature."
- ProQuest Research LibraryArticles on all topics, some peer-reviewed.
Part of the Database Offerings in GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library.
Is this article peer reviewed?
Use Ulrich's to check!
Ulrich's will tell you whether an journal is peer-reviewed. Type in the journal title and look for the referee's shirt. Shirt icon = refereed = peer reviewed!
- Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (Ulrichsweb)Directory of periodicals, and an easy and authoritative way to find out if a journal is peer-reviewed.
Dissertations & Theses
Doctoral dissertations and Masters' theses may also be useful documents to consult as you search for sources. Doctoral dissertations, in particular, will usually contain a full literature review and extensive bibliography. You can search for dissertations and theses using the following databases:
- Dissertations and Theses Full Text Global (ProQuest)Extensive full-text database of dissertations and theses.
Part of the Database Offerings in GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library.
- openDOARPlacing search terms in quotation marks and including the word "dissertation" can be a very effective strategy for using openDOAR's Custom Search function.
Finding GALE literary titles
Many GALE publications contain biographies of authors and anthologies of critical essays about particular works. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism is an anthology of critical essays--some in their entirety, some excerpted--about authors and works of nineteenth-century literature.
Use the GALE Literary Index to search for a work within GALE publications.
Use GIL-Find@VSU to find the relevant GALE publication in the Odum Library.
Ask at the Reference Desk (2nd floor, Odum Library) for help in finding and using GALE literary publications.
