Overview
Use article databases to identify articles on a topic. In some cases, you will be able to link directly from the article database to the full text of the article. In other cases, you will need to search the title of the journal (not the author or title of the article) in the online catalog to find out where it is located.
"Article databases" include indexing and abstracting sources, both online and "print" (or paper), as well as the online full-text sources, and those online databases offering a mix of abstracts and full text.
There are many online article databases you can use to find scholarly articles on historical topics. These can yield secondary or primary sources, depending on how you have formulated your research topic. You may need to search several databases and indexes to find a range of articles on your topic. A comprehensive search may include both print and online indexes.
The main list of online article databases available through Library Databases A-Z (Note that for the most part this list includes only those databases to which the Library subscribes.) You can also search directly from the Library Gateway for articles and journal titles.
Article Databases
- Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new windowJournal articles, book reviews, and dissertations on all aspects of world history, excluding North America, from 1450. Includes links to the full text of some articles. Complements America: History and Life. Indexes publications from 1954-present.
- America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowThe main article database for researching American history. Use to journal articles, book reviews, and dissertations on all periods of North American history. Includes some links to full text. Complements Historical Abstracts. Indexes publications from 1964-present.
- Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new windowA multi-disciplinary source for journal articles. One strategy: perform a broad keyword search, then use limiters such as "peer-reviewed" to focus in on more relevant results. Good for book reviews. Comparable to Google Scholar but with additional features.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowIdentifies articles, books, websites, statistics, yearbooks, directories, conference proceedings, pamphlets, reports, government documents, and microfiches on political, social, public policy issues. Indexes publications from 1915-present.
- Periodicals Index Online This link opens in a new windowIdentifies articles from over 5,500 humanites and social sciences periodicals. Searches are by title keyword only--no subject headings. Complements Periodicals Archive Online. Indexes publications from 1665-present.
- Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new windowIndexes articles from over 1,000 periodicals and journals in the humanities and social sciences. Digitized version of H.W. Wilson's Humanities Index and Social Sciences Index. Indexes publications from 1907-1984.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new windowThe backfile for Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, one of the oldest and most common article indexes. Identifies articles from general interest periodicals, including popular magazines such as "Life", "Look", "Colliers", "Ladies’ Home Journal", "Catholic World", "Good Housekeeping", "Saturday Evening Post", and "Country Life". Emphasis on American periodicals. Indexes publications from 1890-1982.
- Arts and Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new windowIdentifies articles from scholarly journals. In addition to searching for articles on a known topic, this database allows you to search for citations. So, if you already have an article, you can discover what other resources cite that article, as well as the resources cited by the article itself. This can be helpful when doing academic research, although the search interface itself can be somewhat confusing. Ask a librarian if you need help! Indexes publications from 1975-present.
- Left Index This link opens in a new windowIdentifies articles written from a leftist political, economic, social or cultural perspective. Includes some retrospective coverage of historically significant left wing publications like the People (New York, N.Y. : 1891). Indexes publications from 1982-present.
- Alternative Press Index This link opens in a new windowIdentifies articles from alternative newspapers, magazines and journals. Indexes publications from 1969-present. Alternative Press Index file actually only covers 1991-present. To add 1969-1990, you must click "Choose Databases" above search box, and select Alternative Press Index Archive as well.
Specific Topics
There are many more specialized article databases that might be useful, depending on your topic, time period, and geographical region.
For medievalists, there are two indexes that focuses primarily on Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but which do include some coverage of East Asia:
- Brepolis Medieval and Early Modern Bibliographies This link opens in a new windowProvides access to articles (over 4,000 journals covered) and books on the Medieval period in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Indexes publications from 1958-present.
- Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance This link opens in a new windowIdentifies journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, encyclopedia articles, exhibition catalogs, and conference proceedings on all aspects of Middle Ages and Renaissance studies. Part of Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Indexes publications from 1784-present.
Area Studies are covered by their own databases, some of which you might find useful:
- Bibliography of Asian Studies This link opens in a new windowMulti-disciplinary. Indexes journal articles, books, and book chapters, principally in Western languages on all subjects (especially humanities and social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia. Indexes publications from 1971-present.
- Index Islamicus This link opens in a new windowIdentifies journal articles, books, book chapters, and conference proceedings in European languages on all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world. Indexes publications from 1906-present.
- GenderWatch This link opens in a new windowNewspapers and periodicals with an emphasis on women and gender issues. Indexes publications from 1970-present.
- Women's Studies International This link opens in a new windowIdentifies articles from women's studies journals as well as books, reports, websites, and conference papers. Indexes publications from 1972-present.
Related Disciplines
Article databases designed for other disciplines may also be useful to historians. Examples include:
- ATLA Religion Database with ATLA Serials This link opens in a new windowIdentifies journal articles and chapters from essay collections on all aspects of Religious Studies. Indexing for some journal titles extends back into the 19th century. Indexes publications from 1949-present.
- Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new windowCombines two files: Anthropological Index (1957-present), and: Anthropological Literature (Late 19th century-present). Identifies articles in anthropology, including some treatment of subjects like archaeology, material culture, demography, museum studies, economics, psychology, folklore, and religious studies.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new windowIdentifies articles from political science periodicals published around the world. Indexes publications from 1975-present.
- FIAF International Film Archive Database This link opens in a new windowFour separate files searchable through a single interface: International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-current), and: International Index to Television Periodicals (1979-current), International Directory of Film and TV Documentation Collections, and Bibliography of FIAF Members' Publications.
- Film & Television Literature Index This link opens in a new windowIdentifies journal articles, book reviews, and articles from trade publications, with some coverage of books, book chapters, and reference works. Indexes publications from 1914-present.
- Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) and Répertoire international de la littérature de l'art (RILA)Identifies journal articles, books, and dissertations on all aspects of European and American visual arts. Indexes publications from 1975-2007. For recent coverage, see International Bibliography of Art.
- Art Index Retrospective This link opens in a new windowIdentifies articles, book reviews, and art reproductions from journals and periodicals. Indexes publications from 1929-1984. For recent coverage, use Art Source
- Art & Architecture Source This link opens in a new windowIdentifies journal articles, books, and images from all art-related fields. Indexes publications from 1984-present. For retrospective coverage, see Art Index Retrospective.
- EconLit with Full Text This link opens in a new window1886-present. Identify books, journals, dissertations, and working papers on all aspects of economics.
Full-Text Databases
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowThe full text of over 2,500 scholarly journals, with coverage back to the first issue for each, in some cases as far back as the 17th century. Recent issues of most journals in this database are embargoed by journal publishers, so to be certain you are also identifying the most recent publications, use an article index like Historical Abstracts or America: History, and Life.
Several major historical journals are included in JSTOR, such as:
- History and Theory
- Journal of Interdisciplinary History
- Journal of Modern History
- Journal of Asian Studies
- Modern Asian Studies
- Monumenta Nipponica
- Journal of Japanese Studies
- China Quarterly
- Project Muse This link opens in a new windowOver 600 scholarly journals, with emphasis on recent ten years of issues. Originally intended as a complement to JSTOR.
Here you will find, for example,
- Ethnohistory
- Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History
- Journal of Interdisciplinary History
- Journal of Women's History
- Asian Perspectives
- Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
- Journal of Japanese Studies
- Late Imperial China
- Twentieth-Century China
- Korean Studies
- Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new window1665-present. Over 700 European and American periodicals in the humanities and social sciences.