LibGuides: English Literature: Journal Articles

Where to start

Journal articles may be found either online through databases linked on the Databases page or in the print journals located on the top floor of Speed Library.

If you have a specific article you want to find, search for the journal title in the Journal Finder to see if the library has a subscription to that journal in a database or in print. The Journal Finder will also list the years available for each periodical and any full-text delay.
Some publishers restrict database access to their most recent issues, generally for 6-18 month periods. If an article is under delay, you will need to find a print copy of the article either in the library's print collection or via the Interlibrary Loan Service.

Below are example journals related to the field of English literature. For a more complete list, click here.

American Literature
Features articles dealing with American literature, writers and poets, book reviews and lists of recently published books dealing with literary criticism.
Eighteenth-Century Fiction
Eighteenth-Century Fiction publishes articles in both English and French on all aspects of imaginative prose in the period 1700–1800, but will also examine papers on late 17th-century or early 19th-century fiction, particularly when the works are discussed in connection with the eighteenth century.
Journal of Modern Literature
Scholarly studies of literature in the twentieth century with emphasis on the Modernist period; discussion of individual writers.
Contemporary Literature
Contemporary Literature offers in-depth interviews with significant writers, broad-ranging articles written by leaders in the field, and book reviews of important critical studies.
American Poetry Review
Contemporary poetry, fiction, social commentary, opinion, translations and reviews for a general audience.

Useful Databases

For links to all databases, visit the MC Library's Databases page. Below you'll find links to databases with content specific to English literature.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
An online database that indexes roughly 4,500 publications, providing full-text access to more than 3,000 journals and magazines. Sources include scholarly journals, news magazines and select newspaper articles. Dates of coverage vary according to title.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive site focusing on the study of literature. Extensive materials including biographical, bibliographic, critical and contextual information on authors and their works. Includes full text journal articles as well as essays.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Citations to published scholarly literature in linguistics, modern languages, literature, communicative behavior, and folklore. Detailed coverage of English, American, European, Asian, African, and Latin American literature. Indexes journal articles, relevant monographs, working papers, dissertations, proceedings, and bibliogrpahies.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Backfiles of journal articles all available in full image in the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences
Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Contains contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive selection of prestigious humanities, arts, and social sciences journals with full text access to more than 300 scholarly journals.
Oxford Reference Online Premium This link opens in a new window
Provides easily searchable, full text access to more than 100 reference titles from Oxford University Press, including English and foreign language dictionaries; quotation and reference resources; and art, history, literature, statistical, scientific, and other subject encyclopedias and dictionaries.

How to find full-text articles

What if I find an article but it isn't full-text?

If the article is not full text in the database you're searching, it may appear in another database or the library may a copy of the journal in print. To check, do the following:

Search the Journal Finder to find a journal title in any of the library databases or in the print collection. All print journals are located on Speed Library's top floor [recent issues are behind the computers; older issues are bound and in the shelves by the study rooms.]
If you cannot locate the full text of a journal article in print or electronic format, try requesting a copy through the Interlibrary Loan service.