Research Guides: Shakespeare: Finding Journal Articles

Finding Journal Articles

To find articles in scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, anthologies, collections and conference proceedings, the best place to go is an article database. Here are the key databases for Shakespeare scholarship.

MLA International Bibliography.
The MLA International Bibliography is the major English literature database. It covers criticism related to literature, linguistics and folklore from 1921 to the present, and contains more than 1-million citations to journal articles, series, books, working papers and conference proceedings. Most of the materials indexed before 1963 are American.
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL).
Looking for articles, books or essays? This article database, covering scholarship from 1920 to the present, is worth exploring. Packed with more than 840,000 records, ABELL refers you to journal articles, books, essay collections, book reviews, and doctoral dissertations. Another advantage is the scope. Covering American, British and Commonwealth literature, as well as some material in languages besides English, ABELL is a key database for English students.
Shakespeare Index: An Annotated Bibliography of Critical Articles on the Plays 1959-1983.
Edited by Bruce T. Sajdak.
Millwood, N.Y.: Kraus International, 1992. 2 volumes.
What this excellent print index gives you are quick references to specific subjects in Shakespeare. The 2-volume set allows you to find citations to articles on such focused subjects as: alchemy in Act 2, Scene 7 of Antony and Cleopatra, Caliban and allegory in The Tempest, and jealousy and transformation in Othello. The Shakespeare Index actually consists of a wide variety of indexes—that’s why it’s so helpful. You can look up articles by theme (e.g. Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Background), play, author, character, scene and subject. The only tricky part is getting used to the reference abbreviations (such as M, T, HH and YY) the index uses—but these are all listed in the Contents pages in volume 1.

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