LibGuides: Black American Literature: Finding Articles (Databases)

Learning To Use Databases

Search Strategies for English Majors
Offers tips and tricks for using three major databases: MLA International Bibliography, JSTOR, and Project Muse. Contact your Librarian (Paizha) if you need help!

Literature (Literary Criticism)

These databases make it easy to search for articles about a work of Literature, such as Americanah and The Bluest Eye.

MLA International Bibliography
The most scholarly and comprehensive database for articles and books on the modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics and literary aspects of film. You can search for subject terms like: "African American experience," "Black identity" "Relationship to racial discrimination," and more.
Gale Literature
Provides access to Gale Literature including Resource Center, Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Literature Criticism and LitFinder. The database brings together these literary databases allowing searching across these resources.
- Contemporary Authors Online
- Dictionary of Literary Biography
- Literature Criticism Online

Interdisciplinary or Broad Topics

Academic Search Complete
A multidisciplinary database that allows you to search across literature, history, and ethnic studies.
JSTOR
Peer-reviewed articles across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select ebooks and other materials.
Project Muse
Peer-reviewed articles and eBooks in the humanities and social sciences.
Humanities Full Text
Peer-reviewed articles on art, film, music, world literature, philosophy, religion, and more.

Gender, Sociology, and Psychology

GenderWatch
An interdisciplinary collection that supports women's studies, gender studies, LGBTQ studies, and family studies. Includes peer-reviewed articles; non-scholarly popular articles such as newspapers and magazines; dissertations and theses; reports, trade publications, and conference proceedings.
Contemporary Women's Issues
Peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles reflecting issues that influence women’s lives across the globe. Topics include civil rights, health, education, professional development, and entrepreneurship.
SocIndex with Full Text
Peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of sociology, including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, religion, racial studies and social work. Includes citations to books, conference papers, and other types of sources.
PsycInfo
The core psychology database, with peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles on all aspects of human psychology.

American History

Slavery and Anti-Slavery
Historical primary sources including books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, legal documents, court records, manuscripts, and maps from many different countries, covering 1490 to 1888.
America: History & Life
Peer-reviewed articles, non-scholarly articles, and book reviews on the history of the U.S. and Canada from 1493.
American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection
Historical American periodicals (e.g. news, magazines, & journals) published between 1684 and 1912 in five series, all searchable through one link.

Journals

To browse journals, search OneSearch for a subject phrase, such as "African American Literature" or "Toni Morrison." Select "Journals" from the filters.

List of Journals on the subject of African American Literature

To search for a specific journal, visit our Journal Page.

Librarian for English and Literature

Kelsey Brown

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