LibGuides: Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature: Journal Articles

Journals

Journals are also known as periodicals. They are an important resource because they are:

published on a regular basis
contain the most up to date scholarly research
tend to be shorter and more specific than books.

Don't rely on Google or even Google Scholar!

Findit@Bham is a great place to start looking for good quality journal articles but you will find out about an even bigger range of journals and articles if you use bibliographic databases.

Use bibliographic databases to search for a topic of interest. Bibliographic databases will provide a list of relevant journal articles and sometimes also books, reports, working papers and conference proceedings.

Some of the databases will provide you with direct full-text access to the articles. Some will provide an index and abstract (a short summary) of the article, in which case use the 'FindIt@Bham' button to check if there is full text available.

Useful Databases

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A major archive of full text back issues of electronic journals in all subject disciplines, many going back to the 1850s.
Gale Literature Criticism
Gale Literature Criticism comprises the following databases which can be searched individually or all at the same time: Contemporary Literary Criticism; Children's Literature Review; Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism; Drama Criticism; Literature Criticism from 1400-1800; Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism; Poetry Criticism; Shakespearean Criticism; Short Story Criticism; and Twentieth-Century Literature Criticism.
Nexis This link opens in a new window
Text of newspapers from across the world as well as UK national and local newspapers; Company information and reports. Information regarding a particular country can also be found in this database, as well as a biographical directory of people in the fields of business and commerce.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Online access to humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from scholarly publishers.
ProQuest Literature & Language This link opens in a new window
A cross-searchable collection of 11 databases including the MLA International Bibliography and British Humanities Index covering all areas of literature and language as well as British and American theses in these subjects.
ProQuest One Literature
ProQuest One Literature contains a large amount of literature citations from thousands of journals, monographs, dissertations, and many primary works – including rare and obscure texts, multiple versions, and non-traditional sources like comics, theatre performances, and author readings. Enhanced by interpretive sources such as book reviews and criticism sourced from wider, interdisciplinary publications in the fields such as humanities and history, it provides diverse, global perspectives with sources from all over the world
World Shakespeare Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes and abstracts books, reviews, articles, papers and theses on all aspects of Shakespeare and related subjects.

Key Journals in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature

Where available links below are to eJournals.

Check FindIt for availability of print copies which may cover wider date-ranges.

Unlinked titles are only available in print.

Ben Jonson Journal: available at the Shakespeare Institute Library
Cahiers Élisabéthains
Globe: journal of the Globe theatre - available at the Shakespeare Institute Library
Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England: available at the Shakespeare Institute Library (volumes 24-26 online via FindIt)
Renaissance Drama
Renaissance Quarterly
Shakespeare (Journal of the British Shakespeare Association)
Shakespeare Bulletin
Shakespeare Jahrbuch: available at the Shakespeare Institute Library
Shakespeare Quarterly
Shakespeare Survey
Shakespeare Studies
Studies in English Literature
Teaching Shakespeare
Theatre Notebook

Finding databases

Libraries and Learning Resources subscribe to a vast array of electronic resources of relevance to all subjects. These include, but are not limited to:

bibliographic databases;
historical sources;
original texts;
newspapers;
statistics;
multi-media resources.

The 'Using FindIt@Bham to search for databases' video tutorial outlines how to search for databases relevant to you:

If you know the name of the database you wish to access, enter the name of it into the search bar and select the Databases button underneath the search bar. For example, to search for the database Medline:

Alternatively, you can use FindIt@Bham to explore the databases we have available by clicking on the Database A-Z tab at the top of the screen.

To explore the databases relevant to your subject area, select a subject from the Resource Subject filter on the left-hand side.

If you are looking for a specific type of resource, for example Newspapers, use the Resource Type filter on the left-hand side.

Access to databases

Once you select a database, it will show you the catalogue record and description of it. Read this description carefully the first time you use it as it may include specific information on how to access it using a special password, or the need to register with the provider to gain access.