Journal articles

Use journal articles when you need original research on a specific topic from a reliable source.

Many academic journals are “peer-reviewed” which means they have been checked by academic experts to make sure they are reliable. Scholarly journals take less time to publish than books, so they’re often a good way to identify the latest thinking on a topic.

We subscribe to a wide range journals relating to American Studies. To check if you have access to a specific e-journal, use the Find e-journals link below the main search box on the homepage of LibrarySearch.

Or you can also use LibrarySearch to check if we have a specific journal in print or online by typing the journal title into the main search box.

Journal databases with an American studies topic focus

History

America: History and Life – Index of literature covering the history and culture of North America with over 1700 journals indexed from 1964 –

European Views of the Americas – Index of printed records about the Americas written in Europe 1493-1750

Periodicals Archive Online – Access to the full runs of over 700 journals across key subject areas in the humanities and social sciences; the archive spans more than two centuries of content and multiple languages.

Web of Science – cross-disciplinary database that indexes over 8,000 journals.  Very useful for comprehensive searching across a wide range of journals.

Arts

Arts Premium Collection – includes thousands of journals in the arts including art, design, humanities, music, performing arts and film.  It also includes everything in:

Film Index International – provides in-depth indexing of over 125,000 films from the first silent movies to the latest blockbusters and biographical information for over 800,000 personalities.

Screen Studies Collection – You can search all three databases at once or select which you want to search. Combined access to:

  • AFI Catalogue (American Film Institute)
  • Film Indexes International (FII)
  • International Index to Film Periodicals Plus

Politics

Political Science Database provides access to hundreds of leading political science, public policy, and international relations journals.

Literature

Literature Online – over 350,000 works of English, American and Canadian literature

MLA International Bibliography – an index with some full-text coverage for the study and teaching of language, literature, linguistics, writing studies, folklore, film, theatre, and other dramatic arts.