Literature Databases

Coverage: JSTOR (short for Journal Storage) is a journal archive that holds the complete digitized collections of scholarly journals within several large collections. The collections cover a wide variety of topics in the arts, sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. All articles are included full text. Users can search the entire set at once or search subsets of journals by broad subject disciplines.

 

JSTOR does not include current journal issues. Because of JSTOR's archival mission, there is a gap, the so-called "moving wall" between the most recently published journal issue and the back issues available in JSTOR. Publishers determine the moving wall length in their license agreements with JSTOR. Moving walls may range from zero to ten years. In calculating the moving wall, the current, incomplete year is not counted.

 

Read JSTOR FAQs, about the Moving Wall and for more information, see Links to Recent Content.
Sources: See complete alphabetical list of journals. Browse complete list of journals by subject discipline.
Subscription service: JSTOR.

Coverage: This comprehensive database that provides users with a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. Literary Reference Center contains full text for more than 35,000 plot summaries, synopses and work overviews, nearly 100,000 articles/essays of literary criticisms, more than 253,000 author biographies (including more than 22,000 in-depth bios), more than 460 literary journals, more than 693,000 book reviews, nearly 78,000 classic and contemporary poems, more than 19,600 classic and contemporary short stories, more than 6,500 author interviews, more than 8,200 classic texts and much more.
Sources: See complete list of sources.
Dates covered: Varies by title.
Subscription service: EBSCO.

Coverage: This database is composed of approximately 35,000 critical analyses of individual works of literature, 6,500 biographical records, more than 1,000 images, and a glossary of 1,310 literary terms. It contains editorially reviewed critical essays, brief plot summaries, extended character profiles, and detailed setting discussions covering works by more than 8,500 long and short fiction writers, poets, dramatists, essayists, and philosophers. The biographical essays reflect extended coverage of the 2,500 most studied authors and include up-to-date lists of each author's principal works and current secondary bibliographies. In addition, 395 comprehensive genre-driven overview essays provide details about important literary genres, time periods, and national literatures.
Sources: Includes: Masterplots (12 volumes), Masterplots II (58 volumes), Cyclopedia of World Authors (5 volumes), Cyclopedia of Literary Characters (5 volumes), Magill's Literary Annual 1990-2005 (32 volumes), Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature (4 volumes) and Magill Book Reviews (6,800+). In addition, this database also includes Critical Surveys (35 volumes), Magill's Choice: Notable Poets (3 volumes), Magill's Choice: Shakespeare (1 volume), Magill's Choice: 100 Masters of Mystery and Detective Fiction (2 volumes) and World Philosophers and Their Works (3 volumes).
Dates covered: Varies by title.
Subscription service: EBSCO.