Research Guides: Comparative Literature: Databases

Selected Databases for Journal Articles & Essays

For links to additional literature databases click here.

MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
This is an important database for research pertaining to literature, language, linguistics and folklore. Coverage is international. The MLAIB connects with the MLA Directory of Periodicals. Book reviews are not indexed. 1926 to present.
Can be searched in conjunction with the MLA Directory of Periodicals, which contains all information available on journals and series on the Bibliographys Master List. The Directory of Periodicals is included in the Bibliography.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts This link opens in a new window
LLBA covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Complete coverage is also given to various fields of linguistics, including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. 1973-
Gale Literature Criticism This link opens in a new window
A range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras and genres, offering tens of thousands of hard-to-find critical essays.
Gale Literature Criticism is comprised of the following series:
- Childrens Literature Review
- Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism
- Contemporary Literary Criticism Online
- Drama Criticism
- Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800
- Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism
- Poetry Criticism
- Shakespearean Criticism
- Short Story Criticism
- Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
AHCI is a Web of Science database that indexes arts and humanities journal articles and book reviews. Choose either General Search or Cited Ref Search, AHCI and the year(s) of publication. Advanced Search is also available.
Essay and General Literature / Essay and General Literature Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Essay and General Literature indexes essays in single and multi-author collections as well as selected annuals and serials.
Subjects include archaeology, architecture, art, childrens literature, classical studies, drama, economics, fiction, film, folklore, history, linguistics, music, poetry, political science, psychology, religion, womens studies.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to scholarly journals in a variety of subject areas. Many journals go back to their first issue. Check the issues available for individual titles.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
This database includes the full text of the Contemporary Authors and Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB) series from Gale. There are selections from Contemporary Literary Criticism and more than thirty other literary reference sets, including Poetry Criticism, Drama Criticism, Nineteenth Century Literature. Criticism, Novels for Students, and Literature and Its Times.
Periodicals Index Online This link opens in a new window
An online index to journals and magazines in the humanities and social sciences with links to the full text of some articles. The scope is international. (1665-1995)
Project MUSE Journals This link opens in a new window
Project MUSE offers online access to scholarly humanities, arts and social sciences journals. Variable coverage: 1993 or later to the present.
A large number of open access e-books are also available on Project MUSE. Search DELCAT to access these free e-books.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus is a multidisciplinary citation and abstracting database covering peer-reviewed journals from international publishers. While references go back to 1996, there are millions of pre-1996 records that go back as far as 1823.
Learn more about using Scopus at Elsevier's Scopus LibGuide..

Selected Databases for Full-Text Works of Literature

ARTFL Project This link opens in a new window
The main ARTFL database (FRANTEXT, formerly Trésor de la Langue Française) is a corpus consisting of nearly 2000 texts in French, ranging from classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing. The ARTFL French Women Writers Project is a searchable database containing works by French women authors from the 16th to the 19th century.
Literature Online Complete This link opens in a new window
The University of Delaware Library's subscription provides access to English poetry from 600 to the present, American and African American poetry from 1603 to the present, The Faber Poetry Library, English drama (including Shakespeare) from 1280 to 1915, and English prose from 1500 to 1900.
Literature Online Complete provides access to:

English poetry from 600 to the present
American and African-American poetry from 1603 to the present
The Faber Poetry Library
English drama (including Shakespeare) from 1280 to 1915
English prose from 1500 to 1900

Includes access to the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) with associated full-text, major literary reference works, and websites selected for their relevance to literary studies.