If you are searching for scholarly criticism about an obscure poem or play, you may not find any. Consider searching for criticism about other works by the same author and draw your own comparisons.
If you are searching for scholarly criticism about a literary work that was just recently published, you may not find anything. Book reviews usually come out before the scholarly research. Use our guide for finding book reviews.
Citation searching is a way to find articles that have cited a previously published work. It allows you to follow a particular article or author, forward in time to find more current articles that have also cited that work or author.
Google Scholar and many of the library's databases allow citation searching. Web of Science includes three major citation databases: Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Search them simultaneously or individually.
The following databases are useful for finding journal articles of literary criticism. You may also find citations to books, book chapters, and other research materials. Many of the databases have an option to limit your search to scholarly journals.
The following are large collections of electronic journals, many of which focus on literature. Keep in mind that the journals you find in these collections may also be available through the databases listed in other areas of this guide. The databases will include many more journals than what are in the collections below.