If you want to look to journal articles on a topic, text or writer:
An archive of full-text articles from a range of academic journals with good coverage of literary journals. It also includes open access eBooks.
JSTOR research tools:
Key database for in-depth research in literary studies. Coverage is international. Can help you find articles, books & book chapters.
Mainly full-text database covering performing arts including theatre, film, TV and computer games. Good for articles on plays in performance.
A large multidisciplinary database, containing lots of full text articles. Good coverage of English Studies journals.
Collection of drama and theatre resources including essays, recordings of live performances and interviews with theatre practitioners.
A multi-disciplinary collection of 583 journals, from 35 African countries, 306 of which are Open Access
Academic journals are key sources for your university studies.
Articles published in these journals are written by specialists in the subject and they provide an insight into current thinking, debate and research in the field.
Journals can be good sources of up to date information on current topics which may not be covered by books.
Articles can cover a topic in depth, e.g. a study of a specific play or even a specific scene.
This guide Anatomy of a Journal (PDF) from the Open University explains clearly what a journal is, and how they differ from books.
Go to the Library home page and select the 'Journal titles' tab.
Type in the journal title.
Find the journal on LibrarySearch and click on the title.
Click on the 'Access journal' link to connect to the journal home page.
If you have the details of a specific article you may be able to use LibrarySearch to find it. Type the article title and author in the LibrarySearch
Alternatively you can look up a specific journal title and browse or search through back issues:
Go to the Library home page and select the 'Journal titles' tab. Type in the journal title. Find the journal on LibrarySearch and click on the title. Click on the 'Access journal' link to connect to the journal home page.
If you're looking for a specific article, start by browsing for the year on the journal home page. Use the volume and issue numbers to find the correct journal issue. Articles in each issue will be listed in page order, so use the page numbers to find the specific article.
1. Use LibrarySearch
LibrarySearch is a good place to start looking for journal articles on a topic. Just type your keywords or a phrase in the search box. At the results screen, use the the filter options on the left to limit your search to peer-reviewed articles.
2. Use databases
We recommend you also use databases, especially for more in-depth research because LibrarySearch doesn’t cover all of our e-resources and you may get better results on a more specialised database.
You will often be asked to consult peer reviewed articles for your research. These are high quality scholarly articles that have been checked by other experts in the field.
The peer review provides feedback so that researchers can revise and improve their papers before publication. It also acts as a quality check, ensuring that articles meet high standards expected in the discipline and required to maintain the reputation of the journal. Find out more about the purpose of peer review and how it works in this Explainer: what is peer review?
1. Record the details of the article when you find it so that you can include it in your reference list. Make sure you have a record of: Author(s); Title of article; Title of journal; Year of publication; Volume number (if given); Issue number (if given); Page numbers.
To do this, you could:
Create a Google doc or Word document where you store your reference details.
If you have found the article through LibrarySearch, you can save the link to the record.
2. Check Referencing in MHRA for guidance on how to use these details to create a reference for this journal article.
Most reading lists are available online via the relevant Moodle course. You can also search the full collection of reading lists or browse online reading lists for:
Finding books and eBooks
To find a book, use LibrarySearch and type in the author, title or subject that you are interested in. Limit your search results to books.
Print books have a call number which tells you where the book is shelved in the Library, for example 823.7 SHE/S. The main section for print books in English Literature, Drama and Creative Writing is on Level 4 in Zone D of the Headington Library.
Find out more from the guide: Finding books and eBooks for English Literature, Creative Writing and Drama available as a Word doc and PDF. It includes useful sections to browse in the Library.
If the book is on loan to another user or at one of our other libraries, you can put a hold on it (quick video guide). If it's on the shelves, it's quicker for you to go and get it yourself.
If it’s an e-book, follow the 'View e-book' link to connect to it. Log in when prompted with your Brookes student number and password. In order to download many of our eBooks you need to have the Adobe Digital Editions programme or app on your computer/device. You can download this for free.
Further help
Welcome to LibrarySearch - A short video guide to using the basic functions of LibrarySearch
New books for English, Drama and Creative Writing - browse recent additions to library stock.
OED online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Oxford Reference Online This is a collection of Oxford University Press reference books on a variety of subjects including Literature. Individual titles from the collection are also listed on LibrarySearch.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - an illustrated collection of essays providing the life stories of over 50,000 people who have shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond. Includes novelists, poets and playwrights.
If you need to find published book reviews or write your own as an assignment, take a look at this guide Book reviews: how to write them and where to find them (PDF)
The JSTOR Understanding series - this project currently gives free access to ALL Shakespeare plays and sonnets, plus other key works of British literature and the King James Bible.
Project Gutenberg is a good place to look for out-of-copyright literary works. All may be freely downloaded and read, and redistributed for non-commercial use.
Digital.Bodleian provides access to a wealth of digitized sources from the Bodleian Libraries' collection
Factiva is an international news database. It covers national newspapers, local newspapers and web sources as well as a selection of magazines. It's a good place to find book and theatre reviews.
A guide to using Factiva to find newspaper articles (video)
Lexis+ is a law database which includes articles from UK national and regional news sources.
How to use Lexis+ - see the section 'How to search newspapers'
For more help with tracking down news sources and how to identify fake news, see our News sources webpage.
Check Referencing in MHRA for guidance on how to reference newspaper articles correctly.
Remember that you need high quality reliable sources for your university work. Take a look at our guide to Evaluating Web sources for tips (Word and PDF versions available).
Check Referencing in MHRA for guidance on how to reference web pages correctly.
Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is a service which gives you access to thousands of recorded TV, radio programmes and films from an online archive. Find out more about BoB.
Check Referencing in MHRA for guidance on how to reference BoB programmes correctly.
For high quality photographs & other images, try these digital image databases:
JSTOR database offers an image search enabling you to find high-quality images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more.
Collections of high quality, free to use photos and images:
You may want to find historical sources that are contemporary with an author you're studying. The Library has several online collections that may be useful:
The Guardian and The Observer 1791 - 2003 (via ProQuest). The complete digital edition of the Guardian (1821 - 2003) and the Observer (1791 - 2003) with all articles, advertisements and illustrations. Use the 'Publications' option to browse the different versions of these newspapers published over the years.
Times Digital Archive 1785-2007 (via Gale Databases). The complete digital edition of The Times (London), with all articles, advertisements and illustrations.
Seventeenth & Eighteenth century Burney newspapers collection (via Gale Databases) a digital archive of 17th and 18th newspapers, pamphlets, proclamations and newsbooks published in England, Ireland and Scotland, plus a selection of papers from British colonies in the Americas and Asia. Use the 'Browse' option to view which titles are included.
British Library newspapers (1800-1900) (via Gale Databases) - this collection covers contains digital editions of over 60 national and regional British newspapers from the 19th century. Use the 'Browse' option to view which titles are included. Note we have access to the collections 'British Library Newspapers, Part I: 1800-1900' and 'British Library Newspapers, Part II: 1800-1900'.
NewsVault (via Gale Databases) allows you to cross-search all of the Gale historical collections we subscribe to. This covers: Seventeenth & Eighteenth century Burney newspapers collection; British Library newspapers (1800-1900); Times Digital Archive 1785-2007; 19th Century UK Periodicals.
See the 'News sources and websites' section above if you want more contemporary newspapers.
Check Referencing in MHRA for guidance on how to reference newspaper articles correctly.
Historical Texts has the full text of over 350,000 books published in Great Britain from 1475-1900. It consists of 3 databases which can be searched individually or together:
Early English books online (EEBO) Contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700. Full text.
Eighteenth century collections online (EECO) Contains digital images of 150,000 books published during the 18th Century. Full text.
British Library 19th Century collection Gives full-text access to over 65,000 19th Century books, covering philosophy, history, poetry and literature.
Free online books
The JSTOR Understanding series - this project currently gives free access to ALL Shakespeare plays and sonnets, plus other key works of British literature and the King James Bible.
Project Gutenberg is a good place to look for out-of-copyright literary works. All may be freely downloaded and read, and redistributed for non-commercial use.
Digital.Bodleian provides access to a wealth of digitized sources from the Bodleian Libraries' collection
History primary sources is a selection of primary sources, both online resources and print books which are anthologies of primary sources.
These are available for download by Brookes students and staff from RADAR. Check this quick video guide Finding past Oxford Brookes exam papers on RADAR
BA dissertations
Selected undergraduate dissertations are available from the English Literature homepage on Moodle in the section 'Dissertation information.'
To check whether other hard copy dissertations are available, contact the Programme Administrator for English, Drama and Creative Writing (Tel. 01865 48 3748. Tonge Building, Room T302)
MA dissertations
You can view some examples of past MA dissertations on the MA in English Literature Moodle page. - Look in the section 'Useful documents' for the folder 'Past dissertations'.
Recent dissertations are available online through the 'Student research' section of our repository RADAR - choose 'eDissertations' and then you can browse what's available.
The Library holds around 20 past MA English dissertations from 1999-2009 . These are all listed on LibrarySearch and can be requested them at the JHB Library Help Zone. To find them, do a search for MA English or MA Humanities (includes some older dissertations on literary topics).
MPhil and PhD theses
All Oxford Brookes University PhD and MPhil theses are held in the Library. They are listed on LibrarySearch and can be requested at the JHB Library Help Zone.
Recent theses are available online through the 'Student research' section of our repository RADAR - choose 'eTheses' and then you can browse what's available.
Beyond Brookes, you can look for online theses via the British Library's EThOS system. Search across 250,000+ theses for free and download / order full text where available. You will need to register and log in if you want to download a thesis or to order digitisation of a thesis.
Please get in touch if you have any queries about:
I'm currently hybrid working, so will sometimes be on Headington campus and sometimes working from home. Please email jcooksey@brookes.ac.uk in the first instance. If you need a 1-to-1 appointment we can then arrange one either face-to-face or via Zoom or Google Meet. My usual working hours are 8.00 - 16.00, Monday - Friday.
Citing your sources (also called referencing) is an essential part of your academic work and is explained fully on our library referencing webpage.
If you are a student in English Literature, Drama or Creative Writing, you will need to use the MHRA referencing style in your assignments, projects and dissertation.
Check the guide Reference with MHRA which shows you how to create footnotes and bibliographies, and how to reference different types of sources.
Finding your material shows you how to understand call numbers and look for books on the library shelves.
An archive of full-text articles from a range of academic journals with good coverage of literary journals. It also includes open access eBooks.
JSTOR research tools:
Highly recommended for anyone studying Shakespeare is JSTOR's Understanding Shakespeare tool that lets you look up quotations from a Shakespeare play and find JSTOR articles that reference them.
Try the Text Analyser tool (BETA) available on the database home page. You can upload an article and the tool will find similar content in the database.
EBSCO is a web platform that gives you access to the literature database MLA International Bibliography and several others that may be useful. All of these databases work in the same way.
Key database for in-depth research in literary studies, MLA can help you find articles, books and book chapters.
A large database covering all subject areas. It contains lots of full text articles and is an excellent resource for any topic. Combine it with MLA to broaden your search - see the video guide for details.
Performing Arts Periodicals Database is a key resource for finding articles on drama and theatre topics.
If you want to develop your study skills, check these lists of books, web resources and other support.
Subject-specific:
Skills for assignments:
Digital skills:
The Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre Collection was set up in collaboration with the Poetry Centre to showcase contemporary poetry.
Much of the Collection comprises books that have been shortlisted for poetry prizes in the UK, Ireland and USA:
The books can be found in the Headington Library on Level 4 (Zone D) and they can all be borrowed. They don’t have a standard call number, instead they have a label indicating the year of the relevant poetry prize shortlist. The books are grouped by year on the library shelves.
The Collection also holds the poetry pamphlets published by ignitionpress, a poetry imprint set up by the Poetry Centre in 2018 with the aim of publishing poetry from emerging and established international writers.
The Poetry Centre is based within the School of English and Modern Languages at Oxford Brookes. It actively promotes poetry through its Weekly Poem initiative which showcases the work of independent presses and their poets. It also offers podcasts featuring local poets and hosts an annual programme of events including conferences, research seminars, workshops, exhibitions, readings, and community projects.
In February 2016 the Poetry Centre celebrated its inaugural International Poetry Competition with an event at Oxford Brookes and in 2018 it established the award-winning imprint ignition press.
Follow @brookespoetry on Twitter
