ENGL 312, Shakespeare

Your  ENG 312 research will likely include articles from scholarly journals (aka academic journal articles, peer reviewed articles). This page includes links to relevant databases for searching for such articles, as well as tips and tutorials. You can always contact the Library if you have questions about locating sources for your research.

*Professor Walter would like students to use MLA bibliography as the main database for finding journal articles.

1. Start with one or two keywords describing your topic.
2. Use the limiting options within the database to focus (i.e., refine) your results:
   • academic/peer-reviewed journals
   • date of publication (you might want more recent articles for some topics)
3. Look for subjects (aka descriptors) that can help you define your topic more narrowly.
4. Once you determine an angle or perspective you'd like to explore, try adding additional terms to your search.
5. Look for a "full text" link to view the article; if no full text link is available, try "Full Text Finder" to locate a copy of the article.
   • If no copy of the article is available online or in print, you can still request a copy from another library; there is no fee for this service, and articles take about 3 days (often fewer) to arrive.
6. Use the tools within the databases to mark, email, and print your articles:
   • You may be able to email the entire article to yourself, or at least the article information and abstract.
   • You may also be able to send yourself an MLA-formatting reference.
   • Articles in PDF format will have page numbers; articles in HTML format might not.