Research Guides: Religious Studies: Secondary Sources

Consulting secondary sources

Secondary sources are distant from the historical phenomena they address and draw on primary sources for their analysis.

Secondary sources can be found in the form of published scholarly literature on a topic.

Literature indexes / databases (topical or interdisciplinary) are helpful for locating secondary sources.

For a broad idea of the secondary literature out there on your topic, from an interdisciplinary perspective, try Library Articles Search. Your results will include scholarly journal articles, newspaper articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, and more.

Library Articles Search

Selection of literature databases / indexes for religious studies

Browse Library Databases Search : Religious Studies to find a more complete list of literature indexes, reference works, and electronic text collections pertaining to religious studies.

Other discipline-specific literature databases may also be useful --- Anthropology Plus, CINAHL, Political Science Complete, PsycINFO, etc

ATLA with ATLASerials (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Full text version of the ATLA Religion Database (1949- ), a comprehensive index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religious studies, with links to online versions of a core collection of over 50 scholarly journals of religious studies.

Index Religiosus
International reference bibliography for academic publications in Theology, Church History, and Religious Studies

Humanities and Social Sciences Index (with Abstracts and Full Text) This link opens in a new window
Covers 1,500+ periodicals across all humanities and social sciences fields, 1907 - present.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the international literature in sociology and related disciplines. Covers 1800+ journals, back to 1952.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to the archives of core scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences.
De Gruyter Online Books This link opens in a new window
43,000+ ebooks from Walter de Gruyter and 15 major university presses (Harvard, Princeton, U. of California, Chicago, etc.)
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text versions of books and scholarly journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies.

By tradition, region, etc

Bibliography of Asian Studies This link opens in a new window
Online version of the Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS), referencing principally western-language articles and book chapters on all subjects (especially in the humanities and the social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present.
Jewish Studies Source This link opens in a new window
Collection of full-text serials and books relevant for the study of Jewish history and heritage.
Index to Jewish Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Index to Jewish Periodicals is the definitive index on Jewish history, activity and thought. This database provides a comprehensive guide to English-language articles, book reviews, and feature stories in more than 160 journals devoted to Jewish affairs. Titles include Contemporary Jewry, Holy Land Studies, Jewish Culture & History, Journal of Palestine Studies, Studies in American Jewish Literature, and many more. Most references are not found in standard periodical literature guides. Index to Jewish Periodicals is intended for students of Jewish thought and others interested in contemporary Jewish and Middle Eastern affairs. Journal coverage dates back as far as 1988.

RAMBI Index of Articles on Jewish Studies
Selective bibliography of articles in the various fields of Jewish studies and in the study of Eretz Israel. Material is compiled from periodicals and collections of articles in Hebrew, Yiddish, and European languages.
Brown Judaic Studies Open Access Books
Selection of 52 digital open access titles from the BJS monographic series
L'Année Philologique: Bibliography of the Classical World
Specialized bibliographic database of scholarly works relating to all aspects of Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, including: Greek and Latin literature and linguistics (which includes early Christian texts and patristics), Greek and Roman history, art, archaeology, philosophy, religion, mythology, music, science, and scholarly sub-specialties such as numismatics, papyrology, and epigraphy
Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics (BIBP)
Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics is a documentary system in patristics. Even if patristic literature remains its major preoccupation, the BIBP works on all disciplines studying patristic Christianity. Until now, the priority is given to the current information from the scientific journals

Catholic Periodical & Literature (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
The Catholic Periodical and Literature Index (CPLI) Online is the product of a partnership between ATLA and the Catholic Library Association. The database covers all aspects of the Catholic faith and lifestyle, and includes index citations of articles and reviews published in Roman Catholic periodicals, Papal documents, church promulgations, and books about the Catholic faith that are authored by Catholics and/or produced by Catholic publishers.

Open Access Digital Theological Library
a virtual library for theology, religious studies, and related disciplines

Index Islamicus (Ebsco) This link opens in a new window
An international bibliography indexing publications dating back to 1906 from periodicals, monographs and other collections in European languages addressing Islam and Muslim world (history, beliefs, societies, cultures, languages and literatures). Portions of the index are also available in print and CD-ROM.

Selection of religious studies journals

Here are just a few of the many religious studies journals listed in our Library Catalog Search.

To locate additional journals, search by title or enter relevant topical terms and then refine your search results by clicking on "Serial" or "Journal" under "Filter your search"

You can also browse our online journals!

Online Journals | Religious Studies