History

A guide to library research for Historical research at the University of Calgary.

Finding History Articles

Articles are often about more specific research topics, and published faster than books. Scholarly articles are usually part of academic journals.

You can find history journal articles through a variety of interdisciplinary and history databases. Library databases contain bibliographical details, and subject terms to find other relevant articles. Some databases include the complete article while others only include abstracts. Abstracts will help researchers determine relevant articles. Check out the Reference Sources section of this guide for how tertiary sources will help you find articles.

To see if the University of Calgary collections include a specific journal, use the Journals link from the library's website and search the title of the journal. While most journals are available electronically, some journals are only found in the print collection.

Articles can also be found in magazines and newspapers. These articles can be considered primary sources. For more information on primary sources, use the tab "Primary Sources' or link to the "Primary Sources Guide."

Important Databases for Researching History

When researching topics in the field of history since 1450, the most important indexes for finding articles are:

Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
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A very important resource for locating journal articles for topics from 1450 to date
Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more ... Provides indexing of more than 1,700 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955.
America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
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Useful when researching topics on the history and culture of the United States and Canada
Index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. With indexing for over 1,800 journals from 1895 to the present.

Other databases that work well for researching in the field of history include:

History of Science, Technology and Medicine This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, and dissertations in the history of science, technology, and medicine and allied historical fields.
With an interdisciplinary focus, the database covers topics on the role of scientific discovery in society and culture, as well as the historiography of scientific disciplines from prehistory to the present. It includes journal articles, conference proceedings, books, dissertations, serials, maps and other related materials.
- Coverage is of articles published from 1975 to present.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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An interdisciplinary database that includes full-text content of more than 1,400 academic journals, as well as thousands of primary sources
JSTOR is a shared digital library which includes over 2,300 academic journals (dating back to the first volume ever published), along with thousands of monographs and other materials relevant for education. JSTOR also includes articles in the public domain, including Early Journal Content (U.S. content published before 1923 and non-U.S. content published prior to 1870).
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
A source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies, with over 120 publishers currently participating. Since January 2012, they also have been including scholarly book content from these same publishers.
Project MUSE is a leading provider of digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community. Since 1995 the MUSE journal collections have supported a wide array of research needs at academic, public, special, and school libraries worldwide. MUSE is the trusted source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies.
Web of science This link opens in a new window
This database includes the Arts and Humanities Citation Index and can be an excellent resource for research in history. The resource is of most value when you are trying to find out what publications may have cited a particular book or article.
Web of Science indexes core journal articles, conference proceedings, data sets, and other resources in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Includes:
- BIOSIS Previews (1980-present)
- KCI-Korean Journal Database (1980-present)
- MEDLINE® (1950-present)
- Preprint Citation Index (1991-present)
- SciELO Citation Index (2002-present)
Gale OneFile. CPI.Q (Canadian periodicals) This link opens in a new window
An index that focuses on Canadian publications as well as some international publications with a focus on Canada, this resource is of particular interest when working on a topic in Canadian history. Publications date from 1980 to the present. Remember, to limit your search to peer-reviewed publications.
Gale OneFile: CPI.Q, the award-winning electronic version of the Canadian Periodical Index, provides the most-requested Canadian reference information available. It includes more than 1,300 Canadian periodicals (more than 700 full text), a multilingual interface, indexing from 1980 forward, and full-text articles from 1983 forward. This vast collection is fully integrated, enabling users to search the entire database with a single query. It yields a variety of relevant periodical articles, biographies, company profiles, historical documents, science and technology essays, and much more. Exclusive features, including Topic Finder, InterLink, and a mobile-optimized interface, support and enhance the search experience.

Find Articles for History prior to 1450

If you are looking for research articles on topics between 400 AD and 1450 AD you should use one the following databases:

ITER: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance This link opens in a new window
An Open URL- and Zotero-enabled bibliography comprised of secondary source material pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700). Citations for books and journal material (articles, reviews, review articles, bibliographies, catalogues, abstracts and discographies) are included, as are citations for dissertation abstracts and essays in books (including entries in conference proceedings, festschriften, encyclopedias and exhibition catalogues).
- Coverage is of materials published from 1859 to the present.
International medieval bibliography This link opens in a new window
To access database right click title and select 'open link in (in)private or incognito window'
International medieval bibliography is the leading bibliography of the European Middle Ages (c. 400-1500). It offers an unparalleled tool for medievalists to identify the contents of current work published throughout Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. The discipline areas to which the IMB is relevant include Classics, English Language and Literature, History and Archaeology, Theology and Philosophy, Medieval European Languages and Literatures, Arabic and Islamic Studies, History of Education, Art History, Music, Theatre and Performance Arts, Rhetoric and Communications Studies. The "International Medieval Institute", based at the University of Leeds, is responsible for producing the bibliography.

For research articles covering topics prior to 400 AD, try using:

L'Annee Philologique This link opens in a new window
L'Année philologique, published by the Société Internationale de Bibliographie Classique, is a specialized bibliographic database of scholarly works relating to all aspects of Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. The bibliography is published in print and online. The online database includes all volumes of the annual index, beginning with Volume I published in 1928. L'Année philologique covers a wide array of subjects, 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 subspecialties such as numismatics, papyrology, and epigraphy. Abstracts of journal articles are provided in English, German, Spanish, French, or Italian. Book entries may include tables of contents and book review information. L'Année philologique is international in character, not only in terms of the origins of the publications it indexes, but also in terms of its production, with teams from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States collaborating together to keep the database up-to-date.

Libraries & Cultural Resources

Research Guides

History

Finding History Articles

Important Databases for Researching History

Find Articles for History prior to 1450