Skip to Main Content

Literature Studies: Home

A guide to English literature and literary criticism.

Finding Books

The Literature section starts on the first floor around the #125 range. To find books in the BGSU library, use the catalogs and indexes below.

Literature Databases

The core databases for general literary research are:

Peer Reviewed or Scholarly FAQ

What are scholarly or peer reviewed articles?

Professors often require students to find scholarly and peer reviewed articles. These items:

  • generally focus on scholarly research
  • are written by experts in the field or discipline
  • are critically reviewed  by other experts before publication
  • contain cited references to the information sources used

How do I find scholarly or peer reviewed articles?

Many of the library's databases (e.g. Academic Search Complete, Business Search Complete, and PsycInfo) contain scholarly or peer reviewed material and allow you to limit your search to include only these articles in the results. Use the advanced search feature in a database to find the option to limit to this type of search. 

Check the Ulrich's database to see if a journal is considered scholarly or is refereed (aka peer-reviewed).

In some disciplines, differences between scholarly and trade publications are not crystal clear. Your professor is the final arbiter of what is scholarly in a specific academic field of study. 

Chat With Us

Also check out...

English Department at BGSU

The Music Library/Bill Schurk Sound Archives for recordings of writers reading their works. Find these items in the library catalog by limiting Material Type to: Spoken Word Recording.

The Browne Popular Culture Library for lots of great resources: magazines from the late 1800s to the present; books on popular and American culture; television and film scripts; alternative press materials from the 60s and 70s; and much, much more.

The Center for Archival Collections for diaries, journals, photographs, manuscripts, and numerous other primary source materials. Be sure to check out the items in the Rare Books and Special Collections link to find collections of Walt Whitman, Ray Bradbury, and more.