Literary Criticism Research Guide
Welcome to the CCA Libraries guide to literary criticism research. This site helps students and faculty find the resources they need for their academic and creative practices, including links to subscription databases and other research tools. How do you find the best books and articles? Find examples of how to cite sources in your work? It's all here. If you have any research questions, ask one of CCA's librarians — we're here to help.
Research Databases for Literary Criticism
These resources are our best bets for literary criticism research. They represent just a few of the databases subscribed to by the CCA Libraries for students, faculty, and staff. Check out our complete list of online resources, or just start your research from the Libraries' website and use the filters to narrow your results.
Online Encyclopedias...
Begin your research by seeking background information about your topic using reference sources (enyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks). Some reference sources are available in print in the CCA Libraries. Other reference resources are available electronically.
Reference sources are helpful. They . . .
- offer introductory information
- define key terms
- help you focus your research topic
- Chicago Manual of Style
Online access to the full content of the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. Tools include manuscripts preparation, proofreading, and the Chicago-Style citation quick guide. Provides recommendations on editorial style and publishing practices.
- Encyclopedia Britannica
The complete academic encyclopedia, related articles, images, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.
- Encyclopedia of LiteraturePart of the Literature Resource Center database. Click on "Encyclopedia of Literature" link from LRC launch page.
- Oxford English Dictionary
A guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words from across the English-speaking world.
Find articles from journals and magazines
- Literature Resource Center
Articles about authors, writing, and literature.
Books and Videos
Recommended Websites
The following websites offer additional information and resources on writing and literary criticism.
- Alex Catalogue of Electronic TextsA collection of public domain and open access documents with a focus on American and English literature as well as Western philosophy.
- American LiteratureLarge collection of short stories, classic literature, plays, poetry, speeches, & essays.
- Arts & Letters Daily, current year onlyfrom The Chronicle of Higher Education
- ctheoryAn international, peer reviewed, open access journal of theory, technology and culture.
- Digital Humanities QuarterlyAn open-access, peer-reviewed, digital journal covering all aspects of digital media in the humanities.
- Directory of Open Access Journals - Language and LiteratureDOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to open access, peer-reviewed journals.
- electronic book reviewA peer-reviewed journal of critical writing produced and published by the emergent digital literary network.
- Electronic Literature DirectoryA collection of born-digital literary art that exploits the possibilities of hypertext.
- Glossary of Rhetorical Terms (Wikipedia)Brief definitions of hundreds of specialized terms, from "Ad hominem" to "Zeugma."
- Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and CriticismA resource for scholars and students of literary theory and discourse.
- Mark Twain ProjectThe Mark Twain Project website offers access to reliable texts, accurate and exhaustive notes, and the most recently discovered letters and documents.
- The Online Books PageProject attempting to list all the various sources of free books online.
- Other Voices: The (e)Journal of Cultural CriticismAn independent electronic journal of cultural criticism published at the University of Pennsylvania.
- The Oxford Text ArchiveThe Oxford Text Archive develops, collects, catalogues and preserves electronic literary and linguistic resources for use in Higher Education, in research, teaching and learning. The OTA also gives advice on the creation and use of these resources, and is involved in the development of standards and infrastructure for electronic language resources.
- Poetry FoundationSelect works by great American poets.
- Project GutenbergOver 46,000 free ebooks in a variety of formats. Mostly older, classic works in the public domain.
- Voice of the ShuttleProbably provides the broadest coverage of literature related resources on the net. Maintained by Alan Liu (U C Santa Barbara).
- World Picture JournalAn independent journal at the intersection of political and aesthetic questions concerning cinema, visual art, and visual theory.
- ASLE onlineThe Association for the Study of Literature and Environment focuses on literature that considers the relationship between human beings and the natural world. It covers the genres of literary nonfiction, nature poetry, and environmental fiction, including ecofeminism.
- Community of Literary Magazines and PressesAn organization of hundreds of small publishers creating print and digital books, magazines, online publications, chapbooks and zines, who have come together to do our work as publishers better and to organize around a shared set of beliefs
- NonfictionNOWThe NonfictioNOW Conference is a regular gathering of over 400 nonfiction writers, teachers, and students from around the world in an effort to explore the past, present, and future of nonfiction.
