Biblical Studies: Article Search

Guide to help you find library resources to help with studies of the Bible.

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Why Articles?

Articles appear in magazines, journals, periodicals, and newspapers. Use articles for:

most recent research on a topic
coverage of very narrow topics
coverage of current events
contemporary accounts of past events and research

Art Work -- Moses

Illustration of Justus Van Ghent's painting - Moses with Tablet of the Law

Justus Van Ghent, "Moses with Tablet of the Law." (15th century): Art Museum Image Gallery.

Evaluating Articles

Evaluate articles by:

Purpose: Is the purpose to inform, entertain, persuade or educate?
Objectivity: Are various sides or points-of-view represented?
Author: Does the author have expertise on the topic?
Date: Is the information current or timely for your topic?
Bibliography: Are the authors sources of information cited completely.

Top Biblical Studies Databases

ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials Plus
PLEASE NOTE: ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials Plus now includes the Catholic Periodical Literature Index (1981 to present)
Catholic Periodical Literature Index
NOTE: CPLI (1981 to present) is now included in the ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials Plus. Use ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials Plus to find materials which previously were in CPLI.
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NOTE: The ATLA Religion Database with ATLAS Plus includes all content that was previously in the CPLI and is being updated with new content.

Biblical Archaeology Society Archive Online from Biblical Archaeology Society This link opens in a new window
Contains the full-text for Biblical Archaeology Review from March 1975 to the present.
Religion Database from Proquest This link opens in a new window
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Covers popular magazine and scholarly journal articles on religion. 1986 to present.

Religious Periodicals in Proquest -- see Proquest Religion

Religious and Theological Abstracts from Religious and Theological Abstracts, Inc. This link opens in a new window
Abstracts of articles in Christian (mainly Protestant), Jewish, and Muslim journals. 1958-present.
New Testament Abstracts from EBSCO This link opens in a new window
Index and abstracts for works dealing with the New Testament. Coverage begins in 1980, but current content is delayed up to two years. For the most current citations, consult the most recent print issues – Raynor Reference BS410.N35.
The content of over 500 journals is included with all abstracts in English, regardless of the language of the original work. In addition, approximately 800 current books regarding New Testament studies are summarized annually. New Testament Abstracts is a product of a partnership between American Theological Library Association and the Weston Jesuit School of Theology.
Old Testament Abstracts [historical] from EBSCO This link opens in a new window
Indexing and abstracts for works dealing with Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. Coverage begins with 1978, but current content is delayed up to 2 years. For the most recent citations, consult Old Testament Abstracts [current] from Project Muse.
The content of over 450 journals is included with all abstracts in English, regardless of language of the original work. Topics covered include antiquities, archaeology, biblical theology, philology. Old Testament Abstracts is a product of a partnership between American Theological Library Association and the Catholic Biblical Association.
Theology in EBSCO from EBSCO This link opens in a new window
Searches up to four EBSCO Theology databases at one time.
ATLA Religion Database with ATLA Serials, Catholic Periodical and Literature Index, Old Testament Abstracts, and New Testament Abstracts.
Index Theologicus (IxTheo) from Ubtübingen This link opens in a new window
Index to more than 600 journals, 200 Festschrifte, conference papers, and more, on theology and religious studies from the entire world. 1970 - present.
The Index Theologicus database is a cumulation of the monthly issues of the theological periodical index, ZeitschriftenInhaltsDienst.

Metasearch Tools for Theology Databases

Theology in EBSCO from EBSCO This link opens in a new window
Searches up to four EBSCO Theology databases at one time.
ATLA Religion Database with ATLA Serials, Catholic Periodical and Literature Index, Old Testament Abstracts, and New Testament Abstracts.

Additional Databases for Theology

Academic Search Complete from EBSCO This link opens in a new window
Guest Access
Searches 7000+ journals and magazines across all disciplines, mostly full-text. Emphasis on scholarly journals. 1985 - present.
Black Studies Center from ProQuest This link opens in a new window
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Searches several small databases at once: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index to Black Periodicals, The Chicago Defender 1910-1975, and Black Literature Index.
Fuente Academica from EBSCO This link opens in a new window
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Searches about 450 journals from scholarly journal articles from Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese publishers. Mostly 1990's - present; mostly full-text.
This database offers full text content to many academic areas including business & economics, medical sciences, political science, law, computer science, library & information sciences, literature, linguistics, history, philosophy and theology. This database provides full text (including PDF) for more than 200 scholarly Spanish language journals. Coverage varies by publication. Most are 1995 to present.
International Medieval Bibliography from University of Leeds This link opens in a new window
Index of articles, reviews, and notes on medieval studies. A comprehensive, standard source. 1967-2003.
Using familiar, multilingual terminology defined by professional medievalists for medievalists, this database employs 120,000 index terms classified into six types (subjects, persons, texts, places, manuscripts, etc.). Covers publications in over 30 languages. Relevant to Classics, English language and literature, History and archaeology, Theology, Philosophy, Medieval European languages and literatures, Arabic and Islamic studies, Art history, etc.. Coverage begins in 1967.
Motif Index of Folk Literature from Indiana Univ. Press This link opens in a new window
An index of recurring motifs in folk literature based on the Aarne-Thompson system.
Periodicals Archive Online from ProQuest This link opens in a new window
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Full-text of English and foreign language journals in the humanities and social science. 1800-1995.
ProQuest Research Collections from ProQuest This link opens in a new window
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Guest Access
Searches full-text of 7000+ journals and magazines across disciplines. Includes general interest, news publications, and scholarly journals. Late 1980s - present.
Proquest Research Collections is made up of several Proquest collections: AltPress Watch, Genderwatch, ProQuest: Asian Business and Reference, Biology Journals, Computing, Criminal Justice Journals, Education Journals, European Business, Health and Medical Complete, Medical Library, Military Collection, Psychology Journals, Religion, Research Library, Science Journals, Social Science Journals, and Telecommunications.
ProQuest Central from ProQuest This link opens in a new window
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Index of journals, magazines, newspapers and dissertations. Full-text for many sources, mostly beginning in the 1970s or 1980s.

Religious Magazine Archive from ProQuest
Digital access to the archival runs of 18 major consumer periodicals in the field of religion, spanning the 19th-21st centuries.

Getting the Articles

Here's a short video showing how Find it @ MU works. (About 4 minutes long.)

Two common ways to find out if the Libraries have access to the articles you need:

1) You are searching in an article database, but it doesn't have the full-text:

Click on in the article citation. Another window / tab opens with two possible options:

Links indicating Find it @MU may have located one or more sources for full text of the article. Click on the links and follow the trail to the article.
Links to search MARQCAT by the journal title or its ISSN number. The journal may be available in print or electronically through a source not searchable by Find it @MU.

2) You already have a specific citation and aren't currently searching in a database:

Search for the journal title in MARQCAT, the library catalog;
Do not search the title or author of the article, MARQCAT doesn't contain article level information.

The MARQCAT record will indicate what years we have in print and/or online, providing call number locations for the print and links to the e-journal. Once at the e-journal, navigate to the volume, issue and page that you need.

Questions:

Didn't find the article/journal using Find it @MU or MARQCAT? Request the article through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) by clicking on the link at the bottom of the Find it @MU window or tab. Learn more about ILL here.

Ever wonder why the full-text isn't there? Watch this short video about the Business of Information.