History: Find Secondary Sources

History Scholarly Information Databases

Below are the key subject databases to search for journal articles, books, book chapters, and other publications on historical topics. Many of the databases have full-text journal articles, but if the full text is not available, click on the Get Article link ( Screenshot of icon OSU GET ARTICLE ). If another database from the OSU Library has the full text of the article, it will be displayed in a new window or a link to it will appear. If an article is not available online from another database, you can get a copy of the article from interlibrary loan.

You will need to log in with your OSU email address and O-Key password to access these databases off-campus. Click here to log in.

JSTOR Full-text access for over 17 million journal articles, books, documents, and research reports in a variety of disciplines. JSTOR's AI-based interactive research tool is currently in beta. Users can visit this page for more information and sign up to use the tool.
America: History & Life Published since 1964, the index of literature covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, with over 1,700 indexed journals dated as far back to 1910.
Academic Search Premier This multi-disciplinary database offers full text for nearly 2,000 scholarly journals, including more than 1,500 peer-reviewed titles. Covering virtually every area of academic study, Academic Search Premier offers full text information dating as far back as 1985. This database is updated on a daily basis.
Project MUSE Full text access for about scholarly journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press (43 titles). Coverage generally ranges from 1993 to present.
Humanities International Complete Provides full text of hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world. This database includes all data from Humanities International Index (more than 2,200 journals and 2.8 million records) plus unique full-text content, much of which is not found in other databases. The database includes full text for nearly 1,200 journals.
ITER Bibliography An Open URL- and Zotero-enabled bibliography comprised of secondary source material pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700).
Bibliography of Asian Studies The Biography of Asian Studies (BAS) contains nearly 900,000 records on all subjects (specifically humanities and social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia since it started publishing in 1971.
Medieval & Early Modern Bibliographies Updated quarterly, this database provides a current bibliography for over 4,500 journals (as well as conference proceedings, essay collections, Festschriften, and exhibition catalogs) used for research and teaching on the Middle Ages (c. 400-1500).
ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials The ATLA Religion Database combines journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion with its full text collection of over 390 major religion and theology journals.
Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies This database provides an index to journal and newspaper articles, books and research on the culture and politics of the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. It includes over 730,000 records on cultural heritage, political affairs, business and industry, ethnic diversity and anthropology, arts and humanities.
Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)
The Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI) offers comprehensive bibliographic citations for scholarly journals focused on Latin America and the Caribbean since the late 1960s. It supports research in Latin American studies and covers political, economic, social, and cultural topics and. With key words in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, it facilitates searches across multiple languages.

For help with understanding some key concepts in historical methodology, such as What are primary sources? How can you use them in your research? Why are some historical documents archived and why did others disappear? Why does it matter today? Access:

Research Methods: Primary Sources Research Methods Primary Sources introduces humanities and social science students to the key approaches and methodologies of working with source material. It includes nearly 200 hundred essays, videos, "How to" guides and case studies by subject specialists.

Citing Help

Chicago Manual of Style Online The Chicago Manual of Style is time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar, with explanations on punctuation, spelling, manuscript publication, citations. It is an important reference tool for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, and others.

Citing Primary Sources Library of Congress guide

General Databases

The following are general library databases with some full-text articles from journals and other periodicals covering many subject areas. They are not specific to any one field, but are multidisciplinary and worth consulting along with the subject-specific databases listed above.

ProQuest Research Library ProQuest Research Library provides one-stop access to thousands of full-text periodicals from one of the broadest, most inclusive general reference databases ProQuest has to offer. Search from a highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, professional and trade publications, and magazines covering over 150 subjects and topics.
Academic Search Premier This multi-disciplinary database offers full text for nearly 2,000 scholarly journals, including more than 1,500 peer-reviewed titles. Covering virtually every area of academic study, Academic Search Premier offers full text information dating as far back as 1985. This database is updated on a daily basis.
Google Scholar With an OSU login, the Google Scholar interface allows users to search library holdings and peer-reviewed articles.
Scopus Scopus is a large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature: scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Delivering a comprehensive overview of the world's research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities, Scopus features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research.
To learn more about logging into Scopus, see this guide.
Lens.org Search, analyze and manage free and open Patent and Scholarly Data. Patents include full text for U.S. granted patents (1976-present) and applications (2001-present), EPA granted patents (1980-present), WIPO PCT applications (1978-present). Scholarly search serves over 200 million open access scholarly records, compiled and harmonized from Microsoft Academic, PubMed and Crossref, enhanced with OpenAlex and UnPaywall open access information, CORE full text and links to ORCID. Includes filtering, data visualization and export options.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global A collection of over a million full-text dissertations and theses since 1861 with 70,000 new entries added each year.