Developing Search Terms
The first step in picking a topic is to brainstorm by asking yourself a few questions. What do you already know about this topic from your course readings? Are there similar ideas you might want to explore? What are the key concepts that you're interested in pursuing?
Once you've spent a bit of time answering these questions, you can take the concepts you've identified and use the keywords and phrases to start searching for information. Keep in mind that you'll need to build a base of knowledge before you can write effectively.
See the Database Search Strategies box on this page for more help with keyword searching!
Need More Articles?
Looking for more articles? Search Google Scholar to find more information on your topic.
Find Articles in JumboSearch
Want to discover everything that Tisch Library has on your topic? Try searching for your topic in JumboSearch, which simultaneously searches across all of the library's resources, including journal articles in databases, online, and in print.
Search for Articles on Topics in English in these Databases
Below is a selection of online resources that include a vast number of articles on topics in English, including literary criticism. The resources on this page include articles from both scholarly and popular sources, so be sure to evaluate your sources to make sure that they are appropriate for your project.
- MLA International BibliographyThis database is a classified listing and subject index of scholarly books and articles on modern languages, literatures, folklore and linguistics which has been compiled by the Modern Language Association of America since 1921. The electronic version includes the Bibliography's entire print run and currently contains more than 2 million records.
- JSTORJSTOR includes scholarship published in more than 1,400 of the highest-quality academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as monographs and other materials valuable for academic work.
- Project MUSEProvides electronic access to the full text of Johns Hopkins University Press's scholarly publications in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.
- Academic OneFileAcademic OneFile has over 8,000 peer-reviewed journals, the majority in full-text, from the world's leading journals and reference sources.
- Academic Search PremierThis multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 4,600 journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles.
- Gale Literature Resource CenterFind up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on more than 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.
Database Search Strategies
Databases respond best to keyword searching. To search efficiently, turn your research question into a keyword search:
Research Question:
How does Gish Jen address issues of American identity?
Search One: (Search with keywords connected by “and”):
Gish Jen and American and identity
Search Two: (Truncate some of the keywords using *):
Gish Jen and America* and ident*
Search Three: (Add alternate words into the search with “(or)”):
Gish Jen and (America* or United States) and (ident* or belong*)
Truncate keywords where applicable. Truncation uses the asterisk (*) to end a word at its core, allowing you to retrieve many more documents containing variations of the search term. Truncation can also be used to find the singular and plural forms of a term. Example: educat* will find educate, educates, education, educators, educating and more.
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America* |
Ident* |
Belong* |
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Will Find: |
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America |
Identity |
Belong |