ProQuest Research Library (1971 to present, some full text)
ProQuest Research Library, an index to hundreds of periodicals, also includes citations to book reviews. The best way to search for reviews is by using a combination of the book title and author's last name on separate lines in your search, and limiting your results to book reviews. Click More Search Options at the bottom of the screen, and locate the Document Type dropdown menu. Select Book Reviews from the list, and click the yellow Search button.
Book Review Index Online Plus (1965 to present, some full text)
Book Review Index Online is a comprehensive source for book reviews that electronically indexes reviews from thousands of general interest and scholarly publications. The records do not indicate whether the review is favorable or unfavorable, but some records include abstracts or the full review text. A complete list of the indexed journals is available from the link above.
Book Review Digest Plus (1983 to present, some full text)
Book Review Digest indexes reviews of English language fiction and nonfiction books from around 100 periodicals. The database can be searched by subject, title, author, etc. The records do not indicate whether the review is favorable or unfavorable, but some records include abstracts or the full review text. It should be noted that the majority of the reviews indexed do not come from scholarly, academic journals. A complete list of the indexed journals is available from the link above.
LexisNexis® Academic (date coverage varies depending on individual titles, majority indexed date from the early 1990s, updated continuously)
LexisNexis provides access to articles from thousands of newspapers and journals, the majority of which are full text. To access book reviews, select the News category from the main screen. From the next screen, select Arts & Sports. Be sure that Book, movie, music & play reviews is selected in the source field. Specify the dates you'd like to search; the default is the most recent six months.
Periodicals Index Online (date coverage varies depending on individual titles; coverage ranges from the latter part of the 18th century to the latter part of the 20th century)
Periodicals Index Online (PIO) indexes thousands of scholarly journals in the humanities and the social sciences from their first issues to 1990/1991. To access book reviews, type keywords from the book title into the article title keyword field and then under scope, click on the Book Reviews Only option.
Times Literary Supplement Archive (1994 to present)
Contains the archive of all reviews from the TLS from 1994 through the present.
Web of Science (coverage varies, updated weekly)
The Web of Science, which indexes over 8000 academic journals, is comprised of the Science Citation Index and the Social Sciences Citation Index. To access citations to book reviews, click on cited reference search. Enter the name of the cited author (the book author) and the cited work (book title is limited to an abbreviated 20 characters).
It is important to note that an author's entire name is not indexed. Usually, only the author's last name and first initial are indexed, though in some instances the middle initial is also included. The asterisk (truncation) after the m allows for broader search, picking up Atwood's middle initial if it is ever used.
Once you get results from your search, the next step is to limit the search set to book reviews only. Check the boxes next to the titles of interest, and scroll down to the section labelled "Restrict search by languages and document types." Under the document type limit, you will see the option for book review. Highlight it, and then click on the button labelled Finish Search.
Arts & Humanities Search (1980 to present, updated weekly)
This database is the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, which indexes over 1300 academic journals across disciplines in the arts and humanities. To access citations to book reviews, type your search in the top box. From the Limit to: menu, choose Book Review next to the Article Type Phrase box. Click Search.
JSTOR (coverage varies by title, from late 19th century to three years ago)
JSTOR, the Journal Storage Project, provides access to the backfiles of several hundred important scholarly journals in a wide range of disciplines. Coverage is from the journal's inception until three or five years ago. To access citations to book reviews, type your book's title in the top box. Scroll down and select the relevant disciplines from the list. Scroll down to the bottom of the search page, and click Reviews in the Limit by type box. Click Begin Search.
Printed Sources: These are reference books, not online databases. Click the link to see the library call number.
Book Review Digest (1905-1999)
Great place to start, especially for reviews of older books. Access is by author, title, and subject. Excerpts of the reviews are included. It should be noted that the majority of the reviews indexed do not come from scholarly, academic journals.
Book Review Index (1965-2004)
Book Review Index gathers reviews from over 500 periodicals. Author and title indexes are provided. No excerpts or ratings of the reviews are provided.
Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals, 1802-1974
Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886-1974
Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities (1960-1990)
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature (1900-1993)
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature is produced by the same publisher, H.W. Wilson, which publishes Book Review Digest. Citations to book reviews, therefore, were generally omitted until March 1976 (vol. 36). Beginning with that volume, citations to book reviews are listed in a separate section at the end of each volume. It is an author/editor index with title access only if the publication has no author/editor.
The list below represents a sampling of the subject specific sources for book reviews. These databases can be very useful in identifying book reviews from scholarly, academic resources. If you have questions about other library resources, please ask for assistance at the Reference Desk at your library.
America: History and Life (1954 to present)
Covering the history of the United States and Canada, America: History and Life indexes book reviews from around 140 journals. From the main search screen, there is the option to limit a search by document type. Next to the document type search box, click on the magnifying glass icon. Select the book review option and click on the Paste Terms bar.
Art Index (1929 to present; updated monthly)
Covering the field of art, Art Index indexes articles from periodicals, museum bulletins, yearbooks, and more. Connect to Art Index, then click the boxes at the top of the screen for Art FullText and Art Retrospective. To access citations to book reviews, type the book title into the first box and use the drop-down Document Type menu to select Book Review. Click Start to conduct the search. Look for the blue or red icons above the more! button; these lead to full text of the reviews.
Contemporary Women's Issues (1992 to present; mostly full text)
Contemporary Women's Issues provide full text access to information from journals, newsletters, research reports and more. The disciplines covered include sociology, psychology, health, education, business administration, and political science. To find book reviews, type the book title in the first box. In the second box, type "book review" and select "Article type phrase" from the drop-down menu. Click Search.
Sociological Abstracts (1963 to present; updated monthly)
Sociological Abstracts indexes over 2,000 journals, books, and dissertations in the field of sociology and related disciplines. To access citations to book reviews, click on Advanced Search. Put the book title in the first box in the top row. In the second row, change the drop-down menu to Publication Type (PT) and type book review in the box to the left. Click "Search." Your results will be limited to book reviews only.
This document is adapted from the Duke University Library's Finding Book Reviews page. Used with permission.
