Studies in Drama: ENG 4297

Journal articles -- also known as "scholarly articles," "peer-reviewed articles," or "academic articles" -- are sources that are written and reviewed by scholars; this means the information is approved by other experts before publication.

When and Why You Should Use Journal Articles:

• You need information that is based on research and expertise
• You need in-depth analysis of a topic or a single case study explored in-depth
• You need recent scholarly conversations about a topic
• You need suggestions for additional sources (tip: look in the bibliography)
• You need sources that are peer-reviewed

Remember: Journal articles can sometimes feel dense or intense. Look for visual cues (headings, sections, bullets, charts/graphs) within articles to help guide you to relevant information. Need help? Check out this Anatomy of a Scholarly Article tutorial.

Library Search is your gateway to discover books, journal articles, and much more at Temple University Libraries. Additional information can be found in our Library Search FAQ's.

These are subject-specific databases, meaning they contain sources focused on one discipline -- unlike the Library Search which contains many. For some researchers, searching in a subject-specific database is more efficient and less overwhelming than searching in the Library Search. You decide your preference.

Choosing Keywords

Putting Together Your Search Terms

Narrowing or Broadening Your Search

For almost all online searches, the spelling theater or theatre really matters and can drastically affect search results. Note these general guidelines of when to use one or the other.

American practice (can be inconsistent):

• Theater: standard spelling used in most U.S. academic writing and popular journalism about the discipline and productions, as well as the general term for the performance venue. Also the prescribed usage for subject descriptors in U.S.-based library catalogs and journal databases.
   
• Theatre: spelling often found in titles of companies, institutes, performance houses, journals, and websites (e.g., Signature Theatre, Schubert Theatre); in publisher and distributor names (Applause Theatre, Theatre Communications Group); and in academic and arts-focused writing to express the collective art form (e.g., "the American theatre," "theatre arts," "theatre and performance studies").

British & Canadian practice: 

• Theatre for all contexts (including titles of books issued  jointly in the U.S. and the U.K., such as the Oxford and Cambridge university presses, and several others).

Tip: A truncation search on theat* will retrieve results on both spellings, plus the plural forms and the adjective "theatrical."

Tip: Use theater when doing a subject search in Library Search or library database.

Can't Locate Your Article Online?

• Use the  link found in the Library Search or the button available from most other databases to locate the entire article online.
• If your article is not available in print or via another research database, request it via ILLiad (interlibrary loan).