Formats That Help You Anchor and Orient
Subject Bibliographies
Oxford Bibliographies Online
How OBOs help: Often the issue in information-seeking isn't scarcity of sources, but their abundance. Because they're created and regularly monitored by experts, OBOs can help you solve the problem of knowing what or who to read or which voices in the conversation you should give some fuller attention to. And in addition to identifying key scholarly works/discussions, entries will often also include links to important primary source collections, top journals, essay collections, and book-length studies.
Examples related to class themes:
- Critical Theory [Philosophy module]
- Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School [Political Science module]
- Frankfurt School [Sociology module]
- Frankfurt School [Literary and Critical Theory module]
HANDBOOKS, COMPANIONS, AND INTRODUCTIONS
How they help:
Handbooks (sometimes also known as "companions") exist across the disciplinary universe to pull together significant syntheses, appraisals of trends, and often, "consensus thinking" around a topic. Like a good subject bibliography (but in essay, not annotation form), handbooks can help you understand big pictures and the state of debate.
Pro-tip for finding them:
Just try adding the word handbook (or companion) to your keyword search in HOLLIS.
Some examples:
Considered and "essential reference source" on the major themes of the continental European tradition in philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries. The contributors, who are all leading figures in the field, provide a thematic treatment of continental philosophy, treating its subject matter philosophically and not simply as a series of museum pieces from the history of ideas. The scope of the volume is broad; among its chapters is Political, Moral, and Critical Theory: On the Practical Philosophy of the Frankfurt School.
- Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory [2004]
- A Companion to Adorno [Blackwell Studies in Philosophy 2020]
- Cambridge Companion to Walter Benjamin [2004]
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [SEP]: a well-respected web resource. Entries are created and maintained by groups of experts and materials are peer-reviewd by a distinguished editorial board prior to their publication. Essays cover individuals, concepts, and events related to all aspects of philosophy. Each article has a list of references to other sources, including books and journal articles;
LITERATURE REVIEWS
Annual Reviews
A recommended starting point, ARs are the best-known of source of stand-alone literature reviews for social science, science, and interdisciplinary science.
How they help:
Literature reviews help you easily understand—and contextualize—the principal contributions that have been made in your field. They not only track trends over time in the scholarly discussions of a topic, but also synthesize and connect related work. They cite the trailblazers and sometimes the outliers, and they even root out errors of fact or concept. Typically, they include a final section that identifies remaining questions or future directions research might take.
Review essays are a variation on the lit review in the humanities and social sciences: generally the recent publication of two or more books becomes the occasion for a long essay/reflection on the state of debate on a topic or in a field.
Other ways to locate literature reviews:
- in a social science database: after a search, filter either by document type or methodology.
- in a history database: use the term historiography (rather than "literature review").
- embedded in a (fairly) recent dissertation: literature reviews are a typical feature, often a chapter in their own right. Try ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global
- in the introduction to a book-length study.
Pro-tip:
- If you find a review that seems on point, but rather dated (10 years or so), try searching for it (or one of the authorities it cites) in Google Scholar. Then follow the “cited by” links. You may discover something more recent that way.
Scholarship Beyond HOLLIS, JSTOR, and Scholar
TOP PICKS
SOCIOLOGIAL/Social Theory
Philosophical Perspectives
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
- Historical Abstracts: covers the scholarship on world history, excluding the U.S. and Canada, 1450- present. Includes publications like History and Theory (a journal that covers areas of critical and speculative philosophy of history and culture, among other things.)
POLITICAL/Political Theory
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts: Strong coverage of political philosophy and theory.
ADDITIONAL Suggestions:
- MLA International Bibliography: covers language and literature, popular and mass culture, critical theory, cultural theory, and more.
- APA PsycInfo
Getting Around Paywalls on the Web: 3 Tips
- Set up a Check Harvard Library Bookmark. It works like a browser extension that you click on when you need it. Directions are available here: https://library.harvard.edu/services-tools/check-harvard-library-bookmark.
- Tweak your Google Scholar Settings: One simple change can turn Scholar into what's effectively a Harvard database -- with links to the full-text of articles that the library can provide. Here's what to do: Look to the left of the GS screen and click on the "hamburger" (
); then click on 
. Look for "Library Links." Then type Harvard into the search box and save your choice.
- And when all else fails, remember that you can cut and paste the title and put it into HOLLIS to double-check. If we don't have it, you'll be prompted to request that we get it for you.
