Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Portal : Finding Articles

Academic Search - Large, multidisciplinary EBSCO database encompassing most topics.

Alternative Press Index and Alternative Press Index Archive (combined) - Provides access to non-mainstream content from a variety of cultural and social viewpoints across the sociopolitical spectrum.

GenderWatch - Covers gender, women, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) issues from an array of academic, radical, community, and independent presses.

Independent Voices - Open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines, and journals produced during the latter half of the 20th century.

JSTOR - Archive of scholarly journals and ebooks in the humanities, social sciences, sciences and mathematics. Journal coverage is volume 1 of each title until 3-5 years ago (embargo period varies by title).

Project Muse - Journals and ebooks in the humanities and social sciences. Coverage in art, anthropology, literature, film, theatre, history, ethnic and cultural studies, music, philosophy, religion, psychology, sociology and women's studies.

SocIndex With Full-text - Covers all aspects of sociology, including abortion, criminal justice, ethnicity and race, gender studies, politics, religion, social work, substance abuse, urban studies, violence, welfare, and more.

Women's Studies International - The best comprehensive index for women's studies books, book chapters, book reviews, articles, and more.

The starters above may not always yield the number or type of resources you need. In any of the situations below, you should also go to one or more of the individual databases listed around this page by topic. Do this if you:

• want to search from the angle of the broad divisions of study (social sciences, humanities, or science)
• are interested in how a particular discipline or disciplines (ex: history, health/medicine, education, psychology) approach(es) a topic
• are working on a topic with international/area studies implications
• need to do a *comprehensive* search on a subject, in which case you'll need to search numerous databases in several divisions and disciplines. 

Archives of Sexuality and Gender - Primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities.

British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries 1500 - 1950 - Diaries and letters of British and Irish women from 1500-1900.

Defining Gender - Contains some 50,000 images of original documents from five centuries of advice literature and related material, from diaries, advice and conduct books, as well as articles from medical and other journals, ballads, cartoons, and pamphlets, all from Europe.

Discovering American Women's History Online - Access to hundreds of digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that document the history of women in the United States.

Everyday Life and Women in America c.1800-1920 - A digital collection comprising thousands of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals, and broadsides addressing 19th and early 20th-century issues.

Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index - A multilingual scholarly index that covers articles about women, sexuality, and gender during the Middle Ages (450 CE to 1500 CE) collected from over 500 journals published from 1990 to the present.

Gender: Identity and Social Change - Collection of primary sources for the study of gender history, women’s suffrage, the feminist movement, and the men’s movement.

Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs - Collection of publications dating from 1543 to 1945, documenting the condition of women, the evolution of feminist consciousness, and women's rights.

History Commons: Women's Suffrage Collection - Covers the struggle for voting rights for women in the U.S. and includes newspapers covering the temperance and women's rights movements, as well as an anti-suffrage paper.

History Vault: Women's Studies - Documents and personal papers relevant to women's history in the U.S., covering voting rights, the National Woman's Party, national politics, reproductive rights, and the Equal Rights Amendment.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial to 1950 - A collection of published and unpublished women's diaries and correspondence drawn from more than 1,300 sources, including journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and more.

Oxford Encyclopedia of Women and World History - Online encyclopedia of topics related to women and gender studies; covers geography and history, culture and society, organizations, movements, and biographies, pre-history to the 2000s.

Queen Victoria's Journals - Digitized collection of Queen Victoria's diaries, with full transcriptions and searching of the journal entries covering the period from the first diary entry in 1832 to her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840.

Queer Pasts - Digital queer history project of primary source document collections and curatorial essays for students and scholars of queer history and culture.

WAVES, Records for the Asst. Chief, Naval Personnel for Women, 1942–1972 - Digital military history archive of wartime and postwar records related to activities of WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Witchcraft in Europe and America - Document collection on witchcraft dating from 1500 to 1930 includes classic texts, anti-persecution writings, works by penologists, legal and church documents, and transcripts of trials and exorcisms.

Women and Social Movements: Development and the Global South, 1919-2019 - Document archive of feminist activism related to development efforts of women in the Global South and their allies working to balance economic growth and social improvement while navigating equity and fairer allocation of resources.

Women and Social Movements in the United States - Resource supporting the study of the history of women in social movements in the United States between 1600 and 2024, featuring document projects with primary sources, audio-video, images, and teaching tools.

Women in The National Archives - Searchable finding aid of women’s studies resources in the National Archives, UK, and digitized documents on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and colonial territories, 1903-1962.

Women Organizing Transnationally: The Committee of Correspondence, 1952-1969 - Archive from the Committee of Correspondence, a U.S. women's organization that advocated for women’s involvement in foreign policy and in the post war global governance system in the period after WWII.

Women's Issues and Their Advocacy Within the White House, 1974-1977 - Materials from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library document the tenures and work of the Special Assistant to the President for Women, from 1974 to 1977.

Women's Studies Archive - Archival collections concerning women’s history from across the globe and from a wide range of sources.

Women's Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968 - Primary source collection of diaries and oral histories of women in the UK and Ireland offering contemporary views of conditions in which women have lived, in their own words, over four centuries.

Women, War and Society, 1914-1918 - Materials in the Imperial War Museum document social, political, military, and gender history during World War I, and the situation of women and men, soldiers and civilians in wartime society.

Black Women Writers - Collection of literature and essays on feminist issues, written by Black women from North America, Africa, the Caribbean, and the rest of the African Diaspora.

British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries 1500 - 1950 - Diaries and letters of British and Irish women from 1500-1900.

Cairns Collection of American Women Writers to 1930: Author List - Archived dataset of author names associated with the William B. Cairns Collection of American Women Writers to 1930 (not searchable, not updated).

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database - Children's book reviews, reading lists, award information, and reader's advisory from 1991 to the present.

Dorothy: Global Films About Gender and Women - Database of production information for films and television programs from around the world focused on the lives of women, girls, and transgender people.

Drama Online - Multimedia collection designed to support literature and drama courses; contains playtexts, audio plays, streaming video, and ebooks from theatre publishers and companies.

Emily Dickinson Archive - High-resolution images of Dickinson's surviving manuscripts available in open access.

Emily Dickinson's Correspondences - Unpublished in book form during her lifetime, the poems of Emily Dickinson were nonetheless shared with those she trusted most through her letters. 

Film and Television Literature Index - Indexes some 300 periodicals related to film and television.

International Index to Music Periodicals Full-text - Indexes music periodicals and includes popular as well as scholarly articles, plus newspaper accounts.

International Index to Performing Arts Full-text - Covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry; both scholarly and popular articles are included.

Latin American Women Writers - Collection of literary works, memoirs and essays, in their original language, by Latin American women from the colonial period in the 17th century to the present.

MLA International Bibliography - Includes critical material in literature, language, linguistics, film, and folklore.

Perdita Manuscripts - Digitized collection of manuscripts written or compiled by women in the British Isles during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period - This release includes some 60 volumes from 47 poets. 

Women Writers Online (1526-1850) - Full-text collection of early women’s writing in English, published between 1526 and 1850, focusing on materials that are rare or inaccessible.

See also: Art/Art History/Architecture, Dance, Film/Television, Literature, Music, and Theatre

Directory of Women's Media - A directory of media owned and operated primarily by, for, and about women.

Dorothy: Global Films About Gender and Women - Database of production information for films and television programs from around the world focused on the lives of women, girls, and transgender people.

Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive - Core archive of trade magazines in the fields of film, music, broadcasting, theater, and video games through 2020.

Fashion and Race Database - A collection of articles, reading lists, object collections, podcast episodes, and essays at the intersection of fashion and race that examine the fashion industry.

Harper's Bazaar Archive - When completed, this database will cover the entire run of Harper's Bazaar magazine, a fashion, arts, and culture authority from 1867 to the present.

Harper's Magazine Archive - Digital magazine archive (1850 to present) covers literature, politics, culture and the arts.

History Commons: Godey's Lady's Book: 1830-1898 - 19th-century women's magazine on American life and culture, including fashion, entertainment, health recipes, morality, handcrafts, marriage, education, suffrage, and literature in its later years.

House Beautiful Archive - Digital archive of magazine which focuses on decorating and the domestic arts, 1896-present.

LGBT Magazine Archive - A digital historical archive of over 40 magazines devoted to LGBTQ+ interests, including The Advocate and Gay Times, documenting over 50 years of LGBTQ+ history, gay cultures, lives, and events.

Mass Observation Online - Original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organization, which studied the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain from 1937 until the mid-1950s.

New Yorker Archive - Digital archive of The New Yorker (1925-present), covers politics and culture, people, humor, fiction and poetry, and reviews and criticism of literature, the arts, and fashion.

Popular Culture in Britain and America - Original primary sources on society, music, politics, fashion and youth culture from 1950 to 1975.

Rolling Stone Archive - Digital archive of Rolling Stone magazine (1967-present), which focuses on rock and popular music journalism, and covers topics such as politics, media, and society.

Trade Catalogues and the American Home - Primary source collection of illustrated trade catalogues, trade cards, and marketing ephemera document commercial tastes and consumer trends in America from 1850 to 1950.

Transformation of Shopping: Department Stores, Social Change and Consumerism 1830 - 1994 - Primary source material covering social and cultural history of the retail industry and consumers (19th-20th centuries), with content from company archives, trade journals, and union records.

Vogue Archive - Access to every issue of Vogue from 1892 to the present, in full color. It's a great source for social history, mores, fashion, and more.

Women's Magazine Archive - Backfiles of leading women's interest consumer magazines from the late-19th century through to 2005.

Youth and Popular Culture Magazine Archive - Digital archive of magazines published for teen and pre-teen audiences (1940 - 2020), focusing on the history of youth culture, including fashion, rock and roll, sexuality, and dating.

Also, see the Database Library category Communication / Journalism / Rhetoric and the Women and Popular Culture Research Guide.

Index to Legal Periodicals and Books Full-text - This database indexes journals published by law schools, including several feminist/gender-related periodicals, plus law books. Good place to start when you aren't used to searching through full-text law review sources such as Hein Online.

LGBTQ+ Rights (HeinOnline) - Legal materials and supporting documents charting the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the United States and legal aspects of gender identity and sexual orientation.