Key Journal Databases for Gender and Women's Studies
If your topic is multidisciplinary you may wish to begin your search with a multidisciplinary database such as Omni, ScholarsPortal Search, Academic OneFile, CBCA (Canadian content), JSTOR, Web of Science or Google Scholar. Depending on the keywords you use, you may retrieve many hits. In some cases, narrowing your search to a smaller more specific database will provide better results. This is a list of subject-specific databases for your search:
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Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowInternational literature in Sociology. Index Coverage 1952-
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Sociology Database (Formerly ProQuest Sociology) This link opens in a new window
Covers the international literature of sociology and social work, including culture and social structure, history and theory of sociology, social psychology, substance abuse and addiction and more. This collection provides full-text coverage of many core titles indexed in Sociological Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts. As well as hundreds of full text scholarly journals, the database also includes over 500 recent full-text doctoral dissertations on sociology.
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ERIC (via ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
A major resource for North American research in the field of education and education-related topics. Coverage: 1966-
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Education Source This link opens in a new window
Education Source includes the full-text for more than 1,900 English language journals, and provides indexing for nearly 3,500 journals with coverage dating back to 1929. Provides scholarly research and information to meet the needs of education students, professionals and policy makers. Information on all educational specialties is included as well as all levels of education, from early childhood to higher education. Education Source also includes access to books and education conference proceedings.
Note: A new interface is coming in December 2025/January 2026. For more information, see below:
To preview the new interface, click here.
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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies CommonsThe Digital Commons Network brings together free, full-text scholarly articles from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide. Curated by university librarians and their supporting institutions, the Network includes a growing collection of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings, and other original scholarly work.
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Social Sciences Citation Index This link opens in a new window
Includes Social Science research articles and conference proceedings. Coverage: 1975- and Conference Proceedings 1990-present.
Additional Databases Relevant to Gender and Women's Studies
Research topics in Gender & Womens Studies can cross many different disciplines, you may have to check the subject specific journal databases that are available for other subject areas. Other subject specific journal database are found on the subject guides for that discipline. These are listed on the library's Subject Guides page. Click on the subject you are interested in, then click on the "Find Journal Articles" tab to see a list of journal databases specific for that topic.
Listed below is a selection of journal databases often used in Gender & Womens Studies research topics:
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America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With selective indexing for over 1,700 journals from 1955 to present and full-text coverage of more than 230 journals and nearly 100 books. Coverage: 1955-
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Art Full Text This link opens in a new window
Offers full text plus abstracts and indexing of an international array of peer-selected publications—with coverage of Latin American, Canadian, Asian and other non-Western art, new artists, contemporary art, exhibition reviews, and feminist criticism. Full-text coverage for selected periodicals is also included. In addition to articles, Art Full Text indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals. Coverage:1984-
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Bibliography of English Women Writers 1500-1640 This link opens in a new window
A still-growing list of scholarship about 738 recovered writers and located texts, canonical and non-canonical. It identifies many hitherto unknown writers, including among them not only already familiar figures, but also women refugees such as the recusants, women in the colonies, Marrano women (Anusot), women translators, and English women writers in French, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh.
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Canadian Newsstream Collection (formerly Canadian Major Dailies) This link opens in a new window
This database offers unparalleled access to the full text of over 400 Canadian news sources from Canada's leading publishers. This full text database includes the complete available electronic backfile for most newspapers, providing full access to the articles, columns, editorials and features published in each. Most titles are updated daily and some backfiles date as far back as the late 1970s.
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Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing of historical articles from more than 3,100 journals in over 40 languages dating back to 1955. In addition, this database provides access to the full text of more than 380 journals and 140 books.
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MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Modern languages, literatures, folklore, linguistics. Coverage: 1926 - Note: For more information about the journals and series that are covered in the MLA International Bibliography database, check out the MLA Directory of Periodicals.
Note: A new interface is coming in December 2025/January 2026. For more information, see below:
To preview the new interface, click here.
Gender and Women's Studies Journals
Browse through this comprehensive list of Women's / Gender Studies Journals available through the library. Link directly to a title from this selection of titles below:
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AffiliaAFFILIA: Journal of Women and Social Work (AFF), published quarterly, is the only peer-reviewed, scholarly social work journal to address the concerns of social workers and their clients from a feminist point of view, offering a unique mix of research reports, new theory and creative approaches to the challenges confronting women
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Camera ObscuraProvides innovative feminist perspectives on film, television, and visual media.
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Canadian woman studiesA feminist quarterly which was founded with the goal of making current writing and research on a wide variety of feminist topics accessible to the largest possible community of women.
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Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural StudiesHighlights theoretical debates across the disciplines that address the ways concepts and categories of difference—notably but not exclusively gender—operate within culture.
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Feminist StudiesPublishes research and criticism that address theoretical issues and offer analyses of interest to feminist scholars across disciplines.
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Feminist TeacherProvides discussions of such topics as multiculturalism, interdisciplinarity, and distance education within a feminist context.
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Feminist TheoryAn international peer reviewed journal that provides a forum for critical analysis and constructive debate within feminism.
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Frontiers: A Journal of Women's StudiesThe cross-disciplinary and culturally diverse nature of the journal's feminist content makes it an ideal source of women's history, cultural theory, literature, essays, art, criticism, and pedagogical approaches.
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Gender & SocietyArticles appearing in Gender & Society analyze gender and gendered processes in interactions, organizations, societies, and global and transnational spaces.
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Journal of Lesbian StudiesExamines the cultural, historical, and interpersonal impact of the lesbian experience on society, keeping all readers – professional, academic, or general – informed and up-to-date on current findings, resources, and community concerns.
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SignsPublishes pathbreaking articles, review essays, comparative perspectives, and retrospectives of interdisciplinary interest addressing gender, race, culture, class, nation, and sexuality.
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Women's Studies International ForumAids in the distribution and exchange of feminist research in the multidisciplinary, international area of women's studies and in feminist research in other disciplines
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WSQ: Women's Studies QuarterlyCombines contemporary developments in feminist theory and scholarship with essays, poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and the visual arts.