Databases for Religious Studies
We recommend beginning your religious studies research with these key databases for the study of religion. Click the to learn more about the resource. If you are off campus, be sure you're logged into the VPN for remote access.
- ATLA Religion Database This link opens in a new window Bibliographic records of scholarship representing major religions, faiths, denominations, and languages More than 3.3 million items, including 2,500+ journal titles in total, 1,100+ of which are currently being indexed. 1.2 million+ journal article records 287,000+ essay records 1 million+ review records 470,000+ book records
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- Brill's Encyclopedia of the Religions of the Indigenous People of South Asia Online This link opens in a new window Reflects the diversity of indigenous cultures of South Asia with its many language groups and religious traditions. Religion is taken in a broad sense and includes aspects of morality, symbolism, identity formation, environmental concerns, and art.
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- Acta Sanctorum This link opens in a new window A collection of documents examining the lives of saints, organized according to each saint's feast day, from two January volumes published in 1643 to the December volume published in 1940.
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- Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new window Provides indexing and abstracts from books and journals of philosophy and related fields. Covers ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy, political philosophy, epistemology, and metaphysic logic as well as material on the philosophy of law, religion, science, history, education, and language.
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- Brill’s Encyclopedia of Sikhism This link opens in a new window Brill’s Encyclopedia of Sikhism aims to make available in-depth critical scholarship on all the main aspects of the Sikh traditions in a number of original essays written by scholars on Sikhs and Sikh traditions.
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- Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online This link opens in a new window Presents the latest research on the main aspects of the Hindu traditions, containing essays of original work written by scholars on Hinduism. Including all essays from the printed edition, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is to be regularly updated with new articles and available in a fully searchable, digital format.
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- Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online This link opens in a new window Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism is the first comprehensive academic reference work devoted to the plurality of Buddhist traditions across Asia, offering readers a balanced and detailed treatment of this complex phenomenon in six thematically arranged volumes, with new content added over time.
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- Brill's Encyclopedia of Jainism Online This link opens in a new window Makes available research on main aspects of the Jain traditions in original essays written by scholars on Jainism. The encyclopedia is thematic and seeks to present a balanced and impartial view of Jainism with a focus on both historical and contemporary traditions and institutions. The articles address topics such as the human condition, pantheons, historical perspectives, regional cultures, renunciation, lay society, ritual, devotion, visual and material culture, time and space, literature, and philosophy and logic.
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- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Anthropology This link opens in a new window Annotated bibliographies for topics in the field of Anthropology. Combines encyclopedia-style introductions with expert recommendations of the most important reference works, books, journals, and primary sources on the topic.
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- Missionary Studies This link opens in a new window These sources are resources for the study of missionary work, educational work, medical work, evangelism, political conflict, and the emergence of indigenous churches. The collections are global, with Africa, East and South Asia, Australasia and the Pacific, and the Americas all represented. The sources will be of interest to scholars in a range of fields, from missiology to colonial history and anthropology. Highlights include: Papers of Reverend George Brown (1835-1917), Methodist missionary and ethnographer; records of female missionaries and women's missionary organizations.
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- Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Online This link opens in a new window Focuses on the history of early Christian texts, authors, ideas. Its content is intended to bridge the gap between the fields of New Testament studies and patristics, covering the whole period of early Christianity up to 600 CE. The BEEC aims to provide a critical review of the methods used in Early Christian Studies and to update the historiography.
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- Brill's Companions to Religious Studies, Theology and Philosophy Online This link opens in a new window A collection of 20 specially commissioned research companions covering contemporary religion, theology and philosophy. UCLA subscribes to titles in Companions to Religious Studies, Theology and Philosophy Online I.
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- Index Islamicus This link opens in a new window Index to literature on Islam, the Middle East and Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, and Muslim minorities elsewhere. Includes citations to over 2,000 journals, conference proceedings, monographs, and book reviews from 1906 to present.
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- Political Extremism and Radicalism (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window Primary source documentation of 20th Century (1900s-2010s) fringe groups from both the right and left of the political spectrum in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Supports researchers addressing historical questions on philosophical, social, political, and economic ideologies as well as on contemporary issues surrounding gender, sexuality, race, religion, civil rights, universal suffrage, and more. UCLA subscribes to parts I and II. Content note: this database contains visual and textual material representing various historical viewpoints related to race, gender, sexuality, terrorism, and other subjects, including terminology and concepts that may be considered offensive by modern standards. These materials are provided for academic research and teaching purposes.
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Three Methods to Search For Biblical Scripture Citations
This video covers three different ways to search for scripture citations in the Bible, using Atla’s Scripture Search function, Bible Citation Index, and the Scripture Citation search field.
Additional Databases for Religion
The following are useful databases which are multi-disciplinary or cover related disciplines.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
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A multidisciplinary database that indexes over 10,000 publications, with the complete text of over 5,500 periodicals, including a mix of peer-reviewed journals, magazines, and newspapers. - Annee Philologique This link opens in a new window
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Citations and abstracts for books, journal articles, festschriften and other collections from the mid 1950s onwards, except for the most recent three or four years on all aspects of classical studies. Also known as Database of Classical Bibliography. - BrillOnline Reference Works This link opens in a new window
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Subject encyclopedias in classics, Middle East and Islamic studies, African studies, and international law. UCLA has selected access. Titles with a green box are available. - Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
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Full-text access to the complete 250-plus volumes of Cambridge Histories reference series. Provides political, economic, and social history, philosophy, and literature of selected countries and subjects. Continually updated with new volumes taken from the print series as soon as they become available. - FRANCIS This link opens in a new window
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An index to European journal articles in the humanities and social sciences. Multiple languages, 1972 to 2015. FRANCIS is no longer being updated. - International Medieval Bibliography This link opens in a new window
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Interdisciplinary bibliography of Europe, North Africa and the Near East for the period 300-1500. Comprehensive current bibliography of articles in journals and miscellany volumes (conference proceedings, essay collections or Festschriften) worldwide. - JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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Full text back issues of core scholarly journals, browsable and searchable across multiple disciplines. Coverage starts with first issue, with moving wall for most recent 3-5 years. UCLA has access to selected JSTOR e-books only. JSTOR also includes primary source collections, including images from Artstor.
- Oxford Scholarship Online This link opens in a new window
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A cross-searchable library containing the full text of Oxford books in the areas of Economics and Finance, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religion. - Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
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Full text of current issues (from about 1990) of scholarly journals published by university presses, chiefly in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines. UCLA has access to Muse e-books published from 2017-present, plus a selected number of other e-book titles.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
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Index to doctoral dissertations from 1637 to the present, with abstracts since 1980. A number of master's theses are also indexed, with abstracts since 1988. Many are available for download in pdf format. UCLA has access to all full text dissertations in the database. Non-UCLA users may use Dissertations Express to purchase digital or print copies of individual dissertations. - Web of Science This link opens in a new window
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A multidisciplinary database, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of most disciplines. Indexes major journals with all cited references captured. Combines the following citation databases: Science Citation Index Expanded; Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI); Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI); Conference Proceedings Citation Index.