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GQS 201: Intro to Gender, Queer, and Feminist Studies

Finding Articles and Book Chapters

For your upcoming assignment, you'll need to identify, read, analyze, and review one scholarly (peer-reviewed) article or book chapter that demonstrates a queer theoretical approach to a topic of your choosing.

Not sure where to start?  Here are three broad strategies that you can try:

  • Browse key journals for Gender & Queer Studies
  • Search a subject database, such as the Gender Studies Database
  • Search Primo for print and ebooks related to your topic

Featured Journals

Transgender Studies Quarterly

If you're not sure yet what you're interested in, or you're interested in so many different aspects of queer theory that you can't decide where to focus, you might want to just browse through scholarly journals to see what catches your eye. Collins Library subscribes to several scholarly journals in the field, including the journals listed below (journal titles will open in a new tab).

Practice: Select one title below to browse with a partner, and respond to the following questions with your table groups.

  • What topics, texts, or ideas are covered in these journals?
  • Can you identify any popular themes or topics related to queer theory?
  • Besides scholarly articles, what else is contained in the journals?
  • Write down 1-2 topics you're interested in "queering."

Search the Gender Studies Database

Like most other disciplines, GQS has a subject-specific database, called the Gender Studies Database. Subject databases index scholarly materials (books, chapters in books, scholarly articles, dissertations) that will be of interest to researchers within that discipline. GSD covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. 

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of Gender Studies, there are many other databases that may be useful to utilize for your research. Recommended subject databases for other disciplines can be found on the "articles" tab in each library subject guide.

For this assignment, you'll want to limit your results to just articles or books. Click on the "check for full text" link to see if Collins Library has the journal or you need to order it through interlibrary loan.

Multidisciplinary Databases

General Database Search Tips

Try these strategies to become a better, more efficient searcher -- and help you find articles that you can actually use:

  • Build your search vocabulary -- keep a running list of key words, phrases, concepts, synonyms, and any related terms or ideas that you find.
  • Use advanced search features -- narrow your search with "AND," expand your search with "OR," or search in specified fields (i.e., author, title, publication, abstract).
  • Use search limits -- control the types of results you get (academic journals? language?) and how they are displayed (date? relevance?) so that you're only looking at results you can use.
  • Try multiple searches and evaluate your results -- try to figure out why you got the results you did, and adjust your search until you get closer to results you can use.
  • Use database descriptors -- once you find an article that looks good, see what descriptors or "subject headings" were assigned to it in the database. You can use these to search only for articles that have the same descriptors attached.

Additional Databases for Gender Studies

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of Gender Studies, there are many databases that it may be useful to utilize for your research. Listed here are just a few. Be sure to also check the subject pages for the disciplines whose approaches may provide unique insight into your topic.