Biblical Studies Databases
The following databases will provide you with journal articles, book reviews, essays, Greek texts (TLG), and more in the area of biblical studies. Take a look at the 'Finding Library Resources by Subject' and 'How to Do Scripture Research in APU Databases' guides for instructions on effective database searching (the technique detailed in this guide works in databases, too, and not just the library catalog).
- ATLA Religion Database with ATLAS PLUS This link opens in a new window
- Combines the premier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion with ATLA's online collection of major religion and theology journals. Also includes content from the ATLA Catholic Periodical and Literature Index.
- About
- New Testament AbstractsNew Testament Abstracts (NTA) is a research tool for scholars and students of the New Testament and its historical milieu. While this is primarily a citation-only database, full-text versions of articles in NTA may be found by using Periodical Finder.
- Old Testament AbstractsOld Testament Abstracts (OTA) has citations and abstracts for articles, books and multi-author works related to Old Testament studies. While this database is primarily citation-only, full-text versions of articles may be found by using Periodical Finder.
- Religion Database This link opens in a new window
- Religion Database provides a wide range of primarily full-text periodicals and other sources for diverse religious and spiritual studies, covering formal theological studies and commentary on topics of general interest from the perspectives of many worldwide religions. As well as scholarly journals there are many titles from religious publishing bodies and nondenominational organizations. The resource reflects a wide spectrum of religious belief systems and supports the global study of religion.
- Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG)Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) is a digitized collection of most literary texts written in Greek from Homer to the fall of Byzantium in AD 1453.
- Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG)Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) is a digitized collection of most literary texts written in Greek from Homer to the fall of Byzantium in AD 1453.
Multi-Disciplinary Databases
The subject-specific databases listed in the Biblical Studies Databases section above are the best places to start searching for biblical study materials, but you will probably also benefit from searching in some of the multi-disciplinary databases. Here are a few that are recommended:
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
- Provides full text for nearly 4,000 scholarly publications, including full text for more than 3,100 peer-reviewed journals in a wide variety of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1975.
- About
- JSTOR Full Collection This link opens in a new window
- JSTOR contains digitized back runs of over six hundred core scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, some dating as far back as the 1600s. Includes all of JSTOR including the archive collections of JSTOR 1-15, Business IV, Ecology & Botany II, Hebrew Journals, Ireland, Jewish Studies, & Life Sciences. The thematic collections: Lives of Literature, Security Studies, & Sustainability. And the primary source collections: World Heritage Sites: Africa, Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa, & Global Plants.
- Project Muse Journals This link opens in a new window
- With 375 journals in their Standard Collection the disciplines covered range from African American and African Studies to Women’s and Gender Studies with History, Literature, Political Science, Philosophy and Religion, and all manner of Area and Ethnic Studies in between. Project MUSE has been the trusted and reliable source for access to essential humanities and social science research for close to 30-years. Over that time, MUSE has been an integral part of the scholarly communications ecosystem and platform of choice for respected not-for-profit publishers and offers institutions interdisciplinary content consistent with their collection development needs.
Finding Articles on Scripture Passages
APU Databases
APU has close to 100 databases to assist you in your research. Most of these databases will help you find journal articles. However, there are many more types of content that you will discover in these databases, such as streaming music (Classical Music Library), electronic books (EBSCO eBook Collection), art images (ARTstor), just to name a few.
To access the databases...
- Go to the library website and select the "Articles and Databases" tab of the main search box.
- For databases relevant to biblical studies, click on the drop-down list of databases by subject or major, and then click on "Theology / Religion / Philosophy."
Search Examples
Searching for articles is similar to using the library catalog. For more instructions on online searching, take a look at these two guides: 'Finding Library Resources by Subject,' and 'How to Do Scripture Research in APU Databases.' The search below is an example to get you started (in the ATLA Religion Database).
The search above will retrieve articles related to Christian education methods and young people.
Try the following search terms in database searches like the one above (be sure to select 'SU Subjects'). If you need to narrow the number of search results, try adding a term like 'youth' or 'teenager' to the second search box (and leave it on 'Select A Field').
- church work with youth
- christian education of youth
- popular culture
- faith development
- boys religious life
- girls religious life
- bible study
- church work with students
- christian education methods
- youth religious life
- sermons
Finding Full Text Articles Online
There are usually a couple of scenarios in which you find yourself needing to know if APU Libraries can provide you with a particular journal article: 1) you found a journal article listed in a bibliography, or a syllabus, or elsewhere, and you'd really like to get it, or 2) you're searching in one of the many journal article databases, and you find an article in the results list that you want, but you don't see a full-text link. In the first case, a tool called 'Article Finder' will be helpful, and in the second case, the 'Full Text Finder' links will assist you.
Have a Particular Article You Want to Find? Use Article Finder!
When you want to know if APU Libraries can provide you with a particular journal article you have citation information for, Article Finder is the tool for you. Follow these steps:
- Go to the library website: http://www.apu.edu/library/
- Click on the 'Articles and Databases' tab, and then on the 'Article Finder' link (see graphic below).
- Type in at least the journal title (or ISSN), volume, issue and the article title, and click 'Search' or 'Go.' More information is good, too. If you have a DOI, no other information is necessary.
- If the article is available in full-text for you to read online, you will be taken to a page displaying linked options for full text availability for the article and you can follow the link(s) to your database of choice when any such options are displayed and then find the article. [Note: This functionality may change with our new library system in 2022.]
- If there are no full text listings, this means that it isn't available in any of our databases nor in our print holdings. You will see a form with most of the citation filled out. Fill out any other citation information if necessary, and submit the form. You will receive the article in your email within 2-10 business days if it's available from our partner libraries. See the interlibrary loan services section of the library website.
- If you are having problems using Article Finder, or if you're interested in simply checking to see if APU has a particular journal title, use the search box on the 'Journal Titles' tab. As opposed to Article Finder which takes complete citation information, Periodical Finder only requires the journal title to be inputted to check holdings. If we have that journal in our databases, you will see a "virtual shelf" listing of the volume numbers available and you can click on the volume link and then use "search within" to find the needed article.
Found a Great Article in a Database but No Full Text? Use Full Text Finder!
Before following the instructions below, note that not all of our databases will have Full Text Finder links (but most will).
- When you've performed a search in one of the journal article databases, and you have a list of results, you'll eventually start noticing that some results will have a full-text link (which means you can access the article online), and others have a Full Text Finder link (which means the database you're using does not provide access to the article online):
- Click on the Full Text Finder link. You will be taken to a page listing links to possible options for finding or requesting the full text of the article, including: Full Text - APU Licensed Resources (when it's available in any other databases) and ILL/Interlibrary Loan for APU patrons that has a link to a form so that you can request it via our ILL team - fill out any additional information, submit the form, and you should receive the article by email within 2-10 business days. Additional groups of Browse options by journal title, author or article can be found there as well that can be pursued to try to unearth full text, but the most useful are the above-mentioned APU Licensed Resources (which sometimes includes Open Access as well), ILL services or searching APU's catalog to determine if we have the journal (and the volume and issue needed) in our print collection and then go to the library and make a copy or scan of it.
