Articles and E-journals

The first thing you must understand about using the internet to find articles is that while some authors and journals provide their articles freely online, other authors and journals do not.  Some articles on the internet are of good quality, but some are there because they were not accepted by established, often paper-only, academic journals.  The first two links on this list are to free article repositories  with content considered by the religion librarian to be scholarly enough for you to use.  To achieve a truly comprehensive search on any religious studies, however, you will want to include library databases such as

• ATLA Religion Database , which index articles in the established academic journal literature.  
• Religion Online.  Free online at http://www.religion-online.org/. This site has over 3600 well-chosen, thoughtfully annotated links full-text articles and book chapters on a broad range of religious topics, reproduced in digital form.  The site is searchable and easy to navigate; you will not find nearly as many articles as in ATLA and other indexes, but all are in full text.  A good place to begin a search for articles on a religious studies topic. However, be aware that the site sometimes has trouble loading.  
• Online Articles About Sociology of Religion.  Hartford Institute for Religion Research. A searchable gateway to "reliable research about what is happening in religious life today" in that article literature which is available free online.  Emphasis is on religion as it relates to U.S. society. 
• In the Organizations  and Research Areas parts of the site, look for articles on denominations, new religious movements, megachurches, women and religion, religion and the family, religion and homosexuality, religion growth/decline and more.  
• Pew Forum On Religion and Public Life. Pew Research Center. The Pew Forum delivers timely, impartial information to national opinion leaders, including government officials and journalists. As a nonpartisan, non-advocacy organization, the Forum does not take positions on policy debates. As a clearinghouse, it gathers and disseminates objective information through polls and reports. As a town hall, it provides a neutral venue through its various issue roundtables and briefings for discussions of important issues where religion and domestic and international politics intersect. Its areas of focus include religion and politics, religion and law, religion and domestic policy and religion and world affairs.
• ATLA Religion Index (MU Libraries) Compiled by the American Theological Library Association, this is the preeminent index for articles in western religion, particularly Christianity.  Results appear only as citations, not in full text. If asked for a password, use your MU email login and password.  
• Bibliography of Asian Studies (MU Libraries) The BAS helps fill the gap left by ATLA for articles on Asian religion.  It is not a religion-specific index, but includes social science and theological approaches to Asian religions.  If asked for a password, use your MU email login and password.  
• http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/(MU Libraries) Search FindIt@MU by journal name to find out whether the MU Libraries provide full-text access to that journal through any of our database subsriptions.