LibGuides: Philosophy: Key resources

Key databases for Philosophy

Journal articles, etc.
Other useful resources

PhilPapers This link opens in a new window
PhilPapers is an index and bibliography of works in philosophy. It indexes books and journals and also monitors open access repositories and the personal websites of academic philosophers. It is linked to PhilEvents (a website listing philosophy events) and PhilJobs (philosophy-related job listings)
Covers journal articles, books, open access archives, and personal pages maintained by academics.

Also provides an open access archive of papers in philosophy.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new window
A citation index that is part of Web of Science. This index covers all subjects in the arts and humanities and includes references to journal articles, letters, editorials and reviews, among other formats.
Gives references to journal articles, letters, editorials, notes, meeting abstracts, discussions, music scores, poems, plus reviews of literature, performances and recordings. Covers 1970-

Help and guidance
Web of Science Training Portal
JSTOR [full-text & images] This link opens in a new window
A full-text archive of journal articles covering a range of subjects, including philosophy
Full-text archive of more than 2,600 academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Covers from 1880s (or volume 1) up to a 'moving wall' end date, usually of between 2 and 5 years ago. Each journal title has its own 'moving wall' date.

We subscribe to all journal collections, as well as Global Plants and Primary Sources (covering 19th Century British Pamphlets ; Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa; World Heritage Sites: Africa.

Some ebooks are also available - individual titles are listed on Enterprise and a link to freely available JSTOR ebooks is below.

Help and guidance
JSTOR help page for searching
Project MUSE [full-text] This link opens in a new window
A full-text database of journal articles in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Use this alongside JSTOR as it often provides access to more recent issues of journals that appear in JSTOR.
View a list of titles available on Project Muse (you will need to be on-campus or logged in via the off-campus link above to view this list).

Complements JSTOR by providing recent issues of many titles in that archive.

Help and guidance
Project MUSE video tutorials and search guides
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Gives references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings and patents in all subjects. Also offers extensive tools to analyse results, and measure impact for articles, journals and authors.
Scopus gives references to peer-reviewed literature in all subject areas. It includes journal articles (including 'in press' items), books, conference proceedings and patents.

It is possible to search for topics, authors (including by ORCID ID), author affiliation and funders.

Extensive analytical tools also allow you to:

-analyse your search results by year, source, author, affiliation, country or territory, document type and subject area
-compare journal impact to help you decide where to publish
-see the citation impact and scholarly community engagement for an article
-analyse the citation trend for any given article, set of results or for a list of author documents
-view an author profile to analyse and track an individual's citation history

Help and guidance
Scopus Quick Reference Guide (PDF)
Tutorial of creating alerts
Scopus learn & support site
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar is the academic version of Google. It allows you to search for scholarly literature (journal articles, books, patents) from a variety of sources, including academic publishers, professional societies, and online repositories.
It is unclear which publishers are included in Google Scholar, so it shouldn't be used as your only source for a comprehensive literature search. For references to reliable, academic sources search our Summon discovery service or databases covering your subject.

Link to our full-text
You can set your preferences on Google Scholar to show links to full-text articles in all of our e-journals.

1) Click on the three lines on the top left of the home screen.
2) Select 'Settings'.
3) Select 'Library Links' on the left of the screen.
4) In the search box type 'Reading' and select the 'Reading University Library - Full-Text @ Reading' option.
5) Save your settings.

When you do a search, look for a 'Full-Text @ Reading' link to the right of references in your results list. This indicates that we have a subscription which will give you access to the article. Click on this link to access the full-text.

If the 'Full-text @ Reading' link does not appear next to a reference it indicates that it isn't covered by our subscriptions and you probably won't be able to access the article.

If you are off-campus you will need to login to access the articles. You will usually be prompted to login as soon as you click on the link to the article. If this doesn't happen you will need to look for an institutional or Shibboleth login link once you reach the journal's website. For more guidance see Accessing e-journals.

Google Scholar Button
Google have produced a plugin for Chrome, Firefox and Safari which allows you to easily search for and cite articles. Highlight the title of an article in the page you are reading and then click the Scholar button and it will search for the article on Google Scholar in a pop up window. To get a formatted reference for a search result press the quote button next to it and the reference will appear in three different styles.

To make the most of this tool set up the University of Reading as a 'Library Link' using the instructions above.

Aris & Phillips Classical Texts This link opens in a new window
Full-text digital editions of the Aris & Phillips Classical Texts series from Liverpool University Press, which makes available over 150 modern editions of Greek and Latin texts, with substantial introductions and commentaries as well as the original text with facing-page English translation.

Individual titles are listed on Enterprise.
British Academy Scholarship Online [full-text] This link opens in a new window
The full-text of over 140 titles, both monographs and essay collections, in the humanities and social sciences, hosted on the Oxford Academic platform.
Updated annually with new content.

Most titles are listed on the Library catalogue

Help and guidance
Using the content guides
Cambridge Companions [full-text] This link opens in a new window
Introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics and periods
Over 2,800 downloadable essays taken from the Cambridge Companions series.
Provides cross-searchable introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics and periods in the subject areas of literature, philosophy, classics, religion and cultural studies.

Most titles are listed on the Library catalogue.
Credo Reference [full-text] This link opens in a new window
Find definitions in dictionaries and other reference works in all subjects.
Also includes conversion tables for area, distance, energy, fuel consumption, power, speed, temperature and weight - just click on the 'Gadgets' link.

Most titles are listed on the Enterprise catalogue.

Help and guidance
A Help Tour and Research Quick Tips are available by clicking the button at the top right of the page. Research Quick Tips are short videos to assist learners during the research process. Credo supports Boolean searching and truncation using an asterisk (*).
Gale eBooks [full-text] This link opens in a new window
Includes the Encyclopedia of philosophy (Macmillan)
Cross-search or browse the contents of over 1700 titles. All individual titles are listed on the Enterprise catalogue.
IBSS (International Bibliography of the Social Sciences) This link opens in a new window
Gives references to journal articles, books, reviews and selected chapters in subjects including anthropology, economics, political science and sociology.
Also covers related subjects, such as: agriculture, social policy, archaeology, business studies, criminology, education, environmental issues, history, law, and social work.

Gives references to journal articles, books, reviews and selected chapters. Good coverage of international material.

Help and guidance
For help within the platform, click on the question mark icon in the bottom right-hand corner.
ProQuest LibGuide: IBSS
Loeb Classical Library [full-text] This link opens in a new window
The Loeb Classical Library contains texts from 700 B.C. to 700 A.D and provides trusted English translations alongside the original Latin or Greek. A useful resource for studying ancient philosophers.
Features include:

-A duel language interface, with the Greek and Latin texts shown alongside the English translation.
-The ability to search for key words in texts.
-The ability to annotate works and create bookmarks for later use once you have created an individual account.

Individual titles are listed on the Library catalogue.
Library Hub Discover (Jisc) This link opens in a new window
Merged online catalogues of many major UK and Irish academic, National libraries and specialist libraries.
Library Hub Discover lists monographs and journal titles. It also includes conference proceedings, audio-visual, multimedia items and other formats listed on library catalogues.

Help and guidance
Library Hub Discover site support
Oxford Academic [full-text] This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to books and journals published by Oxford University Press, covered by our subscriptions.
Access to most journals published by Oxford University Press covering 1996 to the present. Plus full-text access to archive issues from 144 journals covering 1849-1995.

Access to purchased and subscribed e-books, including from the following series and collections:
All titles are listed on the Library catalogue
Oxford Bibliographies This link opens in a new window
Searchable research guides across a variety of subject areas.
Bibliographies currently subscribed to are:

-Anthropology
-Atlantic history
-Classics
-Medieval studies
-Philosophy
-Renaissance and Reformation
-Victorian literature

Individual articles are listed on the Library catalogue.

Help and guidance
Oxford Bibliographies help
Oxford Handbooks Online [full-text] This link opens in a new window
Oxford Handbooks Online is a collection of review essays covering key issues and exploring major debates across different subject areas.
The University has purchased some titles in the following subjects:

-Archaeology
-Business & management
-Classical studies
-Criminology & criminal justice
-Economics & finance
-History
-Law
-Linguistics
-Literature
-Philosophy
-Political science
-Psychology

Individual titles are listed on the Library catalogue.

Help and guidance
Oxford Academic guides
Oxford Reference [full-text] This link opens in a new window
Oxford Reference allows you to search across multiple dictionaries and reference titles. We have access to the Premium, Literature and Western Civilization collections.
It also contains a wide range of English dictionaries; bilingual dictionaries of French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Latin; thesauri; and guides to English grammar and usage.

Timelines link over 2,000 key events in 20th century history in the areas of Art and Architecture; Performing Arts; Literature; Politics and Government; Society; Science, Technology and Medicine; and War.

Individual titles are listed on the Library catalogue.

Help and guidance
Tour of Oxford Reference
Past Masters This link opens in a new window
Past Masters, from InteLex, provides full-text access to the works of philosophers and writers. We have access to the following works on this platform:

British Philosophy: 1600-1900
The Letters of Charles Dickens: 1820-1870
Wittgenstein: Gesamtbriefwechsel / complete correspondence
British Philosophy: 1600-1900
- Provides full-text access to the works of British philosophers from the period and includes works by:
-- Francis Bacon
-- Jeremy Bentham
-- George Berkeley
-- Anne Conway
-- Thomas Hobbes
-- David Hume
-- John Locke
-- John Stuart Mill
-- David Ricardo
-- Henry Sidgwick
-- Adam Smith

The Letters of Charles Dickens: 1820-1870 (2nd release)
- 12 volumes of full-text, collected letters from this period.

Wittgenstein: Gesamtbriefwechsel / complete correspondence (2nd release)
- Complete full-text correspondence as well as commentaries for all the letters and biographies of each individual mentioned in them, as well as a chronology of his life and indices of the literature and music mentioned in the correspondence.

Most titles are listed on the Library catalogue
Chapters can be downloaded as PDFs and printed.
Periodicals Archive Online (PAO) [full-text] This link opens in a new window
Archive of journal articles in a range of subjects.
Content also available via JISC Journal Archives.

Online archive giving access to full-text journal articles in the following subjects: arts; business; history; linguistics; literature; philosophy; politics; psychology; and social sciences.

Covers issues from 1891 to 2000.

Help and guidance
For help within the platform, click on the question mark icon in the bottom right-hand corner.
Proquest LibGuide: Periodicals Archive Online
WorldCat This link opens in a new window
Essentially a vast Library catalogue. Gives references to books, theses, and other published materials in all subjects.
Covers ca.1000 BC to the present.

Philosophy Journals

Websites for Philosophy

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
An Open Access reference work, maintained and kept up to date to academics, and subject to peer review before publication. New research is added regularly, whilst older entries are archived. A valuable and popular resource.
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) provides open access to detailed, scholarly, peer-reviewed information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy.

Thomistic philosophy: the enduring thought of St Thomas Aquinas
A guide both to available electronic resources and to Aquinas' thought.
International Berkeley Society Website
The International Berkeley Society (founded in 1975) holds meetings, conferences, and symposia, and publishes the results of scholarly research on both sides of the Atlantic. It has information, both old and new, about George Berkeley and his works.
The Karl Popper Web
This site gives its aims as to "promote, explore and defend the heroic and critical ethos of science through philosophical debate [and] critically explore and apply the work of Sir Karl Popper, a key figure in the defence of science". Gives information about the annual conference on the philosophy of Sir Karl Popper and has a list of links to other relevant sites.
The Bertrand Russell Archives at McMaster University
A catalogue of Russell's works, the archive at McMaster and links to resources elsewhere.
The Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society
This site gives its aims as promoting" the analysis, tradition, and dissemination of Wittgenstein's philosophy "and continuing" a philosophy which had strong roots in Austria (as well as in other countries): Analytic Philosophy (Wittgenstein) and philosophy of science (Vienna Circle)". Has information about the International Wittgenstein Symposia and links.
The Wittgenstein Nachlass in interactive dynamic presentation (IDP)
Open access to the transcriptions of the Wittgenstein Nachlass from The Wittgenstein Archives at the University of Bergen. The Nachalss comprises of some 20,000 pages written between 1913 and 1951 by the Austrian-British philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein. It contains Wittgenstein's unpublished philosophical notebooks, manuscripts, typescripts and dictations.

Logic

Gateway to logic
The Gateway to Logic is a collection of web-based logic programs offering a number of logical functions.
Logical fallacies: the fallacy files
This has examples of logical fallacies, or mistakes in reasoning and includes alternate names by which specific fallacies are known.

Morality

Utilitarianism
A website on the subject of utilitarianism, written by Philosophy academics, which provides a textbook introduction to the subject at the undergraduate level, as well as guest essays from leading experts on more specific topics related to utilitarianism.

Ontology

Buffalo Ontology Site
The site is maintained by the Department of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The site contains information on ontology, on the history of ontology, and on contemporary ontology and its applications. It will provide links to other ontology sites and announcements of relevant conferences and publications.

Philosophy of Mind

COGPRINTS - Cognitive Sciences Eprint Archive
This is an electronic archive for self-archive papers (written by academics) in any area of psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics, and many areas of Computer Science. It is hosted by Southampton University and can be searched by topic or year.
David Chalmers' personal website
Helpful site, based at the University of Arizona, consisting of David's own work and links to other resources in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of artificial intelligence, and on consciousness in the sciences. Many of the entries are annotated with a brief summary. Most of the core areas of contemporary philosophy of mind are covered. There is also a list of links to Philosophical humour.

Philosophy of Science

ECHO (Exploring and Collecting History Online)
Catalogues, annotates and reviews sites on the history of science, technology and medicine. A keyword search on "philosophy" produces a list of links.
Science and technology resources on the Internet
Useful, fairly comprehensive list which was published in an on-line periodical. Although this was published in 1999, links are reviewed regularly to keep the site active and relevant.
Hyle - international journal for the philosophy of chemistry
Current and back issues are freely available online. There is also an author index, links and bibliographic information.
The Catalog of the Scientific Community in the 16th and 17th Centuries
This catalogue is a collection of 631 detailed biographies on members of the scientific community during the 16th and 17th centuries, with vital facts about each individual and their contributions to science.

Medieval logic and philosophy
Created by Paul Vincent Spade (Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University). Has pdf-files (often from Spade's own teaching resources), which introduce major philosophical issues from the Middle Ages, and a links page.
The Abridged Online Thesaurus Linguae Graecae
An abridged online version of the Thesaurus Lingue Graecae, providing free access to the works of authors such as Euripides, Demosthenes and Plato, among others. Please note that while access is free you need to create an account and login to use the Abridged version.

Academic Info - Philosophy
One of a series of subject information gateways forming part of Academic Info, a directory of Internet resources tailored to a higher education audience. Each subject guide is an annotated listing of the best general Internet sites in the field, as well as a gateway to more advanced research tools. Includes links to online publications, language and study aids, reference materials, database archives, virtual libraries, tutorials, as well as other educational materials. Compiled in the United States and has a strong American bias.
The Daily Idea - Free online philosophy resources arranged by topic
An organised collection of links and resources on a wide range of philosophical topics, aimed at general readership and those new to philosophy. The links range from essays to podcasts.
Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method (at the London School of Economics)
Useful links to organisations, journals and philosophers, as well as a useful section on other philosophy departments within the University of London.
Internet History of Science Sourcebook
Contains links to source materials relevant to the history and philosophy of science - ancient, medieval and modern. There are also links other relevant websites.
Voice of the shuttle - Philosophy
Provides links to Internet resources relevant to research in philosophy. This has a useful section on individual philosophers as well as more general resources. Maintained at the University of California.

The American Philosophical Association
The main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly activity in philosophy, to facilitate the professional work and teaching of philosophers, and to represent philosophy as a discipline. Has a useful "resources" section.
The Royal Institute of Philosophy
The Institute, founded in 1925, aims to promote the study and discussion of philosophy and original work through its journals Philosophy and Think and by arranging and sponsoring programmes of lectures and conferences. The Council of the Institute welcomes applications for membership from all those interested in Philosophy. A good starting point for resources and links to university philosophy departments in the United Kingdom.

Accessing online Library resources

If you are on campus you will be able to access most e-journals and e-books, and some databases, without entering a username and password because your IP address identifies you as being at the University of Reading.

For any that require a login, see the Off-campus tab.

Terms of Use

When you use our e-resources you are agreeing to our Terms of Use. Please take a moment to look at these by following the link below:

Terms and conditions of use for Library e-resources

When you are off-campus you will need to login to identify yourself as a member of the University of Reading to gain access to our protected databases, e-books and e-journals.

Your login details

You login in the same way as for Blackboard - via Microsoft. Just enter your University username followed by @student.reading.ac.uk (e.g. ab123456@student.reading.ac.uk) and your password. If this is the first time you have logged in via this method when off-campus you will be asked to complete a Multi-Factor Authentication. For more information see:

Find out more about multi-factor authentication

Find out more about the Institutional login

Logging in to Library resources

Watch this short video on how you login to use Library resources.

Videos: doing your literature search

This playlist of two videos shows you how to prepare for and perform a literature search. The first video introduces literature searches and their role. The second video covers using the search operators AND and OR to create a search statement, and explains the role of wildcards and truncation in constructing a comprehensive search. This information is also available in written guides - see the links below.

Related guides

Literature searching
A guide to finding articles, books and other materials on your subject. Includes tips on constructing a comprehensive search using search operators (AND/OR), truncation and wildcards.
Literature reviews guide
Advice in this guide will help you navigate both the research process and the production of the final literature review.

Finding theses

Reading University theses and dissertations

The Library receives a copy of all theses accepted for the degrees of PhD and MPhil by the University. All theses held by the Library can be found on the Enterprise catalogue. Recently submitted theses might also be available to download from the University's Institutional Repository, CentAUR.

Masters theses can usually be consulted in the relevant school or department.

Finding theses from other institutions

There are a number of specialist sources for finding theses produced at other institutions around the world. Many more are becoming available online making it much easier to get the full-text. For more information see our guide to finding theses.

See our guide to finding theses for more information:

Finding theses
A guide to identifying and consulting theses produced at Reading and beyond.

Conference papers

Conference papers are published in a variety of ways - they may be published as a book, or as a special issue or supplement to a journal. Some may not be published at all!

If published promptly they can you give you the latest information on research in your field.

See our guide to finding conference papers for details of specialist sources for finding this type of information.

Finding conference papers

Getting items not held at Reading

Our Inter-Library Loans service can get articles, books and other publications not held at Reading from other libraries (usually from the British Library).

For more information see our webpages:

Inter-library loans service
Use this service to get publications not held at the University of Reading.