How to Find Book Reviews
Why look for book reviews? | How to begin | Book review indexes
Why look for book reviews?
Book reviews are both descriptive and evaluative. It is the reviewer's job to summarize the book and to judge its merit or significance. A reviewer will often place the book in its larger context by comparing it to others on the topic, or by noting how it fills a gap in the subject area. Reviews, therefore, often go far beyond discussing what a particular book is "about". They can be a valuable source of insight into the intellectual debates on a topic.
Book reviews appear in many places. Scholarly journals, newspapers, magazines and professional journals all publish book reviews. Depending on where they appear, reviews can be written by academics, journalists, writers, librarians or practitioners in a field.
This handout lists indexes which are used for finding out where reviews of a book appeared.
How to begin
A book is usually reviewed in the year it is published, or the next year. In order to locate reviews, you must know the following pieces of information about your book:
- author
- title
- original publication date
CAUTION: one book can have several "publication" dates -- e.g. new editions etc.
Although the indexes all vary slightly in format, each will provide you with a complete citation (name of the journal, volume number, date and page) for locating the review. Here is a sample citation from Book Review Index. It lists three reviews of Margaret Atwood's novel Life Before Man.
e.g. Atwood, Margaret Life Before Man Bks in Can. 8:10-11 O' 79 Maclean's 93:66, 68 O' 15 '79 Q & Q 45 no 12:31 '79
For help in locating the appropriate index, interpreting the citation, or determining if the review is in the Library, please ask at the Information and Research Help Desk.
Book review indexes
The following sources focus specifically on book reviews. They list citations to book reviews. Each source has a different approach and focus. For assistance in using them, check at the Information and Research Help Desk.
CURRENT
| Book Review Digest (1983- ) | Index Area |
| (1905-1982) | QEII Storage L1A Z 1219 C96 |
| Excerpts from the actual reviews are reproduced. | |
| Length of review is indicated (in number of words). | |
| Reviews are taken from approximately 90 journals. |
| Book Review Index (1965- ) | Index Area |
| Gives citations only (without excerpts). | |
| Lists reviews from over 500 publications. |
| Books: The New York Times (1996 - ) | Internet |
RETROSPECTIVE
| Book Review Index to Social Science Periodicals | Index Area |
| (1964-1974) | |
| Index to Book Reviews in Historical Periodicals | Index Area |
| (1972-1977) | |
| Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews | Index Area |
| in Humanities Journals (1802-1974) | |
| Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews | Index Area |
| in Scholarly Journals (1886-1974) | |
| Covers history, political science and sociology. | |
| Current Book Review Citations (1976-1982) | Z 1035 A1 C8 |
| Humanities & Social Sciences Index | from the Article Indexes page |
| Retrospective (1907-1984) | |
| Index to Book Reviews in England | Index Area |
| (1749-1774) and (1775-1800) | |
| Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities | QEII Ref Z 1035 A1 I63 |
| (1960-1990) | |
| The London Times Index (title varies) (1785 - ) | QEII Ref AI 21 T46 |
| National Library Service Cumulative Book Review Index (1905-1974) Indexes Book Review Digest. | Index Area |
| New York Times Book Review Index: 1896-1970 | QEII Ref Z 1035 A1N4 1973 |
Other indexes which cover book reviews
Article IndexesMany of our article index databases include citations to book reviews. If a database has a publication type or document type "book review" or "review," the database indexes book reviews. Use those publication/document types to limit your search to book reviews.
Some of the paper indexes group all of the book reviews together; others integrate them with the article citations. Since all indexes vary slightly, check the introduction for instructions on finding book reviews.
The dates given beside the titles indicate when the index began to include book review citations.
(a) Reviews in Journals/Magazines
| America History and Life | from the Article Indexes page |
| Art Index (1984- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| (1971-1985) | QEII Ref N 1 A7 |
| (1950-70) | QEII Periodical Storage |
| Arts & Humanities Citation Index | |
| (1977-1988) | QEII Ref AI 3 A65 |
| (1989- ) as part of Web of Science |
from the Article Indexes page |
| H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online (1993 - ) | Internet |
| Music Index (1949-1975) | QEII Ref ML 118 M88 |
| (1978-1997) | QEII Storage L1 |
| (1975- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| Science Fiction Book Review Index (1923-1983) | QEII Ref PN 3433.8 S35 |
| Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Review Index (1984-1990) | QEII Ref PN 3433.8 S35 |
| Wilson Omnifile (1982- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| Business Periodicals Index (reviews from 1958-1982) | QEII Ref HF 1 B87 |
| Business Source Complete (1886- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| Canadian Business Index (1975-1981) | QEII Ref HF 3221 C36 |
| CBCA Business (1982- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| Wilson Omnifile (1982- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| Canadian Book Review Annual (1975 - ) | Index area | |
| Canadian Periodical Index (1920-2002) | QEII Ref AI 3 C242 | |
| CBCA Reference (1982- ) | from the Article Indexes page | |
| CBCA Current Events (1982 - ) | from the Article Indexes page | |
| For coverage earlier than this date, see: | ||
| Canadian News Index | QEII Ref AI 3 C241 | |
| (title varies)(1977-1981) | ||
| PAB (Newfoundland Periodical Article Bibliography) | from the Article Indexes page | |
| Newfoundland Book Review Files | Centre for Newfoundland Studies |
| Canadian Education Index | QEII Ref LA 410 C36 |
| (reviews from 1965-1975) | |
| CBCA Education (1976- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| Education Review: a Journal of Book Reviews (1998- ) | Internet |
| Wilson Omnifile (1982- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature | QEII Ref KE 8 I5 |
| (1961- ) | |
| Index to Legal Periodicals & Books (1952- ) | QEII Ref K 33 I5 |
| ATLA Religion Database (1949 - ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| Catholic Periodical and Literature Index (title varies) (1930-1980) | QEII Ref BX 800 A1 C37 |
| 1981-1998 | QEII storage-L1 BX 800 A1 C37 |
| 1981- | from the Article Indexes page |
| Critical Review of Books in Religion (1988-1990, 1992-1998) | QEII Ref BL 1 C7 |
| Applied Science & Technology Index | |
| (1983- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| (reviews from 1971-1983) | QEII Ref T1 A66 |
| Biological & Agricultural Index Plus | |
| (1983- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| (1965-1983) | QEII Ref QH 301 B39 |
| General Science Index | |
| (1982- ) | part of Wilson Omnifile page - from the Article Indexes page |
| (1978-1984) | QEII Ref Q 1 G46 |
| Wilson Omnifile | |
| (1982- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
| H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Index Online (1993 - ) |
Internet |
| Social Sciences Citation Index | |
| (1969-1980) | QEII Ref H 83 S63 |
| (1981-1988) | QEII Ref CD-Rom Area |
| (1989- ) as part of Web of Science | from the Article Indexes page |
| Wilson Omnifile (1982- ) | from the Article Indexes page |
April 3, 2009
