Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

Besides the analog article indexes listed in the Bibliographies section of this subject guide, the most efficient way to find an article on Slavic, East European, or Eurasian Studies is to consult digital journal indexes and databases.  Duke University library subscribes to many cross-searchable, full-text electronic databases and article indices of use to students and scholars of Slavic, Eurasian, and East European studies.  For a full list of databases at Duke, consult the library catalog and search by keyword, title, or appropriate subject (e.g. “Area Studies and Cultures – Eastern Euro/Slavic”).

The selected alphabetical list below includes just some of the many hundreds of journal indexes and databases that are accessible to Duke University students, faculty, and staff members via the Duke Libraries web site.  To find other useful databases for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies contact Duke's Slavic librarian or consult with the appropriate subject librarian for your specific field of studies.  Remember that if you are outside of a library, you will need to use your NetID and password to access most of these resources.

• ABSEES (American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies): This database includes citations for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian studies published in North America. It provides geographic coverage of East-Central and Eastern Europe as well as Russia and the former Soviet Union/Commonwealth of Independent States. The emphasis is on the humanities and social sciences. In addition to articles, coverage includes books, book chapters, book reviews, and dissertations.  Covers 1990 to the present (there is selective coverage of materials published before 1990 and full coverage in print to 1956).

• Academic Search Premier (ASP): A multi-disciplinary database that includes citations and abstracts from over 4,500 English-language scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers.  Because ABSEES, ASP, and MLA International Bibliography are part of a group of databases hosted by EBSCO Host, they can be searched together with just one search. From the ABSEES, MLA or ASP main search page, click the “Choose Databases” tab at the top of the page. Check the boxes next to the databases you want to search and click Continue. 

• Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL): C.E.E.O.L. is an online archive which provides access to full text PDF articles from humanities and social science journals pertaining to Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European topics.  It also includes English-language publications on the region such as Transitions Online.

• Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO): Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is designed to be a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onwards that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from non-governmental organizations, foundation-funded research projects, and proceedings from conferences. It also includes links to international affairs centers, institutes, and resources; U.S., international, and foreign government sites; environmental studies web pages; and news media services.

• East View Universal Databases (UDB): A set of full-text journal and newspaper databases on the subjects of politics, government, and social sciences in the Commonwealth of Independent States, with chief emphasis on Russia.  In addition to The Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press, this database includes the following components, all of which can be cross-searched from a single interface:

The UDB of Statistical Publications covers Russian- and English-language publications, reports and data sets from State Committee of the Russian Federation on Statistics and the Interstate Statistical Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Allows searching within reports, tables and graphs, transliteration option, tables of contents in English, etc., but is the only database that does not allow cross-searching with other East View modules. Coverage includes some back files to 1995.

The UDB of Central Russian Newspapers is a full-text database of over 40 newspapers from Russia, including some English-language publications. (Visual material like photos, graphs, and drawings are not included.) Accessible in English or Russian. Coverage: 1995 to the present.

The UDB of Russian Social Sciences and Humanities Publications provides researchers with a unique opportunity to cross-search the contents of major Russian periodicals on social sciences and humanities (economics, international relations, public policy, sociology, public health, archaeology, history, and literary criticism). It is comprised of all 31 journals of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as popular literary editions, and independent scholarly publications. New titles are added on a regular basis. This Universal Database grows retroactively as expanded archives become available. Full-text and full-image content of print editions is reproduced with original pagination.

• European Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (EBSEES): On-line database that lists books, journal articles, reviews and theses on Eastern Europe (formerly Communist countries) published in the eight countries of Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. It includes documents from all these countries, whether published in that country’s language or in the languages of the countries studied. This includes national minorities and émigré publications. The database contains over 50,000 bibliographical citations to works published between 1991 and 1996. From 1996 onwards, German monographs are not listed, as users can find them through the catalogues of the German National Library in Frankfurt/Main.

• Historical Abstracts: Historical Abstracts is a reference guide to the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life). This database offers annotated references to information on topics from the Renaissance to the present--over half a million entries in all.  It includes key historical journals from virtually every major country, including Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. In addition to articles, Historical Abstracts includes citations to historical books and to abstracts of dissertations completed worldwide of particular interest for historical research.  All abstracts are written in English.

• ISI Emerging Markets: Provides company directory information, financial data, and news from the world's emerging markets. For our region, it covers the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Central Asia-Caucasus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, and Ukraine. For each country, forecasts for GDP (gross domestic product), growth, and inflation are indicated as well as news from both English and non-English language sources, company and industry information, financial markets reports, macroeconomic statistics and analysis, and legal and current affairs.

• JSTOR (Journal Storage): JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization initially funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, dedicated to the development of a digital library in support of the arts and sciences. JSTOR is comprised of the full text of academic journals covering a wide range of disciplines (including Slavic Studies, which is represented by such important publications as Europe-Asia Studies, Russian Review, Slavic and East European Journal, and Slavic Review, in addition to subject-specific titles with Slavic content).  JSTOR allows browsing by issue and full text searching of individual titles, by discipline(s) or the entire collection.

• Kodeks: Russian Law Database: A major source for Russian legislation comprised of hundreds of thousands of documents going back to 1991. It includes legislative acts issued by approximately 200 executive, legislative and judiciary bodies in Russia. Contains more than 4,200 documents related to various branches of legislation, including commercial, tax, labor, arbitration, patent, and copyright laws. Searchable by title, context, enacting body, enactment date, effective date, subject and other attributes. The English-language edition contains a selection of full-text English translations of Russian acts and codes that are of interest to business and industry users-- taxes, customs, arbitration, labor, patents and copyrights; as well as political scientists – Constitution of the Russian Federation, Codes of the Russian Federation, and the most important Federal Acts.  For other subject matter there is English translation of the bibliographic information--full-text is available in the Russian language edition. 

• Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies (MECAS): A citation database that provides access to documents published in and about the Middle East and Central Asia including theses, dissertations, grey literature, and current research.  Coverage:  1900 to the present.

• MLA International Bibliography: The MLA International Bibliography, produced by the Modern Language Association, consists of bibliographic records pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore of countries from around the world (including Slavic).  It includes coverage from 1963 to the present and also covers relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies, and other formats.

• Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) International and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts: Indexes public policy literature, with emphasis on contemporary issues and the making and evaluating of public policy. International in scope. PAIS indexes publications in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.  Can be cross-searched with Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, a database that indexes and provides abstracts for citations to the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy.

• Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliography: This database covers material in the humanities and social sciences published from 1992 onwards in the Commonwealth of Independent States, in Eastern European countries, and elsewhere, including periodicals, books, and manuscripts.

• Web of Science : Provides access to the Science Citation Expanded®, Social Sciences Citation Index®, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index™. It enables users to search current and retrospective multidisciplinary information from some of the most prestigious, high impact research journals in the world. Users can also navigate to electronic full-text journal articles using the Get it @ Duke button.