Social Theory

Reference Resources | Core Databases | Additional Databases | Current Periodicals

Reference Resources

International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Online encyclopedia available to researchers with a Penn State Access Account.

Sage Benchmarks in Social Research Methods

Core databases

Annual Reviews
See the series Public Health and Sociology
Annual Reviews is a collection of comprehensive critical reviews of the written by leading scientists in the fields, and are heavily cited and highly ranked in terms of impact factors. Coverage is back to 1996, and is updated yearly.

Sociological Abstracts
Seminal index for English language journals in Sociology, Social Work, and other Social Sciences. Provides abstracts for articles and is international in scope. Coverage: 1963 to the present.

PsychInfo
Primary database for international literature in psychology and related disciplines. It is published by the American Psychological Association and provides coverage from 1840 to the present.

Additional Databases

Social Sciences Citation Index
The Index can be used to look up either a specific author or a particular publication to see how many articles in the database cited that author or publication. The index can also be used to find related articles (articles that have at least one reference in common).

Current Periodicals

American Sociological Review
Publishes original works of interest to the sociology discipline in general, new theoretical developments, results of research that advance our understanding of fundamental social processes, and important methodological innovations. Published by the American Sociological Association

Journal of Social Issues
This journal is published for The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, a division of the American Psychological Association. It "brings behavioral and social science theory, empirical evidence, and practice to bear on human problems."

Journal of Sociology
Published in Association with The Australian Sociological Association, the Journal includes articles of sociological research and theory on issues of interest to Austrialian sociology and aims to promote dialogue and exchange between Australian sociologists and the international community of sociology.

Qualitative Sociology
Covers research based on the qualitative interpretation of social life, including theory, fieldwork and ethnography, historical and comparative analyses, and photographic studies.

Social Psychology Quarterly
"Social Psychology Quarterly publishes theoretical and empirical papers on the link between the individual and society, including the study of the relations of individuals to one another, as well as to groups, collectivities and institutions. It also includes the study of intra-individual processes insofar as they substantially influence or are influenced by social structure and process. The journal is genuinely interdisciplinary, publishing works by both sociologists and psychologists." Published by the American Sociological Association.

Social Text
Covers a broad spectrum of social and cultural phenomena, applying the latest interpretive methods to the world at large. A daring and controversial leader in the field of cultural studies, the journal consistently focuses attention on questions of gender, sexuality, race, and the environment, publishing key works by the most influential social and cultural theorists.

Social Theory & Health
Aims to develop the theoretical underpinnings of health research and service delivery.

Sociological Focus
Publishes work representing all aspects of sociology and its subdisciplines, including theory, empirical studies, qualitative and quantitative research and applied work with policy implications. Published by the North Central Sociological Association.

Sociological Quarterly
Published for the Midwest Sociological Society, this journal is devoted to publishing cutting-edge research and theory in all areas of sociological inquiry.

Sociological Theory
"Sociological Theory publishes work in all areas of social thought, including new substantive theories, history of theory, metatheory, formal theory construction, and syntheses of existing bodies of theory. Submissions will also be considered as "Research Notes" and occasional review articles will be published." Published by the American Sociological Association.

Theory & Science
Discusses theory, science, and social change.

Theory and Society : Renewal and Critique in Social Theory
Publishes theoretically informed analyses of social processes, including theoretical and methodological issues, discussions of individuals and national societies and cultures from prehistory to contemporary times

Theory, Culture & Society : Explorations in Critical Social Science
Published in Association with The Theory, Culture and Society (TCS) Centre, Nottingham Trent University). Caters for the resurgence of interest in culture within contemporary social science. Features papers by and about modern social and cultural theorists.

Time & Society
Publishes empirical and theoretical analyses on the subject of temporality, relating it to society and culture and to theories of individual and social behavior and action.