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Humanities Research Terms: home

A glossary of terms created for the UST graduate English department in support of their writing workshops.

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Terms used to talk about the things we study

Term	Definition
Text	In an academic context, "the text" or "a text" often refers to the literary work under discussion, but it is also used to talk about any object we are interpreting or analyzing, such as an image, piece of music, advertisement, etc.
Novel	While scholars debate the exact definition, “novel” is NOT a general term for “book.” Novels have historically been understood as a long, fictional narrative written in prose (see the entry for "novel" in the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms for more detail). Frankenstein and Beloved are examples of novels. Braiding Sweetgrass and Heavy are not novels.
Prose	Exact definitions are debated but in general, “prose” refers to writing that we treat as non-literary because it follows the ordinary pattern of speaking or writing (as opposed to poetry or other forms of writing with specialized meter, rhyme schemes, etc.). If someone says, “the prose was difficult” this just means that in addition to any complexity in the content, they thought the writing itself was complicated as writing.
Primary & Secondary Sources	In humanities fields such as English and Cultural Studies, a primary source is a text you are writing about, a text that you are making an argument about. Typically, this is a piece of literature or other cultural object. We commonly refer to these as our “object” or our “text.” Secondary sources are often (but not always) other scholarly “voices” that are talking about the text(s) you are talking about. We often refer to secondary sources we use in a project as “the scholarship” or “the scholarly conversation” that we are participating in.
Scholarly Edition	A scholarly edition is an edition of a primary text, such as a novel, prepared for scholars and students, often with annotations or other supplementary material like critical essays and historical context. When working with a text that has many editions, use the scholarly edition for your published research. May also be referred to as the “authoritative edition.” For example, the Princeton edition of Walden is appropriate for scholarship whereas an illustrated or gift edition is not.

Terms used to talk about scholarship

Term	Definition
Peer Review	Peer review is the process a scholarly work goes through before publication during which other experts in the field review, evaluate, and suggest revision and expansion to the work to ensure it meets shared standards of rigor. For example, Dr. Zebuhr has served as a peer reviewer for articles on the specific areas she publishes in such as Thoreau and sound, and Simone de Beauvoir’s novels.
Scholarly Source	The process of peer review and a detailed engagement with other scholarship has traditionally distinguished “scholarly sources” from other, similar, sources that may discuss scholarly topics or even be written by professors/researchers. For example, scholars like Roxanne Gay and Anne Carson have published widely in various genres but only some of their publications are “scholarly” per these traditional definitions. Usually, scholarly sources are books, articles, or book chapters, but things like dissertations, peer-reviewed conference presentations, datasets, etc. are sometimes included under the term's umbrella.
Monograph	A monograph is a detailed scholarly work on a single subject, usually book length (occasionally very long articles might be called "monographs")
Scholarly Collection	A collection of scholarly articles on one topic presented together as a book is called a scholarly collection. “Collected essays” is a different term sometimes used for the same thing.
Scholarly Journal/Article	Sometimes also called a "peer-reviewed journal," "refereed journal," or "academic journal," a scholarly journal is a periodical publication for new scholarship.  Articles published in these types of journals must undergo peer review before they are published and are therefore called "scholarly articles" or "peer-reviewed articles." The process of peer review distinguishes them from other kinds of "articles" in venues like Harper's or The Paris Review which, while often discussing literature and culture in a scholarly tone and may be "secondary sources," are not traditionally understood as "scholarly sources."
Special Issue	A special issue is an issue of a journal or other periodical publication that is published outside the normal publication schedule containing articles that are all focused on a specific (and often trendy) topic within the scope of the journal's focus. Special issues are extremely useful for delimiting and establishing an ongoing scholarly conversation to contribute to. For example, the journal Gothic Nature has a special issue on “the ecogothic.”
Bibliography	You’ve probably heard the term "bibliography" used to mean “works cited” or “works consulted.” Scholars also use the term to refer more broadly to different forms of research guides. For example, there are lists, sometimes book-length, of compiled works on a common theme that are themselves standalone works. These longer bibliographies can be especially helpful when working with a canonical author because there is too much previous scholarship to look at – we need help synthesizing it, and scholars help each other do that. See “bibliographic essay” below.
Bibliographic Essay	A bibliographic essay is an essay that gives a detailed review of the literature on a particular subject.  In contrast to a straight bibliography that simply lists sources, or an annotated bibliography that lists sources with a short descriptive paragraph of each one, a bibliographic essay often takes on a specific point of view and/or offers advice as to which sources are most useful, highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, and overall significance of the sources it covers.  Here is an example.
Database	A database is a digital, searchable collection of books, articles, films, datasets, or other materials useful for research. JSTOR and ProjectMUSE are examples of humanities databases.
Archive	"Archive" often refers to a digital collection of historical materials or backfiles that have lasting value, or to a physical place where such materials are preserved and stored, usually within a library, museum, or historical society. For example, UST has archives. In another example, here are the Shelley Godwin archives.
Original Archival Research	Research that involves the use of primary source materials found in an archive to produce new, never-been-done summary or analysis is called original archival research. For example, Dr. Easley’s work often draws on archival and other unpublished material as does Dr. Lawrence's.