Doing research in rhetoric, composition, and writing studies can be challenging, since there is no single index that fully covers the field and much of the work is interdisciplinary, drawing from education, history, communication, linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science, political science, and cultural, race, and gender studies. Indeed, "rhetoric and composition" is itself a kind of scholarly portmanteau, representing the intersection of common interests between two fields with increasingly independent disciplinary identities. Any research you do, therefore, should include multiple databases, bibliographies, and journals. The following list is by no means complete, but should get you started.
Online Resources | Bibliographic Essays | Publishers | Conference Programs | Journals | Library Databases | Archival and Primary Sources
Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing
Annotated bibliography of key articles in both theory and practice. Not a substitute for hitting the stacks—last revision was 2003—but an excellent grounding in foundational works in the field, particularly from the 1980s and 1990s.CompPile
Increasingly robust database of rhetoric and writing research, with broad journal coverage, 1939-present.Rebecca Moore Howard's Bibliographies for Composition and Rhetoric
Excellent list of introductory bibliographies in various research areas by a well-known writing studies scholar.Rhetoric and Composition Eserver
Links to various rhetoric resources, including bibliographies. Hosted by the Rhetoric and Professional Communication program at Iowa State University.Silva Rhetoricae
Useful online lexicon of rhetorical terms. Compiled by Gideon O. Burton at Brigham Young University.
The following collections offer useful introductory overviews to various areas of research in rhetoric, composition, and writing studies.
Gaillet, Lynee Lewis, and Winifred Horner, eds. The Present State of Scholarship in the History of Rhetoric: A Twenty-First Century Guide. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 2010. (press | Amazon)
Lindemann, Erika, ed. Reading the Past, Writing the Future: A Century of American Literacy Education and the National Council of Teachers of English. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2010. (press | Amazon)
Lunsford, Andrea A., Kurt H. Wilson, and Rosa A. Eberly, eds. The SAGE Handbook of Rhetorical Studies. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2009. (press | Amazon)
MacArthur, Charles A., Steve Graham, and Jill Fitzgerald, eds. Handbook of Writing Research. New York: Guilford, 2006. (press | Amazon)
Murphy, James J., ed. A Short History of Writing Instruction: From Ancient Greece to Contemporary America. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2012. (press | Amazon)
Smagorinsky, Peter, ed. Research on Composition: Multiple Perspectives on Two Decades of Change. New York: Teachers College P, 2006. (press | Amazon)
It is always worth browsing the current catalogues of leading academic presses; those with strengths in rhetoric, composition, and writing include Southern Illinois University, the University of Pittsburgh, the State University of New York, and the University of South Carolina. Also worth examining are the CCCC Studies in Writing and Rhetoric Series, Boynton Cook, SAGE Publications, Routledge, and Oxford University Press.
Excellent way of discovering topics of recent interest.
Rhetoric Society of America: 2010 | 2008 | 2006
Conference on College Composition and Communication: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008
I recommend browsing in the stacks through recent issues whenever possible, as this will often turn up valuable sources a keyword search might not. It's also never too early to begin subscribing to key journals in your core areas of research or to sign up for new issue alerts.
Argumentation and Advocacy (PN4071 .A66 ) | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on theoretical and pedagogical issues in argumentation studies. Published by the American Forensic Association.College Composition and Communication (PE1001. C6) | Home | @UTK
Leading journal in rhetoric and composition studies, with broad coverage of research in theory and practice.College English (PE1. C6) | Home | @UTK
Leading journal emphasizing pedagogical issues within the field of English studies, broadly defined.Composition Studies | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on pedagogy and professional issues.Computers and Composition | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on intersections between technology and writing.English Journal (PE1 .E5) | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on teaching high-school English.JAC (PE1404.J672) | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on rhetorical and cultural theory.Journal of Basic Writing (PE1404. J68) | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on teaching basic writing.Pedagogy | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on teaching within English studies, including both classroom and professional issues.Philosophy and Rhetoric (B1. P47) | Home | @UTK
Interdisciplinary journal emphasizing intersections between philosophy and rhetoric.Quarterly Journal of Speech (PN4071 .Q3 ) | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on intersections between rhetoric and communication. Published by the National Communication Association.Research in the Teaching of English (PE1. R53) | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on empirical research in English education.Rhetoric Review (PN171.4 .R44) | Home | @UTK
Interdisciplinary rhetoric and writing journal with broad coverage of theoretical, pedagogical, and professional issues.Rhetoric Society Quarterly (PN171.4 .R46) | Home | @UTK
Journal of the Rhetoric Society of America. Broad coverage in theory, history, rhetorical criticism, and writing pedagogy.Rhetoric and Public Affairs | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on intersections between rhetoric and public discourse.Teaching English in the Two-Year College (PE1065 .B35 ) | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on pedagogical issues.Written Communication (P211 .W737) | Home | @UTK
Emphasis on empirical research within writing studies.
Please note that this list is not complete. You might also find useful the UTK library's subject indexes in Education, Communication Studies, and English; the WAC Clearinghouse's list of journals in writing studies, and the list of journals published by the National Council of Teachers of English and the National Communication Association.
UTK students should click on the @UTK link for off-campus access. Some of these, where noted, offer public access, though features may not be as robust as through campus login.
EBSCO Communication & Mass Media Complete | Info | @UTK
Major communication index with full-text coverage. Includes rhetoric-related journals such as Quarterly Journal of Speech, Argumentation and Advocacy, and Philosophy and Rhetoric.ERIC | Public | @UTK
Major education index with bibliographic and full-text coverage. Includes resources on the teaching of reading and writing not always available in standard rhet/comp journals. Coverage includes English Education, TESOL Quarterly, the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, the Journal of Second Language Writing, and Reading Research Quarterly.JSTOR | Public | @UTK
Contains full-text coverage of College Composition and Communication and College English to 2004, Rhetoric Review to 2002, and Rhetoric Society Quarterly to 2000; good for getting a sense of rhet/comp history and important articles and authors.MLA Bibliography | Info | @UTK
Traditionally weak in rhetoric, composition, and writing studies, but improving. Indexed journals now include Rhetoric Review, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, College English, Composition Studies, College Composition and Communication, and Pedagogy, though full-text coverage is limited.WorldCat | Public | @UTK
Comprehensive catalogue of world-wide research library holdings; starting here for book searches will allow you to find items not in the UTK library.
ARCHIVAL AND PRIMARY-SOURCE RESOURCES
American Memory, Library of Congress
Multimedia digital archival collection documenting the American experience, such as field recordings of traditional Southern musicians, interviews conducted with ordinary citizens during the Great Depression by the WPA, and oral histories of slavery.Archive Finder | Home | @UTK
Directory of primary-source and manuscript holdings in the US and UK.Documenting the American South
Collection of primary-source texts related to Southern culture.Readers' Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982 | Info | @UTK
Bibliographic index of popular periodicals.Repositories of Primary Sources
An index of links to websites describing primary-source holdings, maintained by Terry Abraham at the University of Idaho.UTK's History and Classics Databases
Worth exploring. Full-text coverage highlights include 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (1800-1899), America's Historical Imprints (1639-1819), America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1922), American Periodical Series Online (1740-1900), Archive of Americana (1639-1992), ProQuest Historical Newspapers (New York Times, Atlanta Constitution, etc.), and Women and Social Movements in the United States (1600-2000).