types of research in islamic studies

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Research Methods in Islamic Sciences

Man’s curiosity is the origin of all human knowledge. Knowledge refers to bodies of facts and hypotheses that enables one to understand phenomena and to solve problems. Islam actively immensely encourages Muslims to seek knowledge.

The Almighty Allah in almost every page of the holy Quran praises knowledge and invites people to seek and learn the truth. Seeking knowledge in Islam is an obligation upon every Muslim. Therefore, a mature Muslim must personally seek the truth in the matter of principles in his/her religion.

Nonetheless, in early times a large body of human understanding was based on unsystematic, unreliable and unverified sources. The inadequacies of accumulating knowledge through these sources forced scholars to develop what is presently known as ‘scientific methods in research.’

1) ‘Research Methods’: Etymology and Definition

The term ‘research’ in English is from a French term ‘ recercher ’ to seek. The Oxford English dictionary defines research as: “the study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusion.”

The term used in Arabic is ‘al Bahth’ which means to search. It is also called ‘al-Tahqiq’ which is derived (driven) from the root ‘Haqqaqa’, to discover and confirm the truth. Therefore, research is a diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover a truth or revise facts.

What is a ‘Research Method’?

By a research method we mean the logic of research. Formal logic is the methodology of correct thinking, which when utilized protects the mind from incorrect thinking. Similarly a research method is the logic of correct research.  Thus, formal logic is the method of correct thinking, and applied logic is the method of correct research.

2) Characteristics of a Researcher

A learned person is not necessarily a researcher. Often we meet people with a vast amount of information on various topics. They look like a mobile encyclopaedia. However, they don’t have any systematic approach to acquiring knowledge about any topic. Thus, if they are asked to deliver a lecture or write an article on a particular topic they fail.

Francis Bacon, English philosopher of the 17 th century says in his book ‘The New Method’, that scholars with no systematically attained knowledge are like ants who collect data together in heaps without ever giving a unifying structure to them whereas philosophers are like spiders spinning out their own ideas in their webs.

It is only a true researcher who is like a bee extracting matter from the flowers of different gardens and fields but works and fashions it to produce a sweet honey.

A researcher must enjoy the following characteristics:

1) Knowledgeable : A researcher must have a solid, general knowledge about the topic he researches about. For instance, if he wishes to conduct research on a particular jurisprudential topic he must have a fair knowledge of Fiqh and its related sciences. He should also be familiar with jurisprudential terminologies to understand and interpret jurisprudential texts.

A researcher needs to be aware of the historical background of the topic and research previously conducted. This will help the researcher to avoid duplication on the one hand whilst expanding the scope of the previous researches and clarifying their validity.

2) Experienced: driving skills and so is researching. The more you conduct the research the more skilful you natural become.

3) Sharp: A researcher is sharp and insightful. He is very aware of what happens around him. For instance, for several centuries millions of people had observed apples falling from an apple tree but they were oblivious to the force that caused it to fall. It was only Newton whose sharp mind noted the law of gravity by observing the fall of a mere apple.

4) Free-thinker:   A researcher is free from his personal social beliefs and superstitions. When conducting research he independently examines the validity of every statement irrespective of the beliefs of his society.

5) Considers the speech not the speaker: Often renowned scholars makes false statements just as laymen utter the truth. The status of the speaker does not make a speech necessarily true or false. The Imams of Ahlul-Bayt (a.s), though not very often, quoted poems of Jahiliyyah.

In the past, our Muslim scholars have been known to criticise an opinion, however they would not mention the name of the scholar, especially if that scholar was one of their contemporaries. The scholars consider mentioning the names unimportant as it was the statement that had to be examined not the speaker. This also avoided belittling the scholar.

6) Brave: Often the result of research is contrary to the opinion of the mainstream academic society. In order to freely express the findings of his research, a researcher must be brave and confident. A scientific research is based on compelling evidence, not the approval of the majority.

7) Fair: A researcher is fair in his judgment. When examining a statement he considers all its possible meanings.  His quotation of other opinions is not limited to disagreements and criticism. He also acknowledges the interesting findings of other scholars.

8) Honest: A researcher must be honest when quoting from other sources. An incomplete quotation or misquotation of an author is an academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is also a serious offence in today’s academic world and is a clear sign of dishonesty.

3) Benefits of a Scientific Research

Research remains a fresh tree of human knowledge. Unlike the misconception of ‘the early scholars left nothing for the latter (to discover)’, al-Jahiz (the famous critical Arab linguist who died in 255 AH) correctly said: ‘The early scholars have left much for the latter ones (to discover). The following are but some benefits of scientific research:

• Satisfaction of the human sense of curiosity. For a researcher nothing is more pleasurable than finding the solution to his problem. Thus, Khaje Naseeru-Din al Tousi (died 672 AH), the renowned Muslim mathematician, astronomer and philosopher when finding a solution for his scientific problem would cry:

(‘Where are the kings and the princes to taste this pleasure?’ The anecdote of the Golden Crown is another famous example in the life of Archimedes, the ancient Greek mathematician.

When he discovered that the density of the crown would be lower than that of gold if cheaper and less dense metals had been added, he was so excited that he stepped out of the public bath forgetting to dress crying: “Eureka!” (I found it)!

• Freedom from partial opinions and wrong assumptions

• Reforming the currently accepted but wrong values

• Reviving knowledge and expansion of its life

• Forcing opinions to be more scientific

• Disclosing false opinions

• Foretelling future events in order to prevent catastrophes and to minimize mistakes.

4) Types of Research

The nature of research can be divided into two main types, descriptive and prescriptive research. Descriptive research aims at collecting and quoting all different opinions in the discussed topic without analysing them. With descriptive methodology, the researcher narrates the information without judgment, whereas in prescriptive methodology he analyses the data and suggests his opinion.

Research in terms of people involved in it, is either individual or group. In group research a team of researchers conduct the research.

Conditions of a Group Research

• Unity in objective,

• Unity in method,

• Identification of the job description of each member,

• Cooperation between members,

• Consideration of other members’ opinions and avoiding self-centredness,

• Appointing a team leader. 

Advantages of a Group Research

• Scope is usually wider and more comprehensive,

• Research is more critical,

• Results are more scientific and reliable.

Disadvantages of a Group Research

• Progress is usually slower,

• Inactivity of a member can stagnate the project. 

5) Tools of a Research

• Library: books, periodicals, audio visual materials

• Questionnaire

• Supervisor

6) Principles of a Scientific Research

1. Begins with a philosophical doubt and continues until it converts to certainty,

2. Is systematic and follows pre-established rules and regulations.

3. Is fair and impartial

4. Has a specified topic

5. Has clear objectives 

6. Is well- documented

7. Aims at discovering the truth

8. Is replicable, and hence its validity can be examined.  

9. Relies only on facts and reliable evidence. No research is scientific unless it is supported by adequate compelling evidence.

7) Methods of a Research

There are five methods of research in different Islamic sciences:

1. Rational method , as used in philosophical texts of Ibn Sina (died 428 AH).

2. Narrative method , as used in history, the science of al-Rejaal, jurisprudence, etc.

3. Intuitive method , as used in mysticism.

4. Common sense method , as used in the science of principles of jurisprudence.

5. Combined method , which is the combination of some or all of the above methods. For instance, the methodology of Khaje Naseeru-Din al Tousi in his ‘Tajridul-E’teqad’ (Purification of the Belief) in theology is a combination of philosophical and narrative methods. Similarly, Mulla Sadra (died 1050 AH) in al-Asfar (the Books) has combined all methods of research.

8) Stages of Research

1. Select a topic;

2. Explain the topic and its key terms;

3. Study the historical background and the previous research on the topic;

4. Identify sources and references;

5. Proposal;

6. Collect relevant data;

7. Logical classification of the data;

8. Analysis of the data;

9. Conclusion;

10. Compilation of the thesis.

9) Scientific Method of Studying

1. Identify primary and the secondary sources.

2. Examine the genuineness of the sources. For example, make sure the printed copy of an ancient book is genuine and the best available copy.

3. Take precise and documented notes of the important points.

4. Choose the suitable time for studying.

5. Stop, revive, survive, otherwise the quality of one’s understanding diminishes.

6. Choose a quiet and comfortable place to enhance your concentration.

7. Restrict your studying to the topic and its relevant subjects.

8. Read carefully and comprehensively to make sure you understand the text.

10) Scientific Method of Compiling a Thesis

In short, a thesis may be analysed into three S’s: S tructure, S ubstance, and S tyle. Structure confers logical coherence. Substance is the significance and depth of a thesis and style is the elegance of the thesis and its grammatical appeal. In order to achieve this one must follow the following rules:

1. Be explicit and clear.

2. Narrow down the title.

3. Write down the title and your name in full.

4. Introduce the key words

5. Open the thesis with a catchy summary of your thesis in a paragraph. When compiling a book a brief introduction can present the summary of the book. Some authors summarize their works at the end of their thesis. While this is a useful ending, opening the thesis with a nice summary will entice the reader to your thesis.

6. Have two tables of contents; one stating the main headings (chapters), and the second a more detailed table of contents.

7. Acknowledge all those who help you in compiling your thesis.

8. Write the body of your thesis in a systematic, logical order.

9. Have a bibliography for your work and state all your references and sources. Indicate, the author, the full name of the source, the publisher and the date of publication.

10. Make sure you have your thesis edited. Even the best writers are often oblivious of their mistakes.

It is an advantage to compile a table of places, persons, Ayaat, Ahadeeth, etc

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Method in the Study of Islam

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Method in the Study of Islam by Aaron W. Hughes LAST REVIEWED: 25 May 2011 LAST MODIFIED: 25 May 2011 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0132

Method, broadly conceived, refers to the techniques employed in the production and dissemination of knowledge. An analysis of method, then, does not focus so much on the results of the research or even the datasets employed but on those metaquestions or metaissues that govern the questions asked (or not asked) and the answers deemed satisfactory (or not satisfactory). Since data do not always exist naturally in the world, methods are often intimately involved in the actual creation of data by, for example, determining what is worthy of analysis in the first place and subsequently separating it from cognate data. Different methodologies used to interpret the same dataset thus often produce different results. To reduce bias, the methodologies employed by scholars should be well documented, along with the data, and thus be available to the scrutiny of other scholars. This practice, often referred to in the scientific community as full disclosure, allows for the systematic study of the first principles employed within a discipline. When applied to Islam, “methods” refers more specifically to a variety of approaches, often derived from other disciplines (e.g., anthropology, religious studies, sociology), that seek to analyze, explain, and interpret Islam and Islamic datasets. Taken together, these vast methodological frameworks (which run the gamut from the apologetic to the critical) are responsible for the production of the discipline known collectively as “Islamic studies.”

One only gains scholarly access to Islam through a variety of preexistent methods. Many of these methods were developed in the 19th and early 20th centuries and are now frequently referred to, both monolithically and sometimes pejoratively, as “Orientalist.” Fück 1955 conveniently charts the rise of Orientalism in Germany during this period, and the essays collected in Nanji 1997 provide a good overview of the rise of Islamic studies in various Western countries, including America, during the same time period. Orientalism, as both a discipline and an ideology, increasingly came under attack during the 1970s, culminating in the publication of Edward W. Said’s classic critique in 1978 ( Said 2003 ), which in turn gave way to the discipline of postcolonial studies. Hodgson 1974 provides one of the most articulate approaches, which seeks to steer between the methods developed by Orientalism and those who criticize such methods. Humphreys 1991 provides the best survey of approaches, topics, and desiderata for the modern historian of Islam. Rippin 2007 affords a rich collection of materials—both primary and secondary—that provide reflection on how Islam has been constructed and contested both historically and in the modern period. Hughes 2007 and Lockman 2009 chart the recent manifold political and issues of identity surrounding the presentation of Islam in the current geopolitical moment (given events such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and so on) that impinge on all scholarship dealing with Islam and the Middle East. The essays in Wheeler 2002 chart the repercussions of all these debates in the undergraduate classroom.

Fück, Johann. Die Arabischen Studien in Europa bis in den Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts . Leipzig, East Germany: Otto Harrassowitz, 1955.

The classic and inclusive historiographical survey of German Orientalism, produced after the Nazi era in Germany. Fück provides a still relevant account of the various scholars, disciplines, and institutions that made the study of the Orient possible at the beginning of the 20th century.

Hodgson, Marshall G. S. The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization . 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974.

Posthumously published work based on the lecture notes to a class on Islamic civilization that Hodgson taught at the University of Chicago. Magisterial first volume includes a section that seeks to redefine the terms, categories, and vocabulary employed in Islamic studies.

Hughes, Aaron W. Situating Islam: The Past and Future of an Academic Discipline . London: Equinox, 2007.

Documents the contexts in which the discipline of Islamic studies was created. Argues that the interpretive lenses used to study Islam are continually caught up with larger forces (e.g., the reform of Judaism, Orientalism, identity politics of the 1960s, 9/11, the fight against terrorism, the creation of a liberal Islam).

Humphreys, R. Stephen. Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry . Rev. ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.

A survey and systematic review of the principal reference tools available to historians of Islam. Combines a bibliographic study with an inquiry into method, with each chapter exploring a broad topic in the social and political history of the Middle East and North Africa between 600 CE and 1500.

Lockman, Zachary. Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism . 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Offers a broad examination of the development of Western knowledge about Islam and the Middle East (from the ancient Greeks to 9/11). The second edition considers how the study of the Middle East has evolved in the intervening years within the broader context of the US occupation of Iraq and the “global war on terror.”

Nanji, Azim, ed. Mapping Islamic Studies: Genealogy, Continuity, and Change . Berlin: de Gruyter, 1997.

A volume of essays that discusses how the discipline of Islamic studies in Europe and North America evolved in its various historical contents.

Rippin, Andrew, ed. Defining Islam: A Reader . London: Equinox, 2007.

A convenient collection that presents original source material and scholarly reflections on how the word “Islam” has been used and understood.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism . New York: Vintage, 2003.

The classic critique of the field of Orientalism. Said argues that knowledge of the Orient is tantamount to power over it and, as a result, that the academic disciplines associated with the East developed and remain entrenched within the domain of empire maintenance. Originally published in 1978 (New York: Pantheon).

Wheeler, Brannon M., ed. Teaching Islam . AAR Teaching Religious Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Focuses attention on the intersection between methods in Islamic studies and pedagogy. Wheeler brings together a number of leading scholars with rich experience in teaching Islam in a diversity of undergraduate settings. Topics addressed include Islamic law, the Qurʾan, Sufism, women in Islam, Islam in America, and teaching about Islam through Arabic literature and the use of new information technology.

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• DOI: 10.6007/ijarped/v11-i1/12366
• Corpus ID: 247289364

Islamic Research Methodology in Contemporary Research: Is it Applicable?

• Marina Abu Bakar , S. Zaghloul , +4 authors Mohd Syahmil Samsudin
• Published in International Journal of… 19 February 2022

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The Cambridge companion to American Islam. (2013) The Cambridge Companion to American Islam offers a scholarly overview of the state of research on American Muslims and American Islam. The book presents the reader with a comprehensive discussion of the debates, challenges and opportunities that American Muslims have faced through centuries of American history.

Encyclopaedia of Islam

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI) is unique and invaluable reference work in the field of Islamic Studies. It includes articles on distinguished Muslims of every age and land, on tribes and dynasties, on the crafts and sciences, on political and religious institutions, on the geography, ethnography, flora and fauna of the various countries and on the history, topography and monuments of the major towns and cities. Columbia Libraries' subscriptions includes : Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936), Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition (1960-2005), Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms (1995), Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE (2007- )

Encylopedia Iranica

The Encyclopaedia Iranica is dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. This academic reference work will eventually cover all aspects of Iranian history and culture as well as all Iranian languages and literatures, facilitating the whole range of Iranian studies research from archaeology to political sciences.

Handbook of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Lives.   This is a comprehensive handbook which for the first time provides a general yet detailed discussion of contemporary Islam and various aspects of Muslim lives. It offers a much needed tool for an introduction to the world of contemporary Muslim life and debate, and a link of continuity between the Muslim world and Muslims living and born in the West

Oxford bibliographies. Islamic studies

Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the range of lived experiences and textual traditions of Muslims as they are articulated in various countries and regions throughout the world.

Oxford Islamic studies online

This is growing collection of content, including more than 3,000 reference articles and chapters by leading scholars and specialists in their fields, and much more. Qur'anic studies resources, including two Oxford World's Classics translations of the Qur'an, linked to the first online version of A Concordance of the Qur'an. Includes also digital edition of the following : 

• The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics  (2013)
• The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture  (2009)
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World  (2009)
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World  (2001)
• The Islamic World: Past and Present  (2004)
• The Oxford Dictionary of Islam  (2004)
• The Oxford History of Islam  (1999)
• What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam  (2002)
• Teaching Islam  (2003)
• Makers of Contemporary Islam  (2001)

Oxford handbook of Islamic theology (2016) he Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology  provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the current state of the field. It provides a variegated picture of the state of the art and at the same time suggests new directions for future research. Part One covers the various strands of Islamic theology during the formative and early middle periods, rational as well as scripturalist. To demonstrate the continuous interaction among the various theological strands and its repercussions (during the formative and early middle period and beyond), Part Two offers a number of case studies.

The Princeton encyclopedia of Islamic political thought 

The first encyclopedia of Islamic political thought from the birth of Islam to today, this comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible reference provides the context needed for understanding contemporary politics in the Islamic world and beyond. With more than 400 alphabetically arranged entries written by an international team of specialists, the volume focuses on the origins and evolution of Islamic political ideas and related subjects, covering central terms, concepts, personalities, movements, places, and schools of thought across Islamic history.

Online Dictionaries

Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

A Comprehensive Persian-English dictionary  (Steingass)

Persian Online Dictionary  (Aryanpour)

New Persian-English dictionary  (Hayyim)

Oxford Language Dictionaries Online

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WashU Libraries

A guide to islamic and middle eastern studies.

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Collection Development Policy

Washington University in St. Louis

Library: Olin

Subject:  Islamic & Near Eastern Studies

Collection: General

Date Revised: April 14, 2014

Subject Librarian: AJ Robinson

Compiled by: Jaleh Fazelian

1. General purpose: This collection supports the research and teaching needs of the faculty and students in the Jewish, Islamic, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department, as well as faculty and students in other departments focusing on Islamic and Near Eastern languages and cultures, especially History, Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Music, Political Science, Religious Studies, and the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities.  

2. Subjects excluded :  

Turkish language material is generally excluded, as the university does not support this language.  However, with the recent hire of a Turkish music specialist, we do purchase items that support her teaching and research.  

3. Overlap with other collections or subjects: The interdisciplinary nature of a topic like Islamic Studies leads to some overlap in a variety of areas including History, Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Music, Political Science, Religious Studies, and the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities. Librarians covering these areas work diligently to avoid duplication and keep collections up-to-date.  

4. Languages included and excluded:  

The Islamic Studies vernacular collection (NEEA) contains works in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Udru (covered in the South Asia Collection Development Policy). Items in English are interfiled into the larger Olin Library collection based upon call number designation.  

5. Geographical limitations: The collection, based around Islamic Studies, reflects that Islam is a worldwide religion. The faculty at Washington University tends to focus teaching on the Middle East, Africa, Indonesia, and South Asia. The collection reflects the areas covered in the classes offered.  

6. Chronological limits: The collection covers from the rise of Islam (Sixth Century AD) to the present day.  

7. Retrospective acquisition:  

The Libraries acquire primarily currently published materials. As funds and availability allow, the Libraries will acquire older and out-of-print titles to meet new research and teaching needs. Such retrospective acquisitions are usually only considered upon faculty or student request.

In evaluating these needs, subject librarians look at potential use and the availability of materials from consortial partners or digital libraries (e.g. HathiTrust).  

8. Types of material collected and excluded:  

The following types of materials are usually excluded from the collection: textbooks, language-learning materials, translations into languages other than English, unrevised dissertations.  

9. Other factors to consider: The department has been discussing the viability of teaching Turkish again. This would be a major consideration and strain on the current budget.  

10. Subjects and Collecting Levels:

Basic, Instructional Support, Research, Comprehensive

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Middle East & Islamic Studies: Islamic Studies

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Tools & Resources

Quick listings: books.

The following list uses subject 'tags' in the bibliographic records to pull up lists of books on specific subjects in our collections. Click on one of the subject headings to see a list of relevant titles:

Noteworthy Site

Accessing muslim lives.

Explore the lives of men and women in the Muslim world – from the sixteenth century to now – through their autobiographical writings. Writings are by Muslims and non-Muslims living in various social, cultural and political contexts. The authors range from scholars, saints and socio-religious reformers to princes, bureaucrats, nationalists, educators, writers and actors. Browse by category, region, time or name.

Noteworthy Sites

Arab knowledge reports (undp), digital islam.

Research on Middle East, Islam and digital media.

Euro-Islam.info

Euro-Islam.info is an active network of researchers and scholars who conduct comparative research on Islam and Muslims in the West and disseminate key information to politicians, media, and the public. Sponsored by GSRL Paris/CNRS France and Harvard University, the Euro-Islam research network consists of over forty researchers and hosts over 50,000 unique visitors each month. The site is recognized in political and media circles as the most reliable online reference for Islam in Europe.

Euro-Islam.info: Bibliography

Key online reference & databases, online reference works:.

• Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought
• Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an
• Brockelmann Online
• Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology
• Cambridge Companion to Muhammad
• Cambridge Companion to the Qurʼān
• The Cambridge History of Egypt
• The Cambridge History of Iran
• The Cambridge History of Islam
• The Cambridge History of Turkey
• Christian-Muslim Relations: a Bibliographical History
• Country Studies (Library of Congress)
• Crusade Encyclopedia (free)
• Encyclopædia Iranica
• Encyclopædia of Islam
• Encyclopædia of the Qur'ān
• Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (Gale Virtual Reference Library)
• Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies (MECAS)
• Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies
• Oxford Islamic Studies Online

Other Reference Works

>> Other Concordances of the Qur'an

Article Databases:

• ATLA Religion Database
• Bibliography of Asian Studies
• Central Asian Survey
• Historical Abstracts
• Index Islamicus

Bibliographies:

Related Guide: Muslims in America

Rubenstein Library

Special collections & manuscript materials are handled according to rules and procedures established by Rubenstein Library. Please consult Rubenstein's Research page before you request any items.

Free Online Islamic Studies Resources

• Almisbah - Database of Online Resources
• altafsir.com
• Arabic Almanac (Searchable Arabic Dictionaries)
• Arabic Newspapers
• BBC Religions: Islam
• BBC Religions: Sharia
• Bible & Koran
• Hadith Explorer
• Islamic Multimedia
• King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur'an
• Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon
• The Koran (M.H. Shakir's Translation)
• MENALIB  (Germany)
• Muslim Students Association, Duke University
• Muslim Students Association - National
• Muslim Students Association, University of Buffalo, NY
• Quran Explorer
• The Quranic Arabic Corpus
• Tafseer al-Mizan
• Tanzil.info Search Quran in Arabic
• Virtual Religion Index - Islamic Studies

Date Converters/Calendars

• Conversion of Coptic and Julian Dates (Zurich U.)
• Conversion of Islamic and Christian Dates (Zurich U.)
• Convert Gregorian or Julian Dates to Hijri Dates
• Convert Hijri Dates to Gregorian or Julian Dates
• Gregorian (AD) - Lunar Hijri (AH) - Ottoman Rumi Solar Hijri
• Gregorian-Hijri Date Converter (Islamic Finder)
• Gregorian-Hijri Dates Converter (Waleed Muhanna)
• Gregorian-Hijri Year Converter (MENALIB)
• Iranian (Jalali) Calendar Converter

Duke Blogs and Podcasts

• Nomads of North Carolina
• Muslims in America - Podcasts of SSRC-supported program on the future of Muslims in America

Primary Sources for Islamic Studies

Historical newspapers & periodicals, translation of the qur'an, islamic studies open access repositories, manuscripts:.

• Bibliothèque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc - Manuscripts
• Goussen Library Collection
• Islamic Heritage Project (IHP) - Harvard
• Islamic Manuscripts - Cambridge Digital Library
• Islamic Manuscripts Collection, Princeton University
• Islamic Manuscripts Collection, Princeton University: Shahnama
• Islamic Manuscripts from Mali (LC)
• Islamic Seals Database (Chester Beatty Library)
• King Saud University - Makhtota Manuscripts Library
• National Library of Medicine - Islamic Medical Manuscripts
• Shahnama Project, Cambridge University
• Tombouctou Manuscript Project
• Wellcome Arabic Manuscripts Online
• Yemeni Manuscript Digitization Initiative (Princeton)
• For more open acces manuscript collections, see: AMIR Alphabetical list of Open Access Islamic Manuscripts Collections

Digital Libraries:

• Ottoman Turkish Monographs (Duke Universit on Interet Archive Platform)
• Afghanistan Digital Library
• ذاكرة مصر المعاصرة

Periodicals:

• Periodicals of Hakki Tarikh Us Collection (Ottoman Turkish)

Librarian for Middle East, North Africa & Islamic Studies

Islamic Studies Theses

Researchers and librarians working in Islamic Studies will now for the first time have online access to more than 900 Ph.D theses in Islamic Studies, spanning over ten years. JISC, The Academy and The British Library have combined their resources to bring together Islamic Studies theses from universities across the UK and Ireland. More...

Online Theses

• DART-Europe E-theses Portal
• EThOS - e-theses online service
• Open Access - Theses and Dissertations
• Theses Canada Portal
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Islamic Studies

Individual database for islamic studies, resource guides, date converters, online arabic/islamic text databases.

• Reference Works/Bibliographies
• Quran & Hadith
• Islamic Art/Architecture
• Islam and Gender
• Muslims in America
• Religious Minorities
• Middle East Studies

In order of usefulness for Islamic Studies Research (note that general databases are at the bottom)

• Access to Mideast and Islamic Resources (AMIR) This project began as a consequence of a series of conversations in 2010 between Charles Jones and Peter Magierski at NYU about the need for a tool to assemble and distribute information on open access material relating to the Middle East.
• Minassian Collection of Quranic Manuscripts This database catalogues the holdings of over 200 Qur’anic manuscript folios dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries housed within the special collections of the Brown University libraries.
• Western Travelers in the Islamic World Accounts of travel are a popular and accessible source for research on historical relations between “East” and “West” and are attractive for specialists and non-specialists alike. In the pre-modern period a large number of such accounts were published all over Europe. Predominantly covering the Ottoman Empire, the collection also stretches into Ethiopia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, North Africa, and of course Iran.
• Pars Times ME resource Guide Extensive and well organized collection of links about the Middle East. Particularly rich is its Middle East media section. Also a strong section for governmental reports of interest to political scientists and others in the social sciences.
• Middle East Virtual Library -- Menalib An information portal for Middle East, North African, and Islamic Studies. It provides access to electronic fulltext materials or electronic bibliographical records of printed materials and manuscripts.
• Islamic Heritage Project Harvard University has cataloged, conserved, and digitized hundreds of Islamic manuscripts, maps, and published texts from Harvard’s renowned library and museum collections. These rare—and frequently unique—materials are now freely available to Internet users worldwide.
• Conversion of Coptic and Julian Dates (Zurich U.)
• Conversion of Islamic and Christian Dates (Zurich U.)
• Convert Gregorian or Julian Dates to Hijri Dates
• Convert Hijri Dates to Gregorian or Julian Dates
• Gregorian-Hijri Date Converter (Islamic Finder)
• Iranian (Jalali) Calendar Converter
• Al-Waraq A searchable database of several hundred classical Arabic texts.
• Al-Mostafa Database of downloadable PDFs of Arabic texts, modern and classical.
• Modern Egypt Library Alexandria library database of searchable texts
• al-Maktabah al-Shamilah downloadable library, comprising thousands of Arabic texts.
• al-Mishkat Searchable database of classical Arabic texts.
• Digital Persian Archive A database of Persian historical documents from Iran and Central Asia up to the 20th century.
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Islamic Studies: Special Topics

• Getting Started
• Koran (Qur'an)
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Oxford Islamic Studies Online

Nation of islam.

Keyword Suggestions

• Nation of Islam :  Nation of Islam or black muslims or Malcolm X or Farrakhan or african american

Online Fatwa Sites

• Fatwa Online "Our aim is to make available online, [officially-published fataawa ] and many other fataawa in the English language for the first time!"

To find other books similar to these go to the LibrarySearch record for the item you like and find the LC Subject Headings for the item you like.  Try searching for these.

Women and Islam

• Additional terms could include specific regions or countries or ethnicities: Arab or middle eastern or middle east or Turkey or Pakistan
• Women : woman or female or wife or wives or mother or sister or daughter
• Social Conditions :  social conditions or sex role or social aspects or veil or veils or dress or legal status or rights social life or religious aspects or fundamentalism or gender studies

Films on Demand - Streaming

• Women in Islam Streaming Video Database Throughout the Islamic world, growing numbers of women are demanding education and equal opportunities-a stance that sometimes places them in conflict with their societies. In this episode, we look at the experiences of Muslim women in Turkey, where the traditional headscarf has become a symbol of the country's struggle between the forces of secularism and religion. In Israel, activists are fighting to stop honor killings in the country's Muslim communities. And in Toronto, a developer has created an entire Muslim suburb in an effort to merge traditional Islam with contemporary Canadian society.

Law (Shar'iah): Monographs at Schoenecker Law Library (UST)

UST Library Resources about Terrorism

• Research Guide by Merrie Davidson of UST Libraries
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• Research Guides

Islamic Manuscript Studies

Reading lists.

• Finding catalogues
• Bio-bibliographical surveys
• Digitized collections online
• Catalogues online
• Manuscript Collection Research Guides
• Islamic Manuscripts in North America
• Arabic Script Palaeography
• Manuscript Description
• Bibliographical Resources
• Watermarked papers
• Associations, Institutes and Research Initiatives
• Digital Tools

Not intended to be comprehensive, but to provide an introduction to each subject  with additional depth for those who desire it, with some topics covered more extensively than others.

For further readings, consult the relevant sections of Déroche et al.  Islamic Codicology  (2006) (chapter footnotes and "Guide to Further Reading"), Gacek's Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008), additional bibliographies listed topically, and the latest issues of the Journal of Islamic Manuscripts.  

Overview Studies on Codicology and History of the Book

Afshar, Iraj. "Manuscripts in the Domain of the Persian Language." In  General Introduction to Persian Literature,  Ed. J.T.P.de Bruijn (London & New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009): 408-429

Amat, Akbar et al.  A Handbook of Chaghatay manuscript transcription . Lawrence, KS: Annotating Turki Manuscripts from the Jarring Collection Online (ATMO). Version 1 (2018-06-03)  available online  

Arnold, Thomas and Adolf Grohmann. The Islamic Book: A Contribution to its Art and History from the VII-XVIII Century . [Paris] : The Pegasus Press, 1929.

Atiyeh, George N., Ed. The Book in the Islamic World : The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East . Albany : State University of New York Press, 1995.

Berthold, Cornelius. "Approaching the Last Decades of Arabic Manuscript Culture (1870–1930): The Content of Handwritten and Printed Books."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts  15, 2 (2024): 145-208

Codicologica : [ towards a science of handwritten books = vers une science du manuscrit = Bausteine zur Handschriftenkunde ], Eds. A. Gruys and J. P. Gumbert. Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1976-1980.

COMSt Handbook =   Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction , Eds. Alessandro Bausi et al. Hamburg: Tredition, 2015. Available online  http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/COMST/handbookonline.html  

Déroche, François, et al. Manuel de codicologie des manuscrits en écriture arabe . [Paris] : Bibliothèque nationale de France, c2000.

-------. al-Madkhal ilá ʻilm al-kitāb al-makhṭūṭ bi-al-ḥarf al-ʻArabī . Landan : Muʼassasat al-Furqān lil-Turāth al-Islāmī, 2005.

-------. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script . London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006.

------- and Valentina Sagaria Rossi.  I manoscritti in caratteri arabi . Roma : Viella, 2012.

Déroche, François. Le livre manuscrit arabe : préludes à une histoire . Paris: [Paris] : Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2004.

Endress, Gerhard. "Handschriftenkunde." In Grundriss der arabischen Philologie , Ed. Wolfdietrich Fischer (Wiesbaden : Reichert, c1982-), Bd. 1 Sprachwissenschaft, 271-315.

Gacek, Adam. "A Select Bibliography of Arabic Language Publications Concerning Arabic Manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East (MME) 1 (1986): 106-108.

-------. The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: A Glossary of Technical Terms and Bibliography. Leiden: Brill, 2001.

-------. “Manuscripts.” In Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia , Ed. Josef W. Meri (New York: Routledge, 2006): vol.2, 474-476.

-------. The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: A Glossary of Technical Terms and Bibliography – Supplement . Leiden: Brill, 2008.

-------. Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers . Leiden: Brill, 2009.

Ghelichkhani, Hamid Reza (Ḥamīd Riz̤ā Qilīchʹkhānī).  Zarʹafshān : farhang-i iṣṭilāḥāt va tarkībāt-i khūshnivīsī, kitābʹārāyī va nuskhahʹpardāzī dar shiʻr-i Fārsī = Zar afshān: a dictionary of terms relating to calligraphy, ornament, and the making of manuscripts as found in classical Persian poetry.  Tihrān: Farhang-i Muʻāṣir, 2013. 

--------. A  Handbook of Persian Calligraphy and Related Arts,  edited by Shervin Farridnejad and translated by Rebecca Stengel. Leiden: Brill, [2021].

Gruendler , Beatrice. " Aspects of Craft in the Arabic Book Revolution." In  Globalization of Knowledge in the Post-Antique Mediterranean, 700-1500 , edited by Sonja  Brentjes  and J ürg e n   Renn  ( L ondon and New York:  Routledg e ,  2016):  3 1-66.

--------. The Rise of the Arabic Book. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020. 

al-Ḥalwajī, ʻAbd al-Sattār. Naḥwa ʻilm makhṭūṭāt ʻArabī . al-Qahirah: Dar al-Qahirah, 2004.

Laroque, Claude, Ed. La peinture et l’écrit au Moyen-Orient, supports et tracés. Paris: HiCSA, 2018. en ligne  

• Claude Laroque,Préface 3 
• Yves Porter, Papiers de l'Iran et de l'Inde : archéologies impalpables de témoins discrets 4 
• Justine Faucon, L'Espagne, centre papetier entre Orient et Occident 22 
• Nourane Ben Azzouna et Aurélia Streri, Le manuscrit arabe : codicologie, paléographie et histoire. Organisation d’une école d’été à la Bibliothèque Nationale de Tunisie 34 
• Elise Voguet, Travailler sur les manuscrits du Touat : Expérience de recherche dans les bibliothèques privées (khizānāt) du Sahara algérien 55 
• Hélène Merlet-Oumanni, Regard sur le livre islamique 66 
• Morgane Royo, « De vers persans en vert perçant ». Étude matérielle d’un manuscrit persan d’époque séfévide – Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire de Médecine de Montpellier 84
• Amélie Couvrat Desvergnes, Pratiques anciennes de préservation et enjeux de la conservation actuelle : étude des éléments historiques rencontrés dans les manuscrits islamiques 103 
• Aïda El Khiari et Eloïse Brac de la Perrière, Lumières croisées sur un manuscrit arabe inédit : le Kalīla wa Dimna de la collection S. 122 

Maniaci, Marilena and Paola F. Munafo, Eds. Ancient and medieval book materials and techniques (Eria, 18-25 septembre 1992), 2 vols. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1993 [ Studi e testi 357-358].

Manuscript Cultures: Mapping the Field , Eds. Jörg Quenzer, Dmitry Bondarev, and Jan-Ulrich Sobisch. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014.

Manuscripts and Arabic-script writing in Africa = المخطوطات والكتابة بالحرف العربي في إفريقيا, edited by Charles Stewart and Ahmed-Chouqui Binebine. Cambridge: The Islamic Manuscripts Association, 2023. 

Pedersen, Johannes. The Arabic Book . translated by Geoffrey French. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.

Richard, Francis. Le livre persan . Paris : Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2003.

Roper, Geoffrey. "The History of the Book in the Muslim World." In The Oxford Companion to the Book , Eds. Michael F.Suarez and H.R.Woudhuysen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010): 321-339.

Roberts, Colin H. and T. C. Skeat. The Birth of the Codex. London: Oxford University Press, c1983.

Roper, Geoffrey, Ed. The History of the Book in the Middle East. Farnam: Ashgate, 2013.

Roxburgh, David J. “Books.” In Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia , Ed. Josef  W. Meri (New York: Routledge, 2006): vol.1, 114-117.

Ṣafarī Āqʹqalʻah, ʻAlī.  Nuskhahʹshinākht: pizhūhishnāmah-ʼi nuskhahʹshināsī-i nusakh-i khaṭṭī-i Fārsī  [=  Handbook of Persian codicology: an introduction to the study of Persian manuscripts ] bā muqaddamah-ʼi Īraj Afshār. Tihrān: Markaz-i Pizhūhishī-i Mīrās̲-i Maktūb, 2011.

al-Sāmarrāʾī, Qāsim.  ʻIlm al-iktināh al-ʻArabī al-Islāmī.  al-Riyāḍ: Markaz al-Malik Fayṣal lil-Buḥūth wa-al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmīyah, 2001.

Sayyid, Ayman Fuʾād. al-Kitāb al-ʻArabī al-makhṭūṭ wa-ʻilm al-makhṭūṭāt. al-Qāhirah : al-Dār al-Miṣrīyah al-Lubnānīyah, 1997.

Waley, Muhammad Isa. "Problems and Possibilities in Dating Persian Manuscripts." In Les manuscrits du Moyen-Orient: essais de codicologie et paléographie. Actes du Colloque d'Istanbul (Istanbul, 26-29 mai 1986). François Déroche, ed. (Paris: Institut français d’études anatoliennes et Bibliothèque Nationale, 1989): 7-15.

Bindings and Bookmaking

"VII. 8. Bookbinding" pp.242-246 and "VII. 5. Lacquer" pp.240-241 " in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) 

"VII. 6. Bookbinding" pp.148-149 in Gacek,  The Arabic Manuscript Tradition - Supplement (2008)

Hepworth, Paul. Bibliography on Islamic Papers, Book Structures, Pigments and their Conservation. Available online at http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/extresources/bibliographies/ConservationBibliographies.html                                 

Jacobs, David. Islamic Bibliography [Bookbinding, Conservation, Paper, Painting, Calligraphy and Qurans, History]. Available online at http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/extresources/bibliographies/ArtsOfTheBook.pdf

Historical Arabic treatises (listed chronologically)

ʻUmdat al-kuttāb wa-ʿuddat dhawī al-albāb attributed to al-Muʽizz Ibn Badīs (d.454/1062):

Ibn Bādīs, al-Muʻizz. "ʻUmdat al-kuttāb wa-ʻuddat dhawī al-albāb." Ed. ʻAbd al-Sattār al-Ḥalwajī and ʻAlī ʻAbd al-Muḥsin Zakī. Majallat Maʻhad al-Makhṭūṭāt al-ʻArabīyah 17 (1971): 44-172.

-----. ʻUmdat al-kuttāb wa-ʻuddat dhawī al-albāb. Ed. Iyād Khālid al-Ṭabbāʻ. Dimashq: Wizārat al-Thaqāfah fī al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah al-Sūrīyah, 2007.

Bosch, Gulnar. "The staff of the scribes and the implements of the discerning: an excerpt." Ars Orientalis, 4 (1961): 1-13.

Levey, Martin. Mediaeval Arabic Bookmaking and Its Relation to Early Chemistry and Pharmacology . Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 52, 4. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1962.

Kitāb al-Taysīr fī ṣināʻat al-tasfīr attributed to Bakr ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ishbīlī (d.628 or 9 / 1230-1 or 1231-2):

al-Ishbīlī, Bakr ibn Ibrāhīm. Kitāb al-Taysīr fī ṣināʻat al-tasfīr. Ed. Kanūn, ʿAbd Allāh. Revista del Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Islámicos en Madrid ( = Ṣaḥīfat Majallat al-Maʻhad al-Miṣrī lil-Dirāsāt al-Islāmīyah fī Madrīd) 7-8 (1959-60): 1-42, 197-199.

-----. Kitāb al-Taysīr fī ṣināʻat al-tasfīr. Ed. al-Saʻīd Bin-Mūsá. al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ: Maṭbaʻat al-Najāḥ al-Jadīdah, 1999.

Gacek, Adam. "Arabic Bookmaking and Terminology as Portrayed by Bakr al-Ishbīlī in his Kitāb al-taysīr fī ṣināʻat al-tasfīr." Manuscripts of the Middle East 5 (1990-1991): 106-113.

al-Mukhtaraʽ fī funūn min al-ṣunaʽ attributed to al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Yūsuf ibn ʻUmar al-Ghassānī (d.694/1294):

Gacek, Adam. "Instructions on the art of bookbinding attributed to the Rasulid ruler of Yemen al-Malik al-Muẓaffar." Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient. Ed. François Déroche and Francis Richard. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1997): 57-63.

al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Yūsuf ibn ʻUmar. al-Mukhtaraʻ fī funūn min al-ṣunaʻ, ed. Muḥammad ʻĪsā Ṣāliḥiyya. al-Kuwayt: Muʼassasat al-Shirāʻ al-ʻArabī, 1989.

Tadbīr al-safīr fī ṣināʿat al-tasfīr attributed to Ibn Abī Ḥamīdah (or Ḥumaydah, fl.9th/15th cent.):

Gacek, Adam. "Ibn Abī Ḥamīdah's didactic poem for bookbinders." Manuscripts of the Middle East, 6 (1991): 41-58.

Ṣināʻat tasfīr al-kutub wa-ḥall al-dhahab attributed to Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Sufyānī (fl.1029/1619):

al-Sufyānī, Abī al-ʻAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad. Ṣināʻat tasfīr al-kutub wa-ḥall al-dhahab. Ed. Prosper Ricard. Paris: P. Geuthner, 1925.

Levey, Martin. "Translation of Abū'l-ʻAbbās Aḥmed ibn Muḥammed al Sufyānī Ṣināʻat tasfīr al-kutub wa-ḥall al-dhahab (Art of Bookbinding and of Gilding) from the Arabic text published by P. Ricard, 1925." In Mediaeval Arabic Bookmaking and Its Relation to Early Chemistry and Pharmacology . Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 52, 4 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1962): 51-55.

Kayfīyat tasfīr al-kutub attributed to ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz ibn Abī Bakr al-Rasmūkī (d.1065/1654):

al-Rasmūkī, ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz ibn Abī Bakr ibn Aḥmad ibn Yaʻqūb. Kayfīyat tasfīr al-kutub. Ed. al-Saʻīd Binmūsá. [Rabat]: al-Saʻīd Binmūsá, 2008.

Secondary Studies

Afshar, Iraj. “Inscriptions on the Covers of Handwritten Books.” Anthology Of Iranian Studies / Majmūʿah-i Maqālāt Muṭālaʿāt Īrānī 8 (2004): 1-40.

-----. “Inscriptions on the Covers of Islamic Manuscripts: An Introductory Study." Manuscripta Orientalia 10, 1 (2004): 42-51.

-----. “Bookbinding (article 2).” Encyclopaedia Iranica (Online Edition). 20 July 2005, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bookbinding-sahhafi-jeld-sazi-2 .

-----., ed. Ṣaḥḥāfī-i Sunnatī: Majmūʻahʼi Pānzdah Guftār va Kitābshināsī dar Bārah-ʼi Varrāqī, Ṣaḥḥāfī, Vaṣṣālī, Mujallidgarī az Yādgārhā-yi Hunar-i Īrānī va Islāmī. Tihrān : Kitābkhānah-ʼi Markazī va Markaz-i Asnād-i Dānishgāh-i Tihrān, 1357 [1978].  

Aga-Oglu, Mehmet. Persian Bookbindings of the Fifteenth Century. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1935.

Akimushkin, O. F. "Central Asian manuscripts' bindings (1730s-1930s)." Manuscripta Orientalia 7 / 3 (2001): 4-8.

Aslanapa, Oktay. "The Art of Bookbinding." In The Arts of the Book in Central Asia 14th-16th Centuries , Ed. Basil Gray (Boulder, CO: Shambhala / UNESCO, 1979): 59-91.

Arıtan, Ahmet Sâim. "Türk Cild San'atı. The Turkish Art of Book Binding." In Türk Kitap Medeniyeti. Turkish Book Civilization, ed. Alper Çeker (Istanbul: İstanbul Büyük Belediyesi Kültür A.Ş., 2008): 60-97.

Bādaḥdaḥ, Mājid ibn ʻAbbūd.  Ṣināʻat al-kitāb wa-al-kitābah fī al-Ḥijāz.  [al-Riyāḍ]: Muʼassasat al-Furqān lil-Turāth al-Islāmī, Farʻ Mawsūʻat Makkah al-Mukarramah wa-al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, 2006. (2 v.)

Barakat, Heba Nayel et al. Islamic Bookbinding . Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2017. (Catalogue of an exhibition launched at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia on 8th May 2017)

Bardenstein, Ruth. "Samaritan Bindings of the Chamberlain-Warren Samaritan Collection." In  Suave Mechanicals : Essays on the History of Bookbinding,  Volume 3, edited by Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2016): 62-159

--------. "Samaritan Manuscript Bindings from Four Collections in the United States." In  Suave Mechanicals : Essays on the History of Bookbinding, Volume 5, edited by Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2019): 30-65

Barkeshli, Mandana, Mostafa Rostami, and Sadra Zekrgoo. "Characteristics of Traditional Persian Lacquered Bindings and Specific Deterioration Issues" Restaurator 44, 4 (2023): 295-343

Baydar, Nil. "Structural Features and Conservation Problems of Turkish Manuscripts and Suggestions for Solutions." In Works of Art on Paper: Books, Documents and Photographs: Techniques and Conservation. Contributions to the Baltimore Congress 2-6 September 2002, ed. Vincent Daniels, Alan Donnithorne and Perry Smith (London: International Institute for Conservation, 2002): 5-10.

-----. "Documentation and Conservation of an Islamic Manuscript from the Eleventh Century." In Care and Conservation of Manuscripts 9: Proceedings of the Ninth International Seminar held at the University of Copenhagen 14th-15th April 2005, ed. Gillian Fellows-Jensen and Peter Springborg (Copenhagen : Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006): 37-48.

-----. "Newly Identified Techniques in the Production of Islamic Manuscripts." In Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean: Contributions to the Istanbul Congress, 20-24 September 2010, ed. Christina Rozeik, Ashok Roy, and David Saunders. (London: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 2010): 69-73.

Benson, Jake. “Satisfying an Appetite for Books: Innovation, Production, and Modernization in Later Islamic Bookbinding.” In Persian Language, Literature, and Culture: New Leaves, Fresh Looks, Ed. Kamran Talattof (London: Routledge, 2015): 365-394.

Beny, Ana, Teresa Espejo Arias, and Juan Pablo Arias Torres. "Andalusi Binding: A Model of Islamic Binding from the Iberian Peninsula, 14th–16th Century." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 6, 2-3 (2015): 157-173.

----- and Kristine Rose Beers. "An Inspiration for Conservation: An Historic Andalusi Binding Structure." In  Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding, Volume 3 , ed. Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2016): 160-195.

Binmūsá, al-Saʻīd.  Muḥāḍarāt fī ṣināʻat tasfīr al-kitāb al-Islāmī al-makhṭūṭ wa-ṣiyānatih.  [al-Rabāṭ : s.n., 2008].

Bondarev, Dmitry. "Loose-leaf Islamic Manuscripts of West Africa: Retention, Adaptation or Invention?" In  Tied and Bound: A Comparative View on Manuscript Binding , edited by Alessandro Bausi and Michael Friedrich (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2023): 285-299  available online open access

"Bookbinding," In François Déroche, et al. Islamic Codicology: an Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script (London : Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 253-310.

Bosch, Gulnar K. "Islamic Bookbindings: Twelfth to Seventeenth Centuries." PhD diss., The University of Chicago, 1952.

-----. “Medieval Islamic Bookbinding: Doublures as a Dating Factor.” In Proceedings of the twenty-sixth International Congress of Orientalists, New Delhi , January 4-10, 1964. Vol. IV (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1964): 217-221.

-----. "'The Staff of the Scribes and Implements of the Discerning:' An Excerpt." Ars Orientalis IV (1991): 1-13.

Bosch, Gulnar, John Carswell, and Guy Petherbridge. Islamic Bindings and Bookmaking: a Catalogue of an Exhibition, The Oriental Institute, The University of Chicago, May 18-August 18, 1981. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. (available online  http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/IslamicBindings.pdf ) 

Castilla, Nuria de and Déroche, François. "About a Series of Late Medieval Moroccan Bindings" In  Exploring Written Artefacts: Objects, Methods, and Concepts  edited by Jörg B. Quenzer (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021): 405-422 available online open access  https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110753301-021

Chabrov, G.N. "On the study of Central Asian book-binding." Manuscripta Orientalia 6, no. iv (2000): 60-66.

Couvrat Desvergnes, Amélie. "Guṭakās from North-Western India: An Introduction to their Structures and Materials." In Tied and Bound: A Comparative View on Manuscript Binding , edited by Alessandro Bausi and Michael Friedrich (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2023): 191-228 available online open access

D'Ottone, Arianna. "Some remarks on Yemeni medieval bookbindings." In  Arabica 2007, Ed. Angelo Arioli (Rome: Nuova Cultura & Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", Facoltà di Studi Orientali, 2007): 47-65 (available online http://www.fsor.it/lasapor/online/vlm/arabica_2007/dottone.pdf )

de Vries, Herre. "Reading the Book’s History. Understanding the Repairs and Rebindings on Islamic Manuscripts in the Vatican Library and Their Implications for Conservation." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 7, 3 (2016): 339 – 383.

di Bella, Marco. "An Attempt at Reconstruction of Early Islamic Bookbinding: The Box Binding." In Care and Conservation of Manuscripts 12. Proceedings of the Twelfth International Seminar Held at the University of Copenhagen 14th-16th October 2009 , ed. Matthew Driscoll (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011): 99-115. 

-----. "From Box Binding to Envelope-Flap Binding: The Missing Link in Transitional Islamic Bookbinding." In Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding, Volume 3 , ed. Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2016): 264-279. 

Dreibholz, Ursula. "Some Aspects of Early Islamic Bookbindings from the Great Mosque of Sana'a, Yemen." In Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient , ed. François Déroche and Francis Richard (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1997): 15-34.

Edwards, Holly. “Qajar Lacquerware.” In Islamic Art from Michigan Collections , ed. Carol Garrett Fisher and Alan Washburn Fisher (Lansing, MI: Kresge Art Gallery, Michigan State University, 1982): 48-56.

Ettinghausen, Richard. “The Covers of the Morgan Manâfiʻ Manuscript and Other Early Persian Bookbindings.” In Studies in Art and Literature for Belle da Costa Greene, ed. Dorothy Miner (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1954): 459-473.

-----. “Near Eastern Book Covers and Their Influence on European Bindings: A Report on the Exhibition ‘History of Bookbinding’ at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 1957-58.” Ars Orientalis 3 (1959): 113-131.

Fischer, Barbara. "Sewing and Endband in the Islamic Technique of Binding." Restaurator 7, 4 (1986): 181-201

-----. "Ibn Abī Ḥamīdah's Didactic Poem for Bookbinders." Manuscripts of the Middle East 6 (1991): 41-58.

-----. "Instructions on the Art of Bookbinding Attributed to the Rasulid Ruler of Yemen al-Malik al-Muẓaffar." In Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient, ed. François Déroche and Francis Richard (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1997): 57-63.

-----. "Scribes, Amanuenses, and Scholars. A Bibliographic Survey of Published Arabic Literature from the Manuscript Age on Various Aspects of Penmanship, Bookmaking, and the Transmission of Knowledge" Manuscripta Orientalia 10, ii (2004): 3-29.

Gardner, K. B. “Three Early Islamic Bookbindings.” British Museum Quarterly 26 (1962): 28-30.

Gast, Monika. “A History of Endbands: Based on a Study by Karl Jäckel” The New Bookbinder  3 (1983): 42-58.

Greenfield, Jane and Jenny Hille. Endbands from East to West: How to Work Them.  New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2017. (3rd ed of Headbands: how to work them)

Gruendler, Beatrice. "Aspects of Craft in the Arabic Book Revolution." In  Globalization of Knowledge in the Post-Antique Mediterranean, 700-1500 , edited by Sonja Brentjes and Jürgen Renn (London and New York: Routledge, 2016): 31-66.

Haldane, Duncan. Islamic Bookbindings in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London : World of Islam Festival Trust in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983.

-----. “Bookbinding (article 1).” Encyclopaedia Iranica, IV/4 pp. 363-365 ( available online ) 

Hobbs, Lindsey. "Persian Lacquer Bindings." The New Bookbinder 35 (2015): 49-56

Jacobs, David. "Middle Eastern Bookbinding - The Islamic Book." In Contributions to the Symposium on the Care and Conservation of Middle Eastern manuscripts, The University of Melbourne, Australia, 26-27 November 2008 (Melbourne: Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, The University of Melbourne, 2008): 14-21.

Kropf, Evyn. “Historical Repair, Recycling, and Recovering Phenomena in the Islamic Bindings of The University of Michigan Library: Exploring the Codicological Evidence.” In Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding vol. I , ed. Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2013): 1-41.

Manūnī, Muḥammad.  Tārīkh al-wirāqah al-Maghribīyah :ṣināʻat al-makhṭūṭ al-Maghribī min al-ʻaṣr al-wasīṭ ilá al-fatrah al-muʻāṣirah . al-Rabāṭ : al-Mamlakah al-Maghribīyah, Jāmiʻat Muḥammad al-Khāmis, Kullīyat al-Ādāb wa-al-ʻUlūm al-Insānīyah, 1991.

Özen, Mine Esiner. Türk Cilt Sanatı. Ankara: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1998.

Ohta, Alison. “Filigree Bindings of the Mamluk Period.” Muqarnas 21, Essays in Honor of J. M. Rogers (2004): 267-276

Pankhurst, Richard. "The Manuscript Bindings of Harar: A Preliminary Examination." Azania: Journal Of The British Institute In Eastern Africa 22 (1987): 47-54.

Petersen, Theodore C. "Early Islamic Bookbindings and Their Coptic Relations." Ars Orientalis 1 (1954): 41-64

Plummer, David, Paul Hepworth, and Karin Scheper. "Between Bag and Box: Characteristics and Conservation Issues of the Islamic Slipcase." In Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding Volume 8 , edited by Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2023): 458-509  

Polosin, Val V. “Muslim bindings with al-Khalidiyani double borders.” Manuscripta Orientalia 2, 2 (1996): 9-12

Pugliese, Silvia. "Islamic Bookbindings in the Manuscript Collection of the Marciana National Library in Venice." In Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean: Contributions to the Istanbul Congress, 20-24 September 2010, eds. Christina Rozeik, Ashok Roy, and David Saunders (London: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 2010): 50-55.

Quickel, Anthony T. "Making Tools for Transmission: Mamluk and Ottoman Cairo’s Papermakers*, Copyists and Booksellers."  Eurasian Studies  15, 2 (2017): 304-319 [* or paper sellers ie stationers]

Raby, Julian and Zeren Tanındı. Turkish Bookbinding in the 15th century: the Foundation of an Ottoman Court Style. London: Azimuth Editions, on behalf of l'Association Internationale de Bibliophilie, 1993.

Robinson, Basil W. “Qajar Lacquer.” Muqarnas 6 (1989): 131-146.

Rogers, Mary Eliza. "Books and Book-binding in Syria and Palestine. Part II." The Art Journal 30 (1868): 113-115.

Rose, Kristine. "Conservation of the Turkish Collection at the Chester Beatty Library: a New Study of Turkish Book Construction," In Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean: Contributions to the Istanbul Congress, 20-24 September 2010, ed. Christina Rozeik, Ashok Roy, and David Saunders (London: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 2010): 45-49.

Russo, Maria Luisa. "Islamic Bookbindings in the University of Turin. Some Particular Features and Preservation Issues" Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 6, 1 (2015): 47-65

Scheper, Karin. "Refining the Classification of Islamic Manuscript Structures" In  New Approaches to Book and Paper Conservation-Restoration , ed. Patricia Engel, et al. (Horn/Wien: Verlag Berger, 2011): 357-383.

--------. "Three Very Specific Binding Features, Shedding New Light on Islamic Manuscript Structures." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 4, 1 (2013): 82-109.

--------. The Technique of Islamic Bookbinding: Methods, Materials and Regional Varieties . Leiden: Brill, 2015.

--------. "Endband Varieties in the Islamic World." In Suave Mechanicals : Essays on the History of Bookbinding, Volume 5 , edited by Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2019): 352-430 

--------. "Bindings, Bags and Boxes: Sewn and Unsewn Manuscript Formats in the Islamic World." In  Tied and Bound: A Comparative View on Manuscript Binding , edited by Alessandro Bausi and Michael Friedrich (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2023): 121-154 available online open access

Scheper, Karin and Arnoud Vrolijk. "Made in China. Physical Aspects of Islamic Manuscripts from Xinjiang in Leiden University Library."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts  2, 1 (2011): 50-69.

Stanley, Tim. "The Rise of the Lacquer Binding." In  Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran 1501-1576,  Ed. Jon Thompson and Sheila R. Canby (Milano: Skira, 2003): 184-201.

Szirmai, J.A. "The Islamic Codex." In The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding (Aldershot, Hants : Ashgate, c1999): 51-61.

Tanındı, Zeren. "Manuscript Production in the Ottoman Palace Workshop." Manuscripts of the Middle East 5, (1990-1991): 67-98.

_____. "Safavid Bookbinding." In  Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran 1501-1576,  Ed. Jon Thompson and Sheila R. Canby (Milano: Skira, 2003): 154-183.

-----. "Gilding and Binding in the Muslim World." In Arts and Crafts in the Muslim World. Proceedings of the International Congress on Islamic Arts and Crafts, Isfahan, 04-09 October, 2002 , ed. Nazeih Taleb Maarouf, Semiramis Çavuşoğlu (Istanbul, 2008): 397-412.

Uluslararası cilt sanatı buluşması sempozyumu, edited by Ahmet Akcan. 2 vols. İstanbul : İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kültür ve Sosyal İşler Daire Başkanlığı Kültür Müdürlüğü, 2014.

Vasilyeva, O. “Gilt-stamped Bindings of the Last Quarter of the 16th Century and the Qazwin Workshop” Manuscripta Orientalia 15, 2 (2009): 38-56.

Viola, Natalia. "Reliures islamiques: specificités soudanaises." Histoire et civilisation du livre: Revue internationale 5 (2009): 357-374.

Weisweiler, Max. Der Islamische Bucheinband des Mittelalters . Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1962.

Wright, Elaine. The Look of the Book: Manuscript Production in Shiraz, 1303-1452 . Washington, D.C. : Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution ; Seattle : University of Washington Press, 2012.

Calligraphy

See also "VII. 2. Calligraphy" in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008)

Ahmad, Aftab. Islamic Calligraphy: Noon-wal-Qalam. Translated by Sajjad Haidar Malik. Rawalpindi : [A. Ahmad], 1984. 

Afā, ʻUmar, and Muḥammad Maghrāwī. al-Khaṭṭ al-Maghribī: Tārīkh wa-wāqiʻ wa-āfāq . Casablanca: Wizārat al-Awqāf wa-al-Shuʼūn al-Islāmīyah, 2007.

Akimushkin, Oleg F. "The sources of ‘The treatise on calligraphers and painters’ by Qāẓī Aḥmad Qumī." Manuscripta Orientalia 1/1 (1995): 5-11.

-------. "Muraqqaʻ. Album of Indian and Persian miniatures of the 16-18th centuries and the models of the Persian calligraphy of the same period." Manuscripta Orientalia 1/3 (1995): 63-67.

-------. "The calligraphy of the St. Petersburg album." In The St. Petersburg muraqqaʿ: album of Indian and Persian miniatures from the 16th through the 18th century and specimens of Persian calligraphy by ʿImād al-Ḥasanī , v.2 Commentary (Lugano: ARCH Foundation; Milan: Leonardo Arte, 1996): 39-46.

Akin-Kivanç, Esra. Muthanna / Mirror Writing in Islamic Calligraphy: History, Theory, and Aesthetics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2020.

Baig, Noman. "The Pen’s Screech: Muslim Spiritual Practice of Arabic Calligraphy" HAZINE 30 August 2021 online

Ben Azzouna, Nourane. Aux origines du classicisme: Calligraphes et bibliophiles au temps des dynasties mongoles (Les Ilkhanides et les Djalayirides 656-814 / 1258-1411) . Leiden: Brill, 2018.

Blair, Sheila. Islamic Calligraphy . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, c2006.

Bongianino, Umberto.  The Manuscript Tradition of the Islamic West: Maghribi Round Scripts and the Andalusi Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022. 

--------. "Vehicles of Cultural Identity: Some Thoughts on Maghribi Scripts and Manuscripts in the Mashriq." In The Maghrib in the Mashriq: Knowledge, Travel and Identity,  edited by Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas (Berlin: De Gruyter 2021): 455-476

Creating Standards : Interactions with Arabic script in 12 manuscript cultures , edited by Dmitry Bondarev, Alessandro Gori and Lameen Souag. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2019 ( available online open access )

Couvrat Desvergnes, Amélie. "Cut-Out Calligraphy from the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries: Discussion of Its Origins and Significance and Observations on the Techniques and Tools Used."  Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World  2, 1-2 (2021): 3-31 available online open access

Derman, M. Uğur. "The Art of Turkish calligraphy." In Letters in gold : Ottoman calligraphy from the Sakıp Sabancı collection, Istanbul (New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art : Distributed by H.N. Abrams, c1998): 2-44.

Déroche, François. "İstanbul seen from Cairo." In M.Uğur Derman armağanı: altmışbeşinci yaşı münasebetiyle sunulmuş tebliğler [= M.Uğur Derman Festschrift: papers presented on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday] , Ed. İrvin Cemil Schick (Istanbul: Sabancı Üniversitesi İletişim Merkezi, 2000): 261-270.

Dobronravin, Nikolai. “Design Elements and Illuminations in Nigerian ‘Market Literature’ in Arabic and ʿAjamī.”  Islamic Africa  8, i-ii (2017): 43–69.

Ekhtiar, Maryam. "Practice makes perfect: the art of calligraphy exercises ( Siyāh mashq ) in Iran." Muqarnas 23, (2006): 107-130.

_____. How to Read Islamic Calligraphy . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018.

Ernst, Carl W. "The spirit of Islamic calligraphy: Bābā Shāh Iṣfahānī's Adāb al-mashq." Journal Of The American Oriental Society 112, 2 (1992): 279-286.

Frembgen, Jürgen Wasim, editor. The Aura of Alif: the Art of Writing in Islam . Munich ; New York : Prestel, 2010.

Gacek, Adam. "Al-Nuwayrī's classification of Arabic scripts." Manuscripts Of The Middle East 2 (1987): 126-130.

-------. "Arabic scripts and their characteristics as seen through the eyes of Mamluk authors." Manuscripts Of The Middle East 4 (1989): 144-149.

George, Alain.  The Rise of Islamic Calligraphy. London: Saqi, 2010.

--------. Midad: the Public and Intimate Lives of Arabic Calligraphy. Beirut: Dar el-Nimer for Arts and Culture, 2017.

Mansour, Nassar.  Sacred Script: Muhaqqaq in Islamic Calligraphy. London : I.B. Tauris, 2011.

Meidani, Mahdiyeh. Persian Calligraphy: A Corpus Study of Letterforms. London: Routledge, 2019.

McWilliams, Mary and David J. Roxburgh. Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy In Practice, C. 1600-1900 . Houston,TX : Museum of Fine Arts ; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.

Qādī Aḥmad. Calligraphers and Painters: A Treatise by Qādī Aḥmad, Son of Mīr Munshī (circa A.H. 1015/A.D. 1606), translated from the Persian by V. Minorsky. Freer Gallery of Art Occasional Papers 3, 2. Washington, DC, 1959. Also available in I nteractive Online Edition  with introduction, illustrations, and updated bibliography (Simon Rettig et al, 2016)

Rettig, Simon.  Nasta‘liq: The Genius of Persian Calligraphy , exhibition September 13, 2014–May 3, 2015 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery ( online )

Roxburgh, David J. The Persian Album, 1400-1600: From Dispersal to Collection . New Haven : Yale University Press, c2005.

Safadi, Yasin. Islamic Calligraphy.  London : Thames and Hudson, 1978.

Safwat, Nabil F. The Art of the Pen: Calligraphy of the 14th to 20th Centuries  London: Oxford University Press, 1996. (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, v.5)

Schimmel, Annemarie.  Calligraphy and Islamic Culture. New York: New York University Press, 1984.

--------. “Calligraphy and Sufism in Ottoman Turkey.” In The Dervish Lodge: Architecture, Art, and Sufism in Ottoman Turkey, edited by Raymond Lifchez (California: University of California Press, 1992): 242-252.

Schick, İrvin Cemil. "The iconicity of Islamic calligraphy in Turkey." Res (Anthropology And Aesthetics) 53-54, (2008): 211-224.

Soucek, Priscilla P. "The Arts of Calligraphy." In The Arts of the Book in Central Asia 14th-16th Centuries , Ed. Basil Gray (Boulder, CO: Shambhala / UNESCO, 1979): 7-34.

Suit, Natalia K. "Chapter 2. Pens, Letters, and Techniques of the Body." In Qur’anic Matters: Material Mediations and Religious Practice in Egypt (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020): 37–55.

Zakariya, Mohamed. "Islamic Calligraphy: A Technical Overview." In Brocade of the Pen: The Art of Islamic Writing , Ed. Carol Garrett Fisher (East Lansing, MI: Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, 1991): 1-17.

-------. “The Hilye of the Prophet Muhammad.” Seasons (Autumn-Winter 2003-4): 13-22.

Cataloguing

>> "X. Cataloguing" in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008)

>> "Chapter 4. Cataloguing" COMSt Handbook =   Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction , Eds. Alessandro Bausi et al. (Hamburg: Tredition, 2015): 467-537 Available online  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2RNTL2u2zMrLXYyU0RLeG1UejQ/view?usp=sharing

>> Cataloguing resources offered by The International Treasury of Islamic Manuscripts  Available online at  http://www.manuscript-treasury.net/content/cataloguing.xml?XSL.lastPage.SESSION=/content/cataloguing.xml

Adang, Camilla. "The Catalogue as Research Tool: The Arabic MSS from the Yahuda Collection at the JUNL." Israel Oriental Studies 19 (1999): 495-499.

Azimi, Habibollah and Ayoob Nazi. "The Status of Cataloguing Manuscripts in Large Libraries in Iran." Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services 35 (2011): 106–117.

Baker, Colin F. "Towards a Database of the Arabic Manuscripts in The British Library: A Case History." 66th IFLA Council and General Conference, Jerusalem, Israel, 13-16 August 2000 . International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, available online http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/087-141e.htm

Berthier, Annie and Marie Geneviève Guesdon. "Codicology and the History of Collections." In François Déroche, et al. Islamic Codicology: an Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic script (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 345–360

Birnbaum, Eleazar. "Turkish Manuscripts: Cataloguing Since 1960 and Manuscripts Still Uncatalogued. Part 1: The Berlin Catalogue." Journal of the American Oriental Society 103, no. 2 (April-June 1983): 413-420.

Gacek, Adam. "Some Remarks on the Cataloguing of Arabic Manuscripts." Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies) 10 (2) (1983): 173–179.

-----. "Appendix V. Describing the Manuscript." In Adam Gacek, Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers . (Leiden: Brill, 2009): 333–338.

Kucuk, Mehmet E., and Richard J. Hartley. "Towards a National Cooperative Cataloguing System for Manuscripts in Turkey." International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control 25, no. 3 (1996): 54-56.

Kulayb, Faḍl Jamīl and Fuʼād Muḥammad Khalīl ʻUbayd. al-Makhṭūṭāt al-ʻArabīyah: fahrasatuhā ʻilmīyan wa-ʻamalīyan . ʻAmmān: Dār Jarīr lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ, 2006.

Kut, Günay. "Some Aspects of the Cataloguing of Turkish Manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East 3, (1988): 60-68.

Musnik, Sara Yontan. "Ottoman Authors Revisited: Name Authority Records at the BnF [= Yeniden Ele Alınan Şekliyle Osmanlı Yazarları :  Fransız Ulusal Kütüphanesi ]."  Türk Kütüphaneciliği / Turkish Librarianship 26, 3 (2012): 564-577.

Pass, Gregory. Descriptive Cataloging of Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Manuscripts. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2003.

Rafi, Ali Mashhadi and Soode Samiepour. "The Role of Scribe Related Entries in Facilitating the Retrieval Process in Persian Manuscript Collections." IFLA World Library and Information Conference, 78th IFLA General Conference and Assembly 11-17 August 2012, Helsinki, Finland ( http://conference.ifla.org/past/ifla78/session-212.htm )

Seidensticker, Tilman. "Cataloguing Arabic Manuscripts for the Project ‘Katalogisierung der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland’" In  Exploring Written Artefacts: Objects, Methods, and Concepts  edited by Jörg B. Quenzer (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2021): 441-456 available online open access  https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110753301-023

Sellheim, Rudolf. "The Cataloguing of Arabic Manuscripts as a Literary Problem." Oriens 23 (1974): 306–311.

Şeşen, Ramazan. "Turkish Manuscripts and the Publication of Their Catalogues." In The Significance of Islamic Manuscripts. Proceedings of the Inaugural Conference of Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation 30th November-1st December 1991 , Ed. J.Cooper (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1992): 55-70.

Soltani, Poori. "Historical Aspects of Cataloging and Classification in Iran." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 35, 1 (2002): 187-207.

Soualah, Mohammed Ourabah and Mohamed Hassoun. "Which Metadata for Ancient Arabic Manuscripts Cataloguing?" In Metadata Harmonization: Bridging Languages of Descripton. 21-­23 September 2011, The Hague, Netherlands . Thomas Baker, Diane I. Hillmann and Antoine Isaac, eds. (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, 2011): 137-46. http://dcpapers.dublincore.org/index.php/pubs/article/view/3629

Türkmen, Hüseyin. Türkiye Kütüphaneleri Yazma Eserler Katalogları :1923-2006.  İstanbul : Kitabevi, 2010.

Witkam, Jan Just. Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the University of Leiden and Other Collections in The Netherlands. A General Introduction to the Catalogue .  Leiden: Brill, 1982.

-----. "Aims and Methods of Cataloguing Manuscripts of the Middle East." In Les manuscrits du Moyen-Orient: essais de codicologie et paléographie. Actes du Colloque d'Istanbul (Istanbul, 26-29 mai 1986). François Déroche, ed. (Paris: Institut français d’études anatoliennes et Bibliothèque Nationale, 1989): 1–5.

Collecting, Ownership and Popular Culture

see also "I. 7. Libraries" and "I. 8. History of manuscripts" in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008)

Açıl, Berat.  Osmanlı kitap kültürü : Cârullah Efendi Kütüphanesi ve derkenar notları.  Ankara: Ilem kitapliği : Nobel, 2015. (revised / expanded 2nd ed. 2020) 

Afshar, Iraj. "Possession: Some Islamic Manuscripts." In Ex Oriente. Collected papers in honour of Jiří Bečka , Eds. Adéla Křikavová & Luděk Hřebíček (Prague: Czech Academy of Sciences, Oriental Institute, 1995): 23-32.

Akimushkin, Oleg F. "An Entire Library in a Single Binding." Manuscripta Orientalia 4, 3 (1998): 62-69.

Anameriç, Hakan and Faith Rukanci. "Libraries in the Middle East During the Ottoman Empire (1517-1918)." Libri: International Journal Of Libraries & Information Services 59, 3 (September 2009): 145-154.

Artan, Tülay. "Problems Relating to the Social History Context of the Acquisition and Possession of Books as Part of Collections of Objets d'Art in the 18th Century." In  Art turc. Turkish art. 10th International Congress of Turkish Art. 10e Congrès international d'art turc. Genève -Geneva 17-23 September 1995 17-23 Septembre 1995. Actes-Proceedings, Eds. François Déroche, et al. (Geneva: Fondation Max Van Berchem, 1999): 87-92.

Babayan, Kathryn.  The City as Anthology Eroticism and Urbanity in Early Modern Isfahan. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2021. 

Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. The Book in Mamluk Egypt and Syria (1250-1517): Scribes, Libraries, Market. Leiden: Brill, c2019

Bibliography on Manuscript Libraries in Turkey and the Publications on the Manuscripts Located in These Libraries, Ed. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu. Istanbul : Research Centre for Islamic History, Art, and Culture (IRCICA), 1995.

Biran, Michal. "Libraries, Books, and Transmission of Knowledge in Ilkhanid Baghdad." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient =  JESHO 62 (2019): 464-502

Çağman, Filiz and Zeren Tanındı. "Remarks on Some Manuscripts from the Topkapi Palace Treasury in the Context of Ottoman-Safavid Relations." Muqarnas 13, (1996): 132-148.

The Damascus Fragments: Towards a History of the Qubbat al-khazna Corpus of Manuscripts and Documents, edited by Arianna D'Ottone Rambach, Konrad Hirschler, and Ronny Vollandt. Baden-Baden: Ergon Verlag, 2020.

Dawkins, J. "The Seal of Solomon." The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2 (Oct., 1944):145-150.

de Castilla, Nuria. "Princes’s Readings: The Poetry in Mūlāy Zaydān’s Collection at El Escorial." In Libraries in the Manuscript Age, edited by Nuria de Castilla, François Déroche and Michael Friedrich (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2023): 39-62 ( available online open access )

Diallo Lélouma, Alfa Mamadou, and Bernard Salvaing. “‘Corners Conceal Treasures’: Arabic Manuscripts’ Marginalia in Fuuta Jaloo and Fuuta Toro in the Nineteenth Century.”  Islamic Africa  8, i-ii (2017): 70–110.

The Diez albums, edited by Julia Gonnella, Friederike Weis, Christoph Rauch. Leiden: Brill, 2017.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction / Julia Gonnella , Friederike Weis and Christoph Rauch -- Contents and Contexts: Re-viewing the Diez Albums / Julian Raby -- Memorabilia of Asia: Diez’s Albums Revisited / David J. Roxburgh -- The Oriental Manuscripts and Albums of Heinrich Friedrich von Diez and the Perception of Persian Painting in His Time / Christoph Rauch -- The Perusal of the Topkapı Albums: A Story of Connoisseurship / Lâle Uluç -- Repetition of Illustrations in the Topkapı Palace and Diez Albums / Zeren Tanındı -- Jaʿfar Tabrizi, “Second Inventor” of the Nastaʿlīq Script, and the Diez Albums / Simon Rettig -- The Illustration of the Turko-Mongol Era in the Berlin Diez Albums / Charles Melville -- The Mongols Enthroned / Yuka Kadoi -- Royal Insignia in the Periods from the Ilkhanids to the Timurids in the Diez Albums / Claus-Peter Haase -- The Depiction of Horses in the Diez Albums / Barbara Brend -- Brave Warriors of Diez / Filiz Çakır Phillip -- Models, Sketches, and Pounced Drawings in the Diez Albums: First Steps in the Making of Illustrated Manuscripts / Yves Porter -- A Persianate Drawing of the Tazza Farnese: A Work by Muhammad Khayyam? / Friederike Weis -- Scientific Investigation of Carbon Inks: An Analytical Challenge / Oliver Hahn -- The Great Mongol Shāhnāma: Some Proposed Repatriations / Robert Hillenbrand -- The Great Jalayirid Shāhnāma / Bernard O’Kane -- The Dīvān of Sultan Ahmad Jalayir and the Diez and Istanbul Albums / Massumeh Farhad -- Illustrated Messages of Love in the Diez Albums / Karin Rührdanz -- Persianate Images between Europe and China: The “Frankish Manner” in the Diez and Topkapı Albums, c. 1350–1450 / Gülru Necipoğlu -- Iconographic Turn: On Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Iconography in the Diez Albums / Ching-Ling Wang -- The Ottomans in Diez’s Collection / Serpil Bağcı -- Appendix 1: Conference Programme -- Appendix 2: Masterpieces from the Serail: The Albums of Heinrich Friedrich von Diez (1751–1817) / Julia Gonnella -- Credits -- Index of Names, Dynasties and Epochs -- Index of Works and Manuscripts -- Index of Places -- Index of Subjects.

Déroche, François.   "A Note on the Mediaeval Inventory of the Manuscripts Kept in the Great Mosque of Kairouan." In  Writings and Writing : Investigations in Islamic Text and Script in Honour of Dr. Januarius Justus Witkam , Ed. Robert M. Kerr and Thomas Milo (Cambridge: Archetype, 2013): 67-86.

________ and Lbachir Tahali. "Collecting Books in Eighteenth-Century Morocco: The Bannānī Library in Fez." In Libraries in the Manuscript Age , edited by Nuria de Castilla , François Déroche and Michael Friedrich (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2023): 63-103 ( available online open access )

________, Nuria de Castilla, and Lbachir Tahali.⁩ ⁨Les livres du sultan: matériaux pour une histoire du livre et de la vie intellectuelle du Maroc saadien (XVIe siècle). Paris: Académie des inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 2022.

Eche, Youssef. Les bibliothèques arabes publiques et semi-publiques en Mésopotamie, en Syrie et en Egypte au Moyen-Age . Damascus: Institut Français de Damas, 1967.

Elayyan, Ribhi M. "The History of the Arabic-Islamic Libraries 7th-14th Centuries." International Library Review 22 (1990): 119-135.

Erdem, Yahya. "Second Hand Book Sellers and Travellers Bookselling in the Ottoman State." In The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation. Vol. 4: Culture and Arts , Ed. Kemal Çiçek (Ankara: Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, 2000): 886-896.

Erkinov, A. "Prayer Against Fever, Connected with the Name of Khwāja Aḥmad Yasawī." Manuscripta Orientalia 10, 2 (2004): 53-56.

Erünsal, İsmail E.  Kuruluştan Tanzimat'a kadar Osmanlı vakıf kütüphaneleri (= Türk kütüphaneleri tarihi , volume 2) Ankara: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi, 1988.

_____. "The Ottoman Libraries and the Ottoman Librarian Tradition." In The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation. Vol. 4: Culture and Arts , Ed. Kemal Çiçek (Ankara: Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, 2000): 867-885.

_____.  Osmanlı vakıf kütüphaneleri : tarihî gelişimi ve organizasyonu. Ankara : Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2008

_____.  Ottoman Libraries: A Survey of the History, Development and Organization of Ottoman Foundation Libraries . [Cambridge, Mass.]: The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, 2008.

_____.  Osmanlılarda kitap ticareti : sahaflar ve kitapçılar. İstanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2021.

Fetvacı, Emine.  The Album of the World Emperor: Cross-cultural Collecting and the Art of Album-making in Seventeenth-century Istanbul. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. 

Gacek, Adam. "The Use of 'kabīkaj' in Arabic Manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East 1 (1986): 49-53.

_____. "Ownership Statements and Seals in Arabic Manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East 2 (1987): 88-95.

Gianni, Celeste. History of Libraries in the Islamic World: A Visual Guide . Fano: Gimiano Editore, 2016. See also  http://www.academia.edu/23227008/History_of_Libraries_in_the_Islamic_World_A_Visual_Guide

Gruendler, Beatrice. The Rise of the Arabic Book . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020. 

Hall, Bruce S. and Charles C. Stewart. "The Historic 'Core Curriculum' and the Book Market in West Africa." In The Trans-Saharan Book Trade: Manuscript Culture, Arabic Literacy and Intellectual History in Muslim Africa, Eds. Graziano Krätli and Ghislaine Lydon. (Leiden: Brill, 2011): 109-174. 

Ḥammūdī, Imām al-Shāfiʻī Muḥammad and Ashraf Ṣāliḥ Muḥammad Sayyid. Wiʻāʼ al-maʻrifah wa-manārāt al-ʻilm fī al-qurūn al-wusṭá: al-kitāb wa-al-maktabah min al-qarn al-awwal ilá al-ʻāshir al-Hijrī.  [al-Jīzah] : Maktabat al-Nahḍah al-ʻAṣrīyah, 2019.

Hanna, Nelly. In Praise of Books: A Cultural History of Cairo's Middle Class, Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2003. 

Hinrichsen, Laura. The Lost Libraries of Tunis: Book Culture of Ḥafṣid Ifrīqiya and Arabic Manuscripts in Europe after the Sack of Tunis (1535). Berlin: De Gruyter, 2024. 

Hir s chler , Konrad.   M e dieval  Damascus: Plurality and Diversity in an Arabic Library. The Ashrafiya Library  Catalogu e . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016.

-------. A Monument to Medieval Syrian Book Culture: The Library of Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2019.

The History of Books and Collections through Manuscript Notes , edited by Boris Liebrenz = Special Issue: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 9, 2-3 (2018)

Iran and the Deccan : Persianate Art, Culture, and Talent in Circulation, 1400-1700, edited by Keelan Overton. Bloomington, IN, Indiana University Press, 2020. 

1. Introduction to Iranian Mobilities and Persianate Mediations in the Deccan / Keelan Overton 2. Iran and the Doors to the Deccan, ca. 1400–1650: Some Aspects / Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam 3. Excerpt on Yusuf Beg 'Adil Khan, from Rafi' al-Din Shirazi's Tazkirat al-Muluk / Translated by Wheeler Thackston 4. Ghariban in the Deccan: Migration, Elite Mobility, and the Making and Unmaking of an Early Modern State / Roy S. Fischel 5. Dynastic Self-Fashioning and the Arts of the Pen: Sufi and Calligraphy Networks between Fifteenth-Century Shiraz and Bidar / Peyvand Firouzeh 6. From Iran to the Deccan: Architectural Transmission and the Madrasa of Mahmud Gavan at Bidar / Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom 7. Qur'an Manuscript No. 106 Copied by 'Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni al-Shirazi and Endowed to the Shrine of Imam Riza by Ibrahim Qutb Shah / Maryam Habibi, translated by Arash Khazeni 8. Vaqfnama of Ibrahim Qutb Shah in the 'Abd al-Qadir Qur'an Manuscript Endowed to the Shrine of Imam Riza / Translated by Jake Benson 9. Faith and Fate: The Khalili Falnama and Shi'i Identity in Golconda / Rachel Parikh 10. Indo-Persian Histories from the Object Out: The St Andrews Qur'an Manuscript between Timurid, Safavid, Mughal, and Deccani Worlds / Keelan Overton and Kristine Rose-Beers (with contributions by Bruce Wannell) 11. The Qit'at-i Khushkhatt Album: Authenticity and Provenance / Jake Benson 12. Khalilullah "Padishah of the Pen": Royal Scribe and Ambassador of Shah 'Abbas and Ibrahim 'Adil Shah II / Hamidreza Ghelichkhani, translated by Kimia Maleki and Jake Benson 13. Forging a Canon of Dakhni Literature: Translations and Retellings from Persian / Sunil Sharma 14. On Heroes and History: Responding to the Shahnama in the Deccan, 1500–1800 / Subah Dayal

Jackson, Cailah.  Mevlevi Manuscripts, 1268–c.1400: A Study of the Sources.  Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024.

Jong, Frederick de and Jan Just Wikam. "The Library of al-šayḵ Ḵālid al-Šahrazūrī al-Naqšbandī (d. 1242/1827). A Facsimile of the Inventory of his Library (MS Damascus, Maktabat al-Asad, no.259)."  Manuscripts of the Middle East  2 (1987): 68-87.

al-Joumani, Said (سعيد الجوماني) and Konrad Hirschler. Owning Books and Preserving Documents in Medieval Jerusalem: the Library of Burhan al-Din . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2023. 

al-Jūmānī, Saʿīd (سعيد الجوماني). مكتبة مدرسية في حلب نهاية العهد العثماني : الدفتر المجدد لكتب وقف عثمان باشا الدوركي = The Library of a Madrasa in Aleppo at the End of the Ottoman Era: The Renewed Register of the Books Endowed by Uthman Pasha al-Duriki. Beirut: Orient Institute; Baden-Baden: Ergon-Verlag, 2020.  Beiruter Texte und Studien, 124

Kabir, M. "Libraries and Academies During the Buwayhid Period." Islamic Culture 33 (1959): 31-33.

Kohlberg, Etan. A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work : Ibn Tawus and His Library . Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1992.

Kropf, Evyn. "The Yemeni Manuscripts of the Yahuda Collection at the University of Michigan: Provenance and Acquisition." Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen no 13 (janvier 2012) available online  https://cmy.revues.org/1974 .

Lawrence, Jonathan. "Building a Library: The Arabic and Persian Manuscript Collection of Sir William Jones."  Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 31, i (January 2021): 1–70.

The Library of an Islamic Scholar of Mindanao: The Collection of Sheik Muhammad Said bin Imam sa Bayang at the Al-Imam As-Sadiq (A.S.) Library, Marawi City, Philippines: An Annotated Catalogue with Essays , edited by Oman Fathurahman, Kawashima Midori, and Labi Sarip Riwarung. Tokyo: Institute of Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Studies, Sophia University, 2019.

Liebrenz, Boris. "The Library of  Aḥmad al-Rabbāṭ. Books and Their Audience in 12th to 13th / 18th to 19th Century Syria." In Marginal Perspectives on Early Modern Ottoman Culture: Missionaries, Travellers, Booksellers , Eds. Ralf Elger und Ute Pietruschka (Halle (Saale): Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Regionalstudien - Vorderer Orient, Afrika, Asien ( ZIRS), 2013): 17-59.

--------. "A Medieval Muslim Scholar’s Legacy: Ibn Ṭāwūs and the Afterlife of his Library."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts  9, 2-3 =  Special Issue:The History of Books and Collections through Manuscript Notes , edited by Boris Liebrenz (2018): 218-224

Love Jr, Paul M. "Ibadis on (and in) the Margins Manuscript Notes from the Buffalo Agency in Early-Modern Cairo."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts  9, 2-3 =  Special Issue:The History of Books and Collections through Manuscript Notes , edited by Boris Liebrenz (2018): 225-241

Lydon, Ghislaine. "A Thirst for Knowledge: Arabic Literacy, Writing Paper and Saharan Bibliophiles in the Southwestern Sahara." In The Trans-Saharan Book Trade: Manuscript Culture, Arabic Literacy and Intellectual History in Muslim Africa, Eds. Graziano Krätli and Ghislaine Lydon. (Leiden: Brill, 2011): 35-72.

Mackensen, Ruth S. "Four Great Libraries of Medieval Baghdad." Library Quarterly 2 (1932): 279-299. -------. "Background of the History of Moslem Libraries." American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 51 (2) (1935): 114-125.

Manuscripts, Politics and Oriental Studies Life and Collections of Johann Gottfried Wetzstein (1815-1905) in Context, edited by Boris Liebrenz and Christoph Rauch. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

Johann Gottfried Wetzstein als Forscher / Holger Preissler -- Semitic studies at the Berlin University during Wetzstein's lifetime / Ludmila Hanisch -- Growing collections and rising expectations: the endeavour to catalogue manuscripts in Arabic script at the Royal Library in Berlin / Christoph Rauch -- The Wetzstein collection at Tubingen University Library: its history, its content, and its reception in Oriental studies / Michaela Hoffmann-Ruf -- The Quranic collections acquired by Wetzstein / Francois Deroche -- Johann Gottfried Wetzstein's manuscripts with Arabic popular stories / Jan Just Witkam -- The consul and the king: Wetzstein and Alexander / Faustina Doufikar-Aerts -- Wetzstein in wonderland: Arabian epic manuscripts in the Wetzstein collections / Claudia Ott -- Arabic manuscripts and books from the bequest of Wetzstein / Boris Liebrenz, Christoph Rauch -- Collecting Islamic manuscripts at the Munich Court Library in the nineteenth century: an acquisition history / Helga Rebhan -- Manuscript acquisitions and their later movements: a further note about the case of the Lewis Quranic manuscript / Alba Fedeli -- Manuscript ownership and readership at the American University of Beirut at the turn of the twentieth century / Kaoukab Chebaro, Samar El Mikati El Kaissi -- Looking at man in the state of nature: Johann Gottfried Wetzstein on the Bedouin of the Syrian steppe / Astrid Meier -- From Leipzig to Damascus: Wetzstein as a broker of Arabic prints in Syria / Boris Liebrenz -- Bemerkungen zu den hinterlassenen Papieren Johann Gottfried Wetzsteins / Ingrid Huhn -- Living in mid-nineteenth-century Damascus: insights into the urban residences of foreigners and locals / Anke Scharrahs -- Arabist and consul in Damascus: Sir Richard Burton and the problematic nature of his translation of the thousand and one nights / Robert Irwin.

Roxburgh, David J. "Bahrām Mīrzā and His Collections." In Safavid Art and Architecture, Ed. Sheila R.Canby (London: The British Museum Press, 2002): 37-42.

_____. The Persian Album, 1400-1600: From Dispersal to Collection. New Haven : Yale University Press, c2005.

Sakal, Fahri. "The Book in Ottoman Family." In The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation. Vol. 4: Culture and Arts , Ed. Kemal Çiçek (Ankara: Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, 2000): 897-903.

Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4), edited by Gülru Necipoğlu, Cemal Kafadar, and Cornell H. Fleischer. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

Overton, Keelan. "Book Culture, Royal Libraries, and Persianate Painting in Bijapur, circa 1580-1630." Muqarnas 33 (2016): 91-154.

Pedersen, Johannes. The Arabic Book . Translated by Geoffrey French. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.

Pektaş, Nil. "The Beginnings of printing in the Ottoman capital: book production and circulation in early modern Istanbul."  Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları, XVI/2 (2015): 3-32

Pinto, Olga. "The Libraries of the Arabs During the Time of the Abbasides." Islamic Culture 3 (1929): 210-243.

Pourhadi, Ibrahim. "Muslim Libraries During the Middle Ages in the Works of Orientalists." In Beacon of Knowledge: Essays in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr , Ed. M. Faghfoory (Louisville, 2003): 439-467.

Rustow, Marina. The Lost Archive: Traces of a Caliphate in a Cairo Synagogue . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020. 

Sayyid, Fuʾād. "Naṣṣān qadīmān fī iʻārat al-kutub." Majallat Maʿhad al-Makhṭūṭāt al-ʿArabīyah 4, 1 ( 1958 ): 125-136.

Seyller, John. "The Inspection and Valuation of Manuscripts in the Imperial Mughal Library." Artibus Asiae 57, iii-iv (1997): 243-349.

________. "The Operations of the Imperial Mughal Library." In  Libraries in the Manuscript Age , edited by Nuria de Castilla , François Déroche and Michael Friedrich (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2023): 17-37 ( available online open access ) 

Shoshan, Boaz. "High Culture and Popular Culture in Medieval Islam." Studia Islamica 73 (1991): 67-107.

Singleton, Brent D. "African Bibliophiles: Books and Libraries in Medieval Timbuktu." Libraries & Culture 39, 1 (Winter, 2004): 1-12.

Stanley, Tim. "The books of Umur Bey." Muqarnas 21, (2004): 323-331.

Tanındı, Zeren. "Bibliophile Aghas (Eunuchs) at Topkapı Saray." Muqarnas 21, (2004): 333-343.

Toorawa, Shawkat M. Ibn Abī Ṭāhir Ṭayfūr and Arabic Writerly Culture: A Ninth-century Bookman in Baghdad . London: Routledge Curzon, 2005.

Touati, Houari. L'armoire à sagesse: bibliothèques et collections en islam . Paris: Aubier, 2003.

Uluç, Lale. "The Ottoman Contribution to Sixteenth Century Shirazi Manuscript Production." In Art turc. Turkish art. 10th International Congress of Turkish Art. 10e Congrès international d'art turc. Genève -Geneva 17-23 September 1995 17-23 Septembre 1995. Actes-Proceedings, Eds. François Déroche, et al. (Geneva: Fondation Max Van Berchem, 1999): 681-693.

_____. "Majālis al-’Ushshāq: Written in Herat, Copied in Shiraz and Read in Istanbul." In M. Uğur Derman 65 Yaş Armağanı/65th Birthday Festschrift , Ed. İrvin C. Schick (Istanbul: Sabancı University, 2000): 569-603.

Wasserstein, David J. "The Library of al-Ḥakam II al-Mustanṣir and the Culture of Islamic Spain." Manuscripts of the Middle East 5 (1990-91): 99-105.

Witkam, Jan Just. "Lists of Books in Arabic Manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East 5 (1990-1991): 123-136.

Wollina, Torsten. "Tracing Ibn Ṭūlūn’s Autograph Corpus, with Emphasis on the 19th–20th Centuries."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts  9, 2-3 =  Special Issue:The History of Books and Collections through Manuscript Notes , edited by Boris Liebrenz (2018): 308-340

Ženka, Josef. "A Manuscript of the Last Sultan of al-Andalus and the Fate of the Royal Library of the Nasrid Sultans at the Alhambra."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts  9, 2-3 =  Special Issue:The History of Books and Collections through Manuscript Notes , edited by Boris Liebrenz (2018): 341-376

Conservation

• AATA Online | Abstracts of International Conservation Literature "... free research database containing abstracts of literature related to the preservation and conservation of material cultural heritage."
• BCIN Bibliographic Database of the Conservation Information Network
• Indian Handmade Paper, a bibliography compiled by Laura Brill (2005) "Indian Handmade Paper, a bibliography compiled by Laura Brill, The Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and Melissa Buschey, Conservation Fellow, Jewish Theological Seminary. Used with the permission of The Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University."
• Islamic Papers, Book Structures, and Pigments, and their Conservation (Paul Hepworth) "Islamic Papers, Book Structures, and Pigments, and their Conservation, a bibliography compiled by and used with the permission of manuscript and textile conservator Paul Hepworth"
• The Islamic Arts of the Book and their Conservation (David Jacobs) "The Islamic Arts of the Book and their Conservation, a bibliography compiled by and used with the permission of David Jacobs, Senior Conservator, the British Library."
• Persian Manuscript Materials (Mandana Barkeshli & Sadra Zekrgoo) "...dedicated to the study of the material technology of Persian manuscripts. Our goal is to investigate the intricate materials utilized in historical Persian manuscripts, shedding light on the methods and techniques derived from historical recipes mainly between the Taimurid to Qajar dynasties of Persia (15th-19th centuries). Accompanied by images captured during the reconstruction process following the historical recipes, we aim to provide an immersive exploration into the material heritage of Persian manuscripts."

al-Abbadi, Husam. "La protección y la restauración de los papeles y códices: algunas precisiones contenidas en varias fuentes árabes medievales. Cuestiones referentes a la conservación." Qurṭuba 6, (2001): 254-257.

Barkeshli, Mandana and G. H. Ataie. “pH Stability of Saffron Used in Verdigris as an Inhibitor in Persian Miniature Paintings.” Restaurator 23/iii (2002): 154-164.

--------, Mostafa Rostami, and Sadra Zekrgoo. "Characteristics of Traditional Persian Lacquered Bindings and Specific Deterioration Issues" Restaurator 44, 4 (2023): 295-343

--------, Sadra Zekrgoo, and Nasim Koohkeshb. "Seriš (Eremurus) Adhesive and Its Use in Traditional and Modern Iranian Manuscripts Conservation Practice." Conservation Update 11, 1 (2023): 6-33.

-------- and Ina Stephan. “Sizing Materials Used in Persian Manuscripts and their Behaviour against the Mould Fungus Aspergillus Flavus.” In Biodeterioration of cultural property and researches on conservation of heritage buildings : a festschrift in honour of Padma Shri Dr. O. P. Agrawal (New Delhi: Daya Publishing House, 2023)

----- and Paul Hepworth. "Two New Case Studies: The Rejoining of a Text-block and Binding and a New Use for Remoistenable Tissue. In Care and Conservation of Manuscripts 11: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Seminar held at the University of Copenhagen 24th-25th April 2008,  eds. Matthew James Driscoll and Ragnheiđur Mósesdóttir (Copenhagen : Museum Tusculanum Press, 2009): 135-150.

Beny, Ana and Kristine Rose Beers. "An Inspiration for Conservation: An Historic Andalusi Binding Structure." In Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding, Volume 3 , ed. Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2016): 160-195.

Conservation of Books, edited by Abigail Bainbridge London: Routledge, 2023. 

Couvrat Desvergnes, Amélie. "Of books & men: Past cultural practices and methods of Islamic manuscripts preservation in Iran and India. Part 1: Identification of historical interleaving materials." COMSt Newsletter 7 (January 2014): 15-22.

_______ and Ina Vanden Berghe. "Dyestuff Identification and Significance of Interleaves from Moroccan Manuscripts of Dalā’il al-Khayrāt."  Studies in Conservation  63, 4 (2018): 236-250

Hepworth, Paul and Karin Scheper. "Terminology For the Conservation and Description of Islamic Manuscripts." Available online  

Hillcoat-Imanishi, Anna, Pauline Webber and Michael Wheeler. “Conservation, Mounting, and Storage Solutions for two Hamzanama Folios.” The Paper Conservator 23 (1999): 26-35.

Jacobs, David and Barbara Rodgers. “Developments in Islamic Bindings and Conservation in     the Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library.” In The Conservation and    Preservation of Islamic Manuscripts. Proceedings of the Third Conference of al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 18-19th November 1995, ed. Yusuf Ibish and George Atiyeh. (London: al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1996): 81-92.

Jarjis, Raik. “Ion Beam Codicology: Its Potential in Developing Scientific Conservation of Islamic Manuscripts” In The Conservation and    Preservation of Islamic Manuscripts. Proceedings of the Third Conference of al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 18-19th November 1995, ed. Yusuf Ibish and George Atiyeh. (London: al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1996): 93-117

Kural, Nurçin. “The Preservation of Ottoman Manuscripts.” In Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean: Contributions to the Istanbul Congress, 20-24 September 2010, ed. Christina Rozeik, Ashok Roy, and David Sauders (London: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 2010): 40-44.   

Madani, Zubair Ahmed. "The Development of a Conservation Treatment Approach for Islamic Miniatures." In Works of Art on Paper: Books, Documents and Photographs: Techniques and Conservation. Contributions to the Baltimore Congress 2-6 September 2002 , Eds. Vincent Daniels, Alan Donnithorne and Perry Smith (London: International Institute for Conservation, 2002): 144-148

Plummer, David, Paul Hepworth, and Karin Scheper. "Between Bag and Box: Characteristics and Conservation Issues of the Islamic Slipcase." In Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding Volume 8 , edited by Julia Miller (Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2023): 458-509 

Rachman, Yeni Budi and Salim, Tamara Adriani. " Daluang  Manuscripts from Cirebon, Indonesia: History, Manufacture and Deterioration Phenomena "  Restaurator. International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material  39, 1 (2018): 71-84

Rose, Kristine. “The Conservation of Islamic Manuscript Material at Cambridge University Library, with Particular reference to Ms. Add. 269.” In Charles Melville, ed. Shahnama Studies I, Pembroke Papers 5 (Cambridge: Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 2006): 277-286.

-----. "Conservation of the Turkish Collection at the Chester Beatty Library: a New Study of Turkish Book Construction," In Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean: Contributions to the Istanbul Congress, 20-24 September 2010, ed. Christina Rozeik, Ashok Roy, and David Saunders (London: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 2010): 45-49.

Scheper, Karin. "The Conservation of the Middle Eastern Manuscript Collection in the Leiden University Library: Results of a Conservation Assessment Survey." In Contributions to the Symposium on the Care and Conservation of Middle Eastern Manuscripts. The University of Melbourne, Australia, 26-28 November 2007, ed. Robyn Sloggett (Melbourne : Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, 2008): 66-73.

-----. "Islamic Manuscripts in a Western Research Library: the Conservation Approach of Leiden University Library." In Care and Conservation of Manuscripts 12. Proceedings of the Twelfth International Seminar Held at the University of Copenhagen 14th-16th October 2009,  ed. Matthew J. Driscoll (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011): 151-169.

Smith, Martha. “The Conservation of Islamic Book Pages.” AIC Book and Paper Group Annual 9 (1990): 118–119 (available online at http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v09/bp09-10.html )

Inks and Paints (Media)

"II. 5. Inks, inkwells, pens and other writing accessories" in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008)

Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics . Washington : National Gallery of Art, c1986-

Barkeshli, Mandana and G. H. Ataie. "pH Stability of Saffron Used in Verdigris as an Inhibitor in Persian Miniature Paintings." Restaurator 23/iii (2002): 154-164.

--------, Ghasem Ataie, and Mahmood Alimohammadi. "Historical Analysis of Materials Used in Iranian Paper Dyeing With Special Reference to the Effect of Henna Dye on Paper Based on Scientific Analysis." ICOM Committee for Conservation, 15th Triennial Conference, New Dehli, 22-26 September 2008, preprints vol.1 (2008): 255-263.

--------. "Paint Palette Used by Iranian Masters based on Persian Medieval Recipes." Restaurator 34, 2 (2013): 101-133.

--------, Marinita Stiglitz and Sadra Zekrgoo. "Persian recipes: from dyeing paper to black inks." Bodleian Library Conservation Projects.  available online

• "An investigation into paper dyes and writing inks used in medieval and early modern Persian manuscripts"
• Introduction, Dyeing Paper, Coating Paper, Black Inks

Bell, Ian M., Robin J.H. Clark, and Peter J. Gibbs. "Raman Spectroscopic Library of Natural and Synthetic Pigments (pre- ~1850 AD)."  Spectrochimica Acta Part A  53 (1997): 2159-2179.

Biddle, Michaelle. "Inks in the Islamic Manuscripts of Northern Nigeria: Old Recipes, Modern Analysis and Medicine." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 2, 1 (2011):1-35.

Bruni, Silvia, Franco Cariati, Francesca Casadio, and Vittoria Guglielmi. "Micro-Raman identification of the palette of a precious XVI century illuminated Persian codex." Journal of Cultural Heritage 2, 4 (October–December 2001): 291–296.

Burgio, Lucia, Robin J.H. Clark, Vania S.F. Muralha, and Tim Stanley. "Pigment analysis by Raman microscopy of the non-figurative illumination in 16th- to 18th-century Islamic manuscripts." Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 39, 10 (2008): 1482–1493.

Chabbouh, Ibrahim. "Two New Sources on the Art of Mixing Ink." In The Codicology of Islamic Manuscripts In  The Codicology of Islamic Manuscripts: Proceedings of the Second Conference of Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 4-5 December 1993 , Ed. Yasin Dutton (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1995): 59-76. 

Ciomartin, Dan A. and Robin J.H. Clark. "Raman microscopy applied to the analysis of the pigments used in two Persian manuscripts." Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society 7, 6 (1996): 395-402.

Clark, Robin J.H. and Sigrid Mirabaud. "Identification of the pigments on a sixteenth century Persian book of poetry by Raman microscopy." Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 37, 1-3 (2006): 235-239.  

Clark, Robin J.H. and Peter J. Gibbs. "Analysis of 16th Century Qazwīnī Manuscripts by Raman Microscopy and Remote Laser Raman Microscopy." Journal of Archaeological Science 25, 7 (July 1998): 621–629.

Clarke, Mark. "The Analysis of Medieval European Manuscripts."  Reviews in Conservation  2 [=  Studies in Conservation  46, Supplement 1] (2001): 3-17.

Cohen, Zina.  Composition Analysis of Writing Materials in Cairo Genizah Documents. Leiden: Brill, 2021. Available online open access

Colini, Claudia. "Ink Making by the Book: Learning a Craft in the Arab World." In  Education Materialised Reconstructing Teaching and Learning Contexts through Manuscripts, edited by Stefanie Brinkmann, Giovanni Ciotti, Stefano Valente and Eva Maria Wilden (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021): 97-126 ( available online open access ) 

Ebeid, Hassan, et al. "A Study of Dyed Endpapers during Islamic Mediaeval Times in Egypt: Purpose, Materials and Techniques." Paper Conservation: Decisions and Compromises. Extended Abstracts - Interim Meeting Graphic Document Working Group - Vienna April 2013 , eds. Lieve Watteeuw and Christa Hofmann (ICOM-CC, 2013): 61-65. Accessed 8 May 2013,  http://www.icom-cc.org/54/ document/paper-conservation- decisions--compromises-- extended-abstracts--interim- meeting-graphic-document- working-group--vienna-april- 2013/?id=1185 .

Espejo Arias, Teresa, et al. "A Study about Colourants in the Arabic Manuscript Collection of the Sacromonte Abbey, Granada, Spain: A New Methodology for Chemical Analysis."  Restaurator  29, 2 (August 2008): 76–106.

Farooqi, Anis. “Pigments and Materials Used in Indian and Persian Miniatures.” Islamic Culture 51/i (1977): 11-19.

Hayez, V., S. Denoël, Z. Genadry, and B. Gilbert. " Identification of pigments on a 16th century Persian manuscript by micro-Raman spectroscopy. "  Journal of Raman Spectroscopy  35, 8-9 Special Issue: Raman spectroscopy in Art and Archaeology (August-September 2004): 781–785.

Idjouadiene, Lynda, et al. “First applications of non-invasive techniques on Algerian heritage manuscripts: the LMUHUB ULAHBIB ancient manuscript collection from Kabylia region (Afniq n Ccix Lmuhub).” Journal of Cultural Heritage 49 (2021): 289-297  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2021.03.008  

"Instruments and Preparations Used in Book Production.” In François Déroche, et al. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 103-157.

Kakuee, Omidreza, et al. "External PIXE analysis of an Iranian 15th century poetry book."  Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms  273 (2012): 178-181.

Knipe, Penley, et al. “Materials and Techniques of Islamic Manuscripts.” Heritage Science (2018) 6: 55 Available online open access https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0217-y  ( analysis of colorants across a sample of 50 painted folios from Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia dated from the 13th to the 19th centuries CE)

Levey, Martin. Mediaeval Arabic Bookmaking and Its Relation to Early Chemistry and Pharmacology . Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series volume 52, part 4. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1962.

Medlej, Joumana. Inks & Paints of the Middle East. A Handbook of Abbasid Art Technology. London: Majnouna, 2020. 

Muralha, Vania S.F., Lucia Burgio, and Robin J.H. Clark. "Raman spectroscopy analysis of pigments on 16–17th c. Persian manuscripts." Spectrochimica Acta Part A 92 (15 June 2012): 21–28.

Porter, Cheryl. "The Science of Color: Color Analysis and the Roles of Economics, Geography, and Tradition in the Artist's Choice of Colors for Manuscript Painting." In And Diverse are Their Hues: Color in Islamic Art and Culture , Eds. Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2011): 204-221.

--------. "The Use of Metals in Islamic Manuscripts." In  The Making of Islamic Art: Studies in Honour of Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom , edited by Robert Hillenbrand (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2021): 260-279.

Ragetti, Lucia. " Cum grano salis . Some Arabic Ink Recipes in Their Historical and Literary Context." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 7, 3 (2016): 294 – 338

_____. "Inks as Instruments of Writing Ibn al-Ǧazarī’s Book on the Art of Penmanship" Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 10, 2 (2019): 201-239

al-Rāzī's Zīnat al-Kataba , translated by Joumana Medlej. London: Majnouna, 2020.

Ricciardi, Paola, Anuradha Pallipurath and Kristine Rose. "'It's Not Easy Being Green': A Spectroscopic Study of Green Pigments Used in Illuminated Manuscripts." Analytical Methods 5, 16 (2013): 3819-3824.

Sloggett, Robyn. “Raman Analysis of Pigments Found in Middle Eastern Manuscripts in the University of Melbourne Collection.” In Contributions to the Symposium on the Care and Conservation of Middle Eastern manuscripts. The University of Melbourne, Australia, 26-28 November 2007 , ed. Robyn Sloggett. (Melbourne: Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, 2008): 89-99

Thackston, Wheeler M. "Treatise on Calligraphic Arts: A Disquisition on Paper, Colors, Inks, and Pens by Simi of Nishapur." In Intellectual Studies on Islam: Essays Written in Honor of Martin B.Dickson, Professor of Persian Studies, Princeton University, ed. Michel M.Mazzaoui and Vera B.Moreen (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1990): 219-228.

Zaki, Mahmoud. "Early Arabic Bookmaking Techniques as Described by al-Rāzī in His Recently Rediscovered Zīnat al-Katabah." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 2 (2011): 223-234.

Zekrgoo, Sadra. "Methods of Creating, Testing and Identifying Traditional Black Persian Inks." Restaurator  35, 2 (2014): 133-158

--------. "European Ink Recipes Found in ‘Ali Ḥosseini’s 19th Century Persian Treatise  Kašf al-Ṣanāye‘  (Discovering Crafts) – کشف الصنایع علی حسینی"  Restaurator  43, 3 (2022): 159-179

--------.  Tradition and Science of Persian Ink Making: Ingredients and Recipes . Cham: Springer, 2024.

Zekrgoo, Sadra, Petronella Nel, and Robyn Sloggett. "Peacock Ink: Investigation into the Constituents of the Most Prized Ink of Persia." Restaurator  38, 2 (2017): 205-233

• Persian Manuscript Materials (Mandana Barkeshli & Sadra Zekrgoo) Includes dyes, inks, etc

Layout (mise en page)

see also "IV. 2. Page lay-out (mise en page)" in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008)

Bondarev, Dmitry. "A Typology of West African Ajami Manuscripts: Languages, Layout and Research Perspectives" In  Exploring Written Artefacts: Objects, Methods, and Concepts  edited by Jörg B. Quenzer (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2021): 707-728 available online open access  

Daub, Frederike-Wiebke. "Standards and Specifics – the Layout of Arabic Didactic Poems in Manuscripts." manuscript cultures no.5 (2012/2013) : 52-67

______. Formen und Funktionen des Layouts in arabischen Manuskripten anhand von Abschriften religiöser Texte al-Būṣīrīs Burda, al-Ǧazūlīs Dalāʼil und die Šifāʼ von Qāḍī ʻIyāḍ. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2016.   

Guesdon, Marie-Geneviève. "Les pages de titre dans des manuscrits arabes dans les manuscrits arabes datés antérieurs à 1500." In  Writings and Writing : Investigations in Islamic Text and Script in Honour of Dr. Januarius Justus Witkam , Ed. Robert M. Kerr and Thomas Milo (Cambridge: Archetype, 2013): 197-211

Polosin, Val. V. "Arabic Manuscripts: Text Density and its Convertibility in Copies of the Same Work." Manuscripta Orientalia 3, 2 (1997): 3-17.

______. "All is Numbers? An Unknown Numerical Component in the Design of Medieval Arabic Manuscripts."  Manuscripta Orientalia 5,1 (1999): 7-11.

Porter, Yves. "La réglure (mastar): de la "formule d'atelier" aux jeux de l'esprit." Studia Islamica, 96, Écriture, Calligraphie et Peinture (2003): 55-56+X-XVII+57-74.

"Ruling and Page Layout." In François Déroche, et al. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in the Arabic Script (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 159-184.

Stanley, Tim. "Page-setting in Late Ottoman Qur'ans. An Aspect of Standardization." Manuscripta Orientalia 10, 1 (2004): 56-63.

Vernay-Nouri, Annie. "Marges, gloses et décor dans une série de manuscrits arabo-islamiques." Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée [en ligne], 99-100 | novembre 2002, posted 12 mai 2009, http://remmm.revues.org/1178

Witkam, Jan Just."Twenty-nine Rules for Qur'ān Copying. A Set of Rules for the Lay-out of a Nineteenth-century Ottoman Qur'ān Manuscript." In Essays in honour of Barbara Flemming vol. 2, Ed. Jan Schmidt = Journal of Turkish Studies , 26, ii (2002): 339-348.

Painting and Illumination

see "VII. 3. Ornament and painted decoration" and "VII. 4 Painted illustration." in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008)

Akimushkin, Oleg F. and Anatol A. Ivanov. "The Art of Illumination." In The Arts of the Book in Central Asia, 14th-16th Centuries, Ed. Basil Gray (Paris: UNESCO; London: Serindia, 1979): 35-57.

Atasoy, Nurhan and Filiz Çağman. Turkish Miniature Painting . Istanbul : R. C. D. Cultural Institute, 1974.

Baǧci, Serpi̇l. "Old Images for New Texts and Contexts: Wandering Images in Islamic Book Painting." Muqarnas 21 Essays in honor of J.M. Rogers (2004): 21-32.

--------, Filiz Çağman, Günsel Renda and Zeren Tanındı. Osmanlı resim sanatı . İstanbul: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanligi Yayinlari, 2006.

--------, Filiz Çağman, Günsel Renda and Zeren Tanındı.  Ottoman Painting.  English translation by Ellen Yazar. 2nd ed. İstanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2019. 

Brosh, Na’ama and Rachel Milstein. Biblical Stories in Islamic Painting . Jerusalem : Israel Museum, c1991.

Canby, Sheila, Ed. Persian Masters: Five Centuries of Painting. Bombay : Marg Publications, c1990

Canby, Sheila. Persian Painting . New York : Thames and Hudson, 1993.

_____. "Safavid Painting." In  Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran 1501-1576,  Ed. Jon Thompson and Sheila R. Canby (Milano: Skira, 2003): 72-133.

_____. "Safavid Illumination." In Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran 1501-1576, Ed. Jon Thompson and Sheila R. Canby (Milano: Skira, 2003): 134-153.

_____. "Painting in the Margins of Persian Manuscript Illustrations." Manuscripta Orientalia 9, 4 (2003): 53-60. 

Çağman, Filiz.  Osmanlı sarayı tasvir sanatı.  İstanbul : Masa, 2016

Contadini, Anna, Ed. Arab Painting: Text and Image in Illustrated Arabic Manuscripts . Leiden: Brill, 2007.

Déroche, François and Marianna Shreve Simpson. "Islamic art, III, 3. Painted decoration." The Dictionary of Art, Ed. Jane Turner (New York: Grove’s Dictionaries,1996-): 16, 288-293.

Fetvacı, Emine. Picturing History at the Ottoman Court.  Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2013.

--------. The Album of the World Emperor: Cross-cultural Collecting and the Art of Album-making in Seventeenth-century Istanbul. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. 

Grabar, Oleg. Mostly Miniatures: An Introduction to Persian Painting. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, c2000.

Golombek, Lisa. "Toward a Classification of Islamic Painting." In Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ed. Richard Ettinghausen ( New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972): 23-34.

Hoffman, Eva R. "The Beginnings of the Illustrated Arabic Book: An Intersection Between Art and Scholarship." Muqarnas 17, (2000): 37-52

Jackson, Cailah.  Islamic Manuscripts of Late Medieval Rum, 1270-1370: Production, Patronage and the Arts of the Book. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020.

--------.  Mevlevi Manuscripts, 1268–c.1400: A Study of the Sources.  Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024.

Milstein, Rachel. Miniature Painting in Ottoman Baghdad . Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 1990.

Milstein, Rachel, Karin Rührdanz and Barbara Schmitz. Stories of the Prophets: Illustrated Manuscripts of Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā ̓ . Costa Mesa, Calif. : Mazda Publishers, 1999.

Polosin, Val. V. "Unwan Illuminations in Arabic Manuscripts (Part 1)." Manuscripta Orientalia 8, 2 (June 2002): 12-19.

Porter, Yves.  Painters, Paintings and Books: An Essay on Indo-Persian Technical Literature, 12-19th Centuries.  trans. by S. Butani. New Delhi: Manohar, 1994.

Rice, Yael. "Workshop as Network: A Case Study from Mughal South Asia." ARTLAS 6, 3 (2017): article 4  https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/artlas/vol6/iss3/4/

Richard, Francis.  Splendeurs persanes: manuscrits du XIIe au XVIIe siècle . Paris : Bibliothèque nationale de France, c1997.

_____. Le livre persan . [Paris]: Bibliothèque nationale de France, c2003.

Robinson, Basil W. et al. Islamic painting and the arts of the book . London: Faber and Faber,1976.

Roxburgh, David. "The Study of Painting and the Arts of the Book." Muqarnas 17, (2000): 1-16.

_____. Prefacing the Image: The Writing of Art History in Sixteenth-Century Iran . Leiden: Brill, 2001.

Rührdanz, Karin. Türkische Miniaturmalerei . Leipzig : Seemann, c1988.

Simpson, Marianna Shreve. The Illustration of an Epic: The Earliest Shahnama Manuscripts . New York : Garland Pub., 1979.

_____. "Manuscript Illumination, Islamic." Dictionary of the Middle Ages , Ed. Joseph R. Strayer (New York: Scribner, 1982-89): 8, 112-118.

_____. Persian Poetry, Painting & Patronage: Illustrations in a Sixteenth-century Masterpiece . Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution ; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.

Taner, Melis.  Caught in a Whirlwind: A Cultural History of Ottoman Baghdad as Reflected in Its Illustrated Manuscripts . Leiden: Brill, c2020.

_____. "Gilding and Binding in the Muslim World." In Arts and Crafts in the Muslim World. Proceedings of the International Congress on Islamic Arts and Crafts, Isfahan, 04-09 October, 2002 , Ed. Nazeih Taleb Maarouf and Semiramis Çavuşoğlu (Istanbul, 2008): 397-412.

Titley, Nora M. Miniatures from Turkish Manuscripts: A Catalogue and Subject Index of Paintings in the British Library and British Museum . London : British Library, c1981.

Waley, Muhammad Isa. "Illumination and its Function in Islamic Manuscripts." In Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient, Eds. François Déroche and Francis Richard (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1997): 87-112.

Witkam, Jan Just. "The Battle of the Images: Mekka vs. Medina in the Iconography of the Manuscripts of al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʼil al-Khayrāt." In Theoretical approaches to the transmission and edition of Oriental manuscripts. Proceedings of a symposium held in Istanbul, March 28-30, 2001 , Eds. Judith Pfeiffer and Manfred Kropp (Beirut: Ergon verlag Würzburg in Kommission, 2007): 67-82 and 295-300 (illus.)

Wright, Elaine. The Look of the Book: Manuscript Production in Shiraz, 1303-1452 . Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution ; Seattle : University of Washington Press, 2012.

Piety and Protection

Bain, Alexandra. "The Late Ottoman ’En’am-i Şerif’: Sacred Text and Images in an Islamic Prayer Book." PhD diss., University of Victoria, 1999.

Coffey, Heather. "Between Amulet and Devotion: Islamic Miniature Books in the Lilly Library." In The Islamic Manuscript Tradition: Ten Centuries of Book Arts in Indiana University Collections , Ed. Christiane Gruber (Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2009): 79-115.

Déroche, François. "Ch.11 Written Transmission." In The Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an, Ed. Andrew Rippin (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006): 172-186.

From West Africa to Southeast Asia: The History of Muḥammad al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt (15th–20th centuries),  edited by Deniz Beyazit, Guy Burak, and Sabiha Göloğlu = Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 12, 3-4 (2021)

Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Jazūlī and the Place of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt in Jazūlite Sufism / Vincent J. Cornell — The Birth of a Successful Prayer Book The Manuscript Tradition of the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt in North Africa / Hiba Abid — Paths of Prayers in Ottoman North Africa The Met’s Dalāʾil al-khayrāt 2017.301 in Context / Deniz Beyazit — A Technical Study of a 17th-Century Manuscript of Muḥammad Bin Sulaymān al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt / Yana van Dyke — The Regional Recitations of al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʾil al-Ḫayrāt as Reflected in Its Manuscript Tradition / Marijn van Putten — Medina and Mecca Revisited The Manuscripts of the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt by al-Ǧazūlī and Their Ornamental Addition / Jan Just Witkam — In Writing and in Sound The Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt in the Late Ottoman Empire / Sabiha Göloğlu — The Dalāʾil al-khayrāt in Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan Some Research Leads / Alexandre Papas — The Royal Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt Manuscript from Terengganu, Malaysia / Heba Nayel Barakat and Nurul Iman Rusli — Illustrated and Illuminated Manuscripts of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt from Southeast Asia / Farouk Yahya

Göloğlu, Sabiha. "In Writing and in Sound: The  Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt  in the Late Ottoman Empire."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 12, 3-4 (2021): 433-474

Gruber, Christiane. The Praiseworthy One : the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic texts and images . Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2019.

--------. "A Pious Cure-all: The Ottoman Illustrated Prayer Manual in the Lilly Library." In The Islamic Manuscript Tradition: Ten Centuries of Book Arts in Indiana University Collections , Ed. Christiane Gruber (Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2010): 116-153.

Savage-Smith, Emilie with contributions from Francis Maddison, Ralph Pinder-Wilson and Tim Stanley. "Pt. 2 Mundane Worlds." Science, Tools & Magic . [London] : The Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, [1997]. (Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. 12)

The Word Illuminated: Form and Function of Qur'anic Manuscripts from the Seventh to Seventeenth Centuries,  edited by Simon Rettig and Sana Mirza. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Scholarly Press, 2023. 

Foreword / Massumeh Farhad -- Introduction : Current Perspectives on Qurʼanic Manuscripts / Simon Rettig, Sana Mirza -- Asṭār al-awwalīn : The Qurʼanic Handwritten Tradition and Its Beginnings / François Déroche -- Ghaznavid Imperial Qurʼan Manuscripts : The Shaping of a Local Style / Alya Karame -- Illuminated Qurʼan Manuscripts of Late Medieval Rum (Thirteenth to Fourteenth Centuries) / Cailah Jackson -- A Luxury Market? : Yaqut al-Mustaʻsimi's Qurʼans / Nourane Ben Azzouna -- Sultan Öljeitü's Baghdad Qurʼan : A Life History / Sheila S. Blair -- Mamluk Qurʼans : Splendor and Opulence of the Islamic Book / Alison Aplin Ohta -- A Sixteenth- Century Shiraz Masterpiece : Chester Beatty's Ruzbihan Qurʼan / Elaine Wright -- The Qurʼanic Soundscape of Mimar Sinan's Mosques : A Survey of Recitation Programs and the Unusual Case of the Hadım İbrahim Paşa Mosque at Silivrikapı / Nina Macaraig -- The Rise of the Enʻam : Manuscripts of Selections of Suras in the Early Sixteenth- Century Ottoman Empire / Simon Rettig.

Qur'anic Manuscripts

Actes de la Conférence internationale sur les manuscrits du Coran (Bologne, 26-28 septembre 2002). Mélanges de l'Université Saint-Joseph Volume LIX (2006): 161-405.

Studying the Manuscripts of the Qur’ān, Past and Future 163  François DÉROCHE Uses and Functions of the Qur’ānic Text 183  Sheila S. BLAIR Un mode d’emploi du Coran. Note sur les gloses persanes d’un manuscrit coranique d’Asie centrale 209  Marie EFTHYMIOU The Copying and Handling of Qur’āns: Some Observations on the Kitāb al-Maṣāḥif by Ibn Abī Dā’ūd al-Sijistānī 229  Adam GACEK De quelques corans chinois et leur papier 253  Geneviève HUMBERT et Annie VERNAY-NOURI Du fiqh à la codicologie. Quelques opinions de Mālik (m. 179/796) sur le Coran-codex 269  Abdelouahed JAHDANI Forms of Qur’ānic Manuscripts Among the Yoruba Islamic Scholars of South-Western Nigeria 281  Ismaheel Akinade JIMOH Disputes in Bukhara on the Persian Translation of the Qur’ān 301  Ashirbek MUMINOV Ibn Muqla and the Qur’ānic Manuscripts in Oblong Format 309  Valery V. POLOSIN La réforme de l’écriture arabe à l’époque du califat médinois 319  Christian Julien ROBIN Repertory of Sūras and Prayers in a Collection of Ottoman Manuscripts 365  Florian SOBIEROJ The Use of the Qur’ān for Divination in Iran 387  Sergei TOURKIN The Collection of Qur’ān Manuscripts in the National Library of Russia 395  Olga V. VASILYEVA

Baker, Colin F. Qur'an Manuscripts. Calligraphy, Illumination, Design. London: The British Library, 2007.

Bayani, Manijeh, Anna Contadini and Tim Stanley. The Decorated Word: Qur'ans of the 17th to 19th Centuries . London: Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, 1999. (Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art  v. 4, pt. 1)

Berthold, Cornelius. Forms and Functions of Pendant Koran Manuscripts. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2021.

--------. "The Word of God in One’s Hand: Touching and Holding Pendant Koran Manuscripts" Das Mittelalter 25, 2 (2020): 338-357. https://doi.org/10.1515/mial-2020-0041

Bondarev, Dimitri. "Archaic Kanembu in the Borno Qur’anic Manuscripts: Palaeographic Identification and Problems of Phonological and Morphological Reconstruction." Borno Museum Society Newsletter 63/64 (2005): 5-31. See also the many other outputs of the ENiQMa Project for the study of Early Nigerian Manuscripts (e.g. Palaeography  http://www.soas.ac.uk/africa/research/kanuri/subjectareas/palaeography/ ) and several other Old Kanembu research projects (listed on  http://digital.soas.ac.uk/okim ).

Brockett, Adrian. "Aspects of the physical transmission of the Qur`an in 19th-century Sudan: Script, binding, decoration and paper." Manuscripts of the Middle East 2 (1987): 45-67

Blair, Sheila and Jonathan Bloom. "Ornamentation and Illumination." In Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, Ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Leiden: Brill, 2003): III, 593-603

Cellard, Éléonore. "The Ṣanʿāʾ Palimpsest: Materializing the Codices."  Journal of Near Eastern Studies  80, i (January 2021): 1–30

Le Coran de Gwalior: polysémie d'un manuscrit à peintures, sous la direction de Éloïse Brac de la Perrière et Monique Burési. Paris : Éditions De Boccard, 2016. 

Introduction / Éloïse Brac de la Perrière -- I: Le Coran de Gwalior/The Gwalior Qur'an. The ornamentation of the Gwalior Qur'an, between diachronic legacies and geographic confluences / Frantz Chaigne, Mathilde Cruvelier ; The Gwalior Qur'an: archaeology of the manuscript and of its decoration: a preliminary study / Nourane Ben Azzouna, Patricia Roger-Puyo ; Les gloses marginales et le fālnāma du Coran de Gwalior: témoignages des usages multiples du Coran dans l'Inde des sultanats / Sabrina Alilouche, Ghazaleh Esmailpour Qouchani -- II: Contextes/Contexts. Contextualizing the Gwalior Qur'an: notes on Muslim military, commercial and mystical routes in Gwalior and India before the 16th century / Johanna Blayac ; Kalpasūtras et Corans: réflexions sur l'écriture et la peinture de manuscrits jaina du Gujarat aux XIVe-XVIe siècles / Nalini Balbir ; Qur'an manuscripts and their transmission history: preliminary remarks / Asma Hilali -- III: Les manuscrits Indo-Persans et le monde Islamique/Indo-Persian manuscripts and the Islamic world. Eclecticism and regionalism: the Gwalior Qur'an and the Ghurid legacy to post-Mongol art / Finbarr Barry Flood ; Lotus flowers and leaves, from China and Iran to the Indian sultanates / Yves Porter ; A 'Timurid-like response' to the Qur'an of Gwalior? Manuscript W563 at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore / Simon Rettig.

Cortese, Delia. "The Commodification of the Muṣḥaf in the Early Centuries of Islam."   In  Writings and Writing : Investigations in Islamic Text and Script in Honour of Dr. Januarius Justus Witkam , Ed. Robert M. Kerr and Thomas Milo (Cambridge: Archetype, 2013): 41-65

Déroche, François. Les manuscrits du coran. Aux origines de la calligraphie coranique. Catalogue des manuscrits arabes. Deuxième partie: manuscrits musulmans, Tome I, 1 . Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, 1983.

_____. Catalogue des manuscrits arabes, 2e partie, I/2. Les manuscrits du Coran. Du Maghreb à l'Insulinde , Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1985.

_____. The Abbasid Tradition: Qur'ans of the 8th to 10th Centuries AD . London: Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, 1992. (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art v.1)

_____. "Manuscripts of the Qurʾān." Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, Ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Leiden: Brill, 2001-): III, 254-275.

_____. "Written Transmission." In The Blackwell Companion to the Qur'ān, Ed. Andrew Rippin (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006): 172-186.

_____. La transmission écrite du Coran dans les débuts de l’islam: le codex Parisino-petropolitanus . Leiden: Brill, 2009.

——— . "The codex Parisino-petropolitanus and the hijâzï scripts." In  The Development of Arabic as a Written Language. Papers from the Special Session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held on 24 July, 2009, Ed. M.C.A. Macdonald, Supplement to the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies , 40 (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2010): 113-120.

——— .  "A Note on the Mediaeval Inventory of the Manuscripts Kept in the Great Mosque of Kairouan." In  Writings and Writing : Investigations in Islamic Text and Script in Honour of Dr. Januarius Justus Witkam , Ed. Robert M. Kerr and Thomas Milo (Cambridge: Archetype, 2013): 67-86.

——— . Qurʾans of the Umayyads: A First Overview . Leiden: Brill, 2014.

——— . "A Qur'anic script from Umayyad times : around the Codex of Fustat." In Power, patronage, and memory in early Islam : perspectives on Umayyad elites, edited by Alain George and Andrew Marsham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018): 69-80

——— . Le Coran, une histoire plurielle : essai sur la formation du texte coranique.  Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2019.

Dutton, Yasin. "Red dots, green dots, yellow dots & blue: some reflections on the vocalisation of early Qur’anic manuscripts (Part I)." Journal of Qur’anic Studies 1, 1 (1999): 115-140.

——— .  "Red dots, green dots, yellow dots & blue: some reflections on the vocalisation of early Qur’anic manuscripts (Part II)." Journal of Qur’anic Studies 2, 1 (2000): 1-24.

Farhad, Massumeh and Simon Rettig. Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, exhibition at the Freer | Sackler 22 October 2016 to 20 February 2017 . Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2016.

Fedeli, Alba. "The Kufic Collection of the Prussian Consult Wetzstein: The 1100 Leaves of the Universitätsbibliothek in Tübingen and their Importance for Palaeography and Qurʾānic Criticism." In  Writings and Writing : Investigations in Islamic Text and Script in Honour of Dr. Januarius Justus Witkam , Ed. Robert M. Kerr and Thomas Milo (Cambridge: Archetype, 2013): 117-142

George, Alain. The Rise of Islamic Calligraphy . London: Saqi, 2010.

--------. “Calligraphy, Colour and Light in the Blue Qur’an.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 11, no. 1 (2009): 75–125. 

Haldane, Duncan. "Qur’ans from the Library of the Institute of Ismaili Studies." In Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur'an and Its Creative Expressions: Selected Proceedings From the International Colloquium, London, 18-21 October 2003, Ed. Fahmida Suleman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007): 51-68.

Hilali, Asma. "Writing the Qur’ān Between the Lines: Marginal and Interlinear Notes in Selected Qur’ān Fragments from the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar: " In  From Scrolls to Scrolling: Sacred Texts, Materiality, and Dynamic Media Cultures,  edited by Bradford A. Anderson (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020): 51-62

Hirji, Zulfikar. "A Corpus of Illuminated Qurʾāns from Coastal East Africa." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 14, 2-4 (2023): 356-395

James, David.  Qurʾāns and Bindings from the Chester Beatty Library. A Facsimile Exhibition . London: World of Islam Festival Trust, 1980.

_____. Qurʾāns of the Mamlūks . London: Thames and Hudson, 1988.

_____. The Master Scribes: Qurʾans of the 10th to 14th Centuries AD . London: Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, 1992 (Nasser D. Khalili collection of Islamic art v. 2) 

_____. After Timur: Qurʾāns of the 15th and 16th Centuries . London: Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, 1992 (Nasser D. Khalili collection of Islamic art v. 3)

Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 14, 2-4 = Special Issue: Manuscripts of the Qur’an 2 (2023) ( table of contents )

Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 3 = Special Issue: Manuscripts the Qur’an 1 (2020) ( table of contents )

Lemaistre, Joëlle, Ed. Splendeur et majesté: Corans de la Bibliothèque nationale . Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1987.

Lings, Martin. The Quranic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination . London: World of Islam Festival Trust, 1976.

_____. Splendours of Qur'an Calligraphy and Illumination .  London : Thames and Hudson, 2005.

Lings, Martin and Yasin Safadi, The Qurʾān. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Qurʾān Manuscripts at the British Library. London: World of Islam Publishing Co. Ltd for the British Library, 1976.

Porter, Cheryl. "The Materiality of the Blue Quran: A Physical and Technological Study." In The Aghlabids and their Neighbors Art and Material Culture in Ninth-Century North Africa , edited by Glaire D. Anderson et al (Leiden: Brill, 2018): 573-586

Qurʾān Quotations Preserved on Papyrus Documents, 7th-10th Centuries , edited by Andreas Kaplony and Michael Marx. Documenta Coranica 2. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

Rippin, Andrew, Ed. The Blackwell Companion to the Qurʼān . Oxford: Blackwell, 2006.

Safwat, Nabil. Golden Pages: Qur'ans and Other Manuscripts from the Collection of Ghassan I. Shaker. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Sahragard, Mahdi. "Revived Leaves: The Qur’an Endowed by Kishvād b. Amlās, the Oldest Known Qur’an Manuscript on Paper (327/939)." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 14, 2-4 (2023): 212-234

Schimmel, Annemarie. Calligraphy and Islamic Culture. New York: New York University Press, 1984.

Stanley, Tim. The Qurʾān and Calligraphy: A Selection of Fine Manuscript Material. Bernard Quaritch Catalogue 1213. London: Bernard Quaritch, [1995 or 6].

_____. "Page-setting in Late Ottoman Qur'ans. An Aspect of Standardization." Manuscripta Orientalia. 10/1 (2004): 56-63.

Suit, Natalia K. "Mushaf and the Material Boundaries of the Qur’an."  Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts   6,  1-3 (2012): 143–163. 

--------. Qur'anic Matters: Material Meditations and Religious Practice in Egypt. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. Especially chapter 7, "How Printing Created Manuscripts: Aesthetic and Historical Approaches to Mushafs"  127-138

Suleman, Fahmida, Ed. Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur'an and Its Creative Expressions: Selected Proceedings From the International Colloquium, London, 18-21 October 2003. Oxford: Oxford University Press in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2007.

Whelan, Estelle. "Writing the Word of God: Some Early Qurʾān Manuscripts and Their Milieux, Part I." Ars Orientalis 20 (1990): 113-147.

Witkam, Jan Just. "Twenty-nine Rules for Qur'an Copying. A Set of Rules for the Lay-out of a Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Qur'an Manuscript." In Jan Schmidt, ed. Essays in Honour of Barbara Flemming, vol. 2 = Journal of Turkish Studies 26/1 (2002): 339-348.

The Word Illuminated: Form and Function of Qur'anic Manuscripts from the Seventh to Seventeenth Centuries, edited by Simon Rettig and Sana Mirza. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Scholarly Press, 2023. 

Reading, Study, Devotion, etc.

Arberry, A. J. A Twelfth-century Reading List: A Chapter in Arab Bibliography . London: E. Walker, 1951. (Chester Beatty Monographs, no. 2)

Authors as Readers in the Mamlūk Period and Beyond , edited by Élise Franssen. Venezia: Edizioni Ca' Foscari Digital Publishing, 2022. Available online open access

El-Rouayheb, Khaled. "The Rise of 'Deep Reading' in Early Modern Ottoman Scholarly Culture." In World Philology , eds. Sheldon Pollock, Benjamin A. Elman, and Ku-ming Kevin Chang (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015): 201-224

Hirschler, Konrad. The Written Word in the Medieval Arabic Lands: A Social and Cultural History of Reading Practices . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012.

Liebrenz, Boris. "Lese- und Besitzvermerke in der Leipziger Rifāʻīyah-Bibliothek." In Manuscript Notes as Documentary Sources , Eds. Andreas Görke and Konrad Hirschler (Würzburg : Ergon Verlag in Kommission, 2011): 141-162.

al-Mashūkhī, ʻĀbid Sulaymān. Anmāṭ al-tawthīq fī al-makhṭūṭ al-ʻArabī fī al-qarn al-tāsiʻ al-Hijrī .  al-Riyāḍ : Maktabat al-Malik Fahd al-Waṭanīyah, 1994.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. "Oral Transmission and the Book in Islamic Education."  Journal of Islamic Studies  3, 1 (1992): 1-14.

Ottoman Print Culture = Lingua Franca: History of the Book in Translation 5 (2019) ( available online )

• Christoph K. Neumann, ‘Three Modes of Reading: Writing and Reading Books in Early Modern Ottoman Society’
• Tülün Değirmenci, ‘A book is read by how many people? Some observations on readers and reading modes in the Ottoman Empire’
• Ismail E. Erünsal, ‘The Book Trade and Booksellers of Istanbul and other regions of the Ottoman Empire’in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries’
• Özgür Türesay, ‘An Adventure in Ottoman Printing: Ebüzziya Tevfik’s Matbaa-i Ebüzziya’

Peacock, ACS.  Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries . Leiden: Brill, 2024. 

Richardson, Kristina and Boris Liebrenz, editors.  امام كمال الدين الحائك : حلب في أواخر القرن العاشر = The Notebook of Kamāl al-Dīn the Weaver : Aleppine Notes from the End of the Sixteenth Century. Bibliotheca Islamica 59. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021 open access  

Rosenthal, Franz.  The Technique and Approach of Muslim Scholarship . Roma: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1947.

Sariyannis, Marinos. "Some Remarks on Marginal Notes in Ottoman Manuscripts." In  “Buyurdum ki….” The Whole World of Ottomanica and Beyond : Studies in Honour of Claudia Römer , edited by Hülya Çelik, Yavuz Köse, and Gisela Procházka-Eisl (Leiden: Brill, 2023): 157-183

Schlein, Deborah. "In the Ḥakīm’s Own Hand: A Study of Colophons and Ownership Notes of the al-Asbāb wa-l-ʿalāmāt Commentary Tradition in India."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts  9, 2-3 =  Special Issue:The History of Books and Collections through Manuscript Notes , edited by Boris Liebrenz (2018): 264-271

Schoeler, Gregor .  "The Relationship of Literacy and Memory in the Second/Eighth century." In  The Development of Arabic as a Written Language. Papers from the Special Session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held on 24 July, 2009, Ed. M.C.A. Macdonald, Supplement to the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies , 40 (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2010): 121-129. 

Sezer Aydınlı, Elif.  The Oral and the Written in Ottoman Literature: The Reader Notes on the Story of Firuzşâh.  İstanbul: Libra Kitap 2015.

--------. "Unusual Readers in Early Modern Istanbul: Manuscript Notes of Janissaries and Other Riff-Raff on Popular Heroic Narratives."  Journal of Islamic Manuscripts  9, 2-3 =  Special Issue:The History of Books and Collections through Manuscript Notes , edited by Boris Liebrenz (2018): 109-131.

El Shamsy, Ahmed Rediscovering the Islamic Classics: How Editors and Print Culture Transformed an Intellectual Tradition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020.

Strauss, Johann. "Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire (19th-20th centuries)?" Middle Eastern Literatures 6, no. i (2003): 39-76.

Toorawa, Shawkat M.  Ibn Abī Ṭāhir Ṭayfūr and Arabic Writerly Culture: A Ninth-century Bookman in Baghdad . London : Routledge Curzon, 2005.

White, James. "Mamlūk Poetry, Ottoman Readers, and an Enlightenment Collector: An Appendix to the Nuzha of Ibn Sūdūn." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 9, 2-3 = Special Issue:The History of Books and Collections through Manuscript Notes , edited by Boris Liebrenz (2018): 272-307

Wollina, Torsten. "Between Home and Sufi Convent: Devotional Book Use in Early Modern Damascus." In Domestic Devotions in the Early Modern World , edited by Marco Faini and Alessia Meneghin (Leiden: Brill, 2018): 147-166 available online open access

Scripts and Hands

See the Arabic Script Palaeography page of this guide.

Texts: Authorship and Transmission of Knowledge

see also "V. Transmission of Knowledge" in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008)

Berkey, Jonathan. The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History of Islamic Education . Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1992.

Bruns, Gerald L. "The Originality of Texts in a Manuscript Culture." Comparative Literature 32, 2 (Spring 1980): 113-129

Gacek, Adam. "The Copenhagen Manuscript of the Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīriyya copied, illuminated and glossed by the Mamluk litterateur Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ṣafadī." In   In  Writings and Writing : Investigations in Islamic Text and Script in Honour of Dr. Januarius Justus Witkam , Ed. Robert M. Kerr and Thomas Milo (Cambridge: Archetype, 2013): 143-166.

Gardiner, Noah.  “Forbidden Knowledge? Notes on the Production, Transmission, and Reception of the Major Works of Aḥmad al-Būnī.” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies = JAIS (2012): 81-143

Görke, Andreas and Konrad Hirschler, eds. Manuscript Notes as Documentary Sources. Würzburg : Ergon Verlag in Kommission, 2011.

Heck, Paul L. "The Epistemological Problem of Writing in Islamic Civilization: al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī’s (d.463/1071) 'Taqyīd al-ʻilm.'" Studia Islamica, 94 (2002): 85-114.

Hirschler, Konrad. Medieval Arabic Historiography : Authors as Actors . London: Routledge, 2006.

Keller-Heinkele, Barbara. "The Transmission History of a Text of Joint Authorship." Manuscripts of the Middle East ( MME) 3 (1988): 45-53.

Kohlberg, Etan. A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work : Ibn Tawus and His Library . Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1992.

Law and Education in Medieval Islam: Studies in Memory of Professor George Makdisi , Eds. Joseph E. Lowry, Devin J. Stewart, and Shawkat M. Toorawa. [Cambridge, U.K.]: Gibb Memorial Trust, 2004.

Leder, Stefan, Yāsīn Muḥammad al-Sawwās, and Maʾmūn al-Ṣāgharjī. Muʻjam al-samāʻāt al-Dimashqīyah : al-muntakhabah min sanat 550 ilá 750 H / 1155 M ilá 1349 M . Dimashq : al-Maʻhad al-Faransī lil-Dirasāt al-ʻArabīyah, 1996.

Makdisi, George. The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1981.

al-Maslūtī, Muṣṭafá. "al-Ijāzāt al-ʻilmyah wa-ishāmuhā fī al-ḥarakah al-fikrīyah bi-al-Maghrib."  Majallat Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Ḥasanīyah 7 (1989): 238-252.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. "Oral Transmission and the Book in Islamic Education." Journal of Islamic Studies 3, 1 (1992): 1-14.

Ogorodnikova, Darya. "‘I Heard it from my Teacher’: Reflections on the Transmission of Knowledge in Islamic Manuscripts from Senegambia and Mali" In  Education Materialised: Reconstructing Teaching and Learning Environments Through Manuscripts,  edited by Stefanie Brinkmann, Giovanni Ciotti, Stefano Valente and Eva Maria Wilden (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021): 127-150. ( available online open access )

Quiring-Zoche, Rosemarie. "How al-Buḫārī's Ṣaḥīḥ was edited in the Middle Ages: ʿAlī al-Yunīnī and his Rumūz."  Bulletin d'études orientales 50 (1998): 191–222.

Scheiner, Jens. "Single Isnāds or Riwāyas? Quoted Books in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Tarjama of Tamīm al-Dārī." In The Heritage of Arabo-Islamic Learning Studies Presented to Wadad Kadi, edited by Maurice A. Pomerantz and Aram Shahin (Leiden: Brill, c2016): 42-72

Schoeler, Gregor. The Oral and the Written in Early Islam . London ; New York : Routledge, 2006.

——— .  The Genesis of Literature in Islam : From the Aural to the Read . Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, c2009.

——— .  "The Relationship of Literacy and Memory in the Second/Eighth century." In  The Development of Arabic as a Written Language. Papers from the Special Session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held on 24 July, 2009, Ed. M.C.A. Macdonald, Supplement to the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies , 40 (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2010): 121-129. 

Toorawa, Shawkat M. Ibn Abī Ṭāhir Ṭayfūr and Arabic Writerly Culture: A Ninth-century Bookman in Baghdad . London : Routledge Curzon, 2005.

Vajda, Georges. "Quelques certificats de lecture dans les manuscrits arabes de la Bibliothèque nationale de Paris." Arabica , 1, no.3 (1954): 337-342.

——— . Les certificats de lecture et de transmission dans les manuscrits arabes de la Bibliothèque nationale de Paris . Paris:  Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1957.

Witkam, Jan Just. "The Human Element Between Text and Reader. The ijāza in Arabic Manuscripts." In The Codicology of Islamic Manuscripts: Proceedings of the Second Conference of Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 4-5 December 1993 , Ed. Yasin Dutton. London, 1995: 123-136.

Transcription / Copying

see also "I. 6. Manuscript production and culture" and "IV. The Text, its composition and arrangement" in Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (2001) and Supplement (2008)

Alsancakli, Sacha. “The Role of Copyists in the Transmission of Manuscripts. A Case Study on Šaraf Xān Bidlīsī’s  Šarafnāma  (1005-1314/1597-1897)”,  DYNTRAN Working Papers , no. 23, online edition, April 2017, available at:  http://dyntran.hypotheses.org/1826

van Berkel, Maaike. "Reconstructing Archival Practices in Abbasid Baghdad." Journal of Abbasid Studies 1,1 (2014): 7-22

BİLGİN, Orhan. "FERÂĞ KAYDI." TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi , available online open access

Chambert-Loir, Henri. “Malay Colophons.” Indonesia and the Malay World 34, 100 (2006): 363–381. 

“Colophon and dates.” In François Déroche, et al.  Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 318-330

"Craftsmen and the Making of the Manuscript." In François Déroche, et al. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 185-204.

Déroche, François. "Copier des manuscrits: remarques sur le travail du copiste." Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée 99-100 (2002): 133-144.

———. "The Copyist’s Working Pace: Some Remarks Towards a Reflexion on the Economy of the Book in the Islamic World." In Theoretical Approaches to the Transmission and Edition of Oriental Manuscripts. Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Istanbul March 28-30, 2001 , Eds. Judith Pfeiffer and Manfred Kropp (Würzburg, Ergon Verlag, 2007): 203-213.

Fleischer, Cornell H. "Between the Lines: Realities of Scribal Life in the Sixteenth Century." In Studies in Ottoman History in Honour of Professor V. L. Ménage , Eds. Colin Heywood and Colin Imber (Istanbul: The Isis Press, 1994): 45-61.

Fleming, Barbara. "Literary Activities in Mamluk Halls and Barracks." In Studies in Memory of Gaston Wiet , Ed. Myriam Rosen-Ayalon (Jerusalem: Institute of Asian and African Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1977): 249-260.

Gacek, Adam. "Technical Practices and Recommendations Recorded by Classical and Post-Classical Arabic Scholars Concerning the Copying and Correction of Manuscripts." In Les manuscrits du Moyen-Orient: essais de codicologie et de paléographie , Actes du Colloque d’ Istanbul , Istanbul , 26-29 mai 1986 , Ed. François Déroche (Paris / Istanbul: Institut français d’études anatoliennes et Bibliothèque Nationale, 1989): 51-60.

———. "Scribes, Amanuenses, and Scholars. A Bibliographic Survey of Published Arabic Literature From the Manuscript Age on Various Aspects of Penmanship, Bookmaking, and the Transmission of Knowledge." Manuscripta Orientalia 10, 2 (2004): 3-29.

———. "Scribes, Copyists." Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia , Ed. Josef W. Meri (New York: Routledge, 2006): 2, 704-706.

———. "Taxonomy of Scribal Errors and Corrections in Arabic Manuscripts." In Theoretical Approaches to the Transmission and Edition of Oriental Manuscripts. Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Istanbul March 28-30, 2001 , Eds. Judith Pfeiffer and Manfred Kropp (Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2007): 217-235, 313-319 (illus.).

________. “Colophon.” In Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers (Leiden: Brill, 2009): 71-76

Guesdon, Marie-Geneviève. "Manuscrits et bibliothèques." In L’art du livre arabe: du manuscrit au livre d’artiste , sous la direction de Marie-Geneviève Guesdon and Annie Vernay-Nouri (Paris, BnF, 2001): 19-21.

In the Author's Hand: Holograph and Authorial Manuscripts in the Islamic Handwritten Tradition , edited by Frédéric Bauden and Elise Franssen. Leiden: Brill, 2020. 

Introduction -- Comment recconaitre un autographe parmi les papyrus littéraires grecs? L'exemple du P. Oxy. 74.4970 / Marie-Hélène Marganne -- Arabic holographs: characteristics and terminology / Adam Gacek -- "Bi-khaṭṭ mu'allifihi" -- vraiment?! L'apport de l'analyse judiciaire d'écritures à l'étude des manuscrits arabes / Élise Franssen -- Maqriziana XV: the characteristics of al-Maqrīzī's handwriting / Frédéric Bauden -- The art of copying: Mamlūk manuscript culture in theory and practice / Elias Muhanna -- The holograph notebooks of Akmal al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Mufliḥ (d.1011/1603) / Kristina Richardson -- 'Aynī's working method for his Chronicles: analysis of his autographical manuscript / NobutakaNakamachi -- Textual criticism on the manuscripts of Ibn Khaldun's autobiographical manuscripts / Retsu Hashizume -- Les safīnas yéménites / Julien Dufour and Anne Regourd.

Poonawala, Ismail K. “The Contribution of Ismāʿīlī Colophons to the Discussion on the Birth and Construction of the Arabic Manuscript Tradition.”  Chroniques du manuscrit au yémen  27, 8 (janvier 2018): 74–139.  ( available online )

Quiring-Zoche, Rosemarie. "A Manuscript Copied in Teamwork?" Manuscripta Orientalia 9, 4 (2003): 65-72.

———. "Minhīyāt – Marginalien des Verfassers in arabischen Manuskripten." Asiatische Studien (= Études asiatiques, Suisse ) LX, 4 (2006): 987-1019.

———. "The Colophon in Arabic Manuscripts. A Phenomenon Without a Name." Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 4 (2013): 49-81.

Scribal Practice and the Global Cultures of Colophons, 1400-1800, edited by Christopher D. Bahl and Stefan Hanß. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.

1. Information, Interpretation, Interaction: Global Cultures of Colophons, c. 1400-1800- Christopher D. Bahl and Stefan Hanss 2. A Prosopography in Circulation: Advertising Scribal Travails in Arabic Manuscripts across Early Modern South Asia- Christopher D. Bahl 3. Lines of Loyalties and Early Modern Cultural Diversity: Colophons as Sites of Encounters- Stefan Hanss4. How to Publish a Book in the Fifteenth-Century Middle East: The Case of Ibn Nasir al-Din's "Abundant Refutation"- Laurenz Kern 5. Signatures of Authority: Colophons in Seventeenth-Century Melkite Circles in Aleppo- Feras Krimsti 6. The Making of a Local Historian in Timbuktu: The Signed Marginalia Attributed to Mahmud Ka'ti in the Fondo Kati Collection- Susana Molins Lliteras 7. From Scribal Marks to Calligraphic Signatures? Print, Scribe and Script in Early Modern European Writing Manuals- Hannah Murphy 8. Poetry of the Scribes: Versified Colophons and Scribal Identity in Siamese Manuscript Culture- Peera Panarut 9. Muslim Scribal Culture in India around 1800: Toward a Disentangling of the Mughal Library and the Delhi Collection- Nur Sobers-Khan 10. In Absence of a Colophon: Alternative Signing Practices in Arabic Autograph Manuscripts- Torsten Wollina 11. Remembering the Living and the Dead in Fifteenth-Century Armenian Colophons: The Case of Bodleian MS Marsh 438 (I-III)- David Zakarian

Şeşen, Ramazan. "Esquisse d’une histoire du développement des colophons dans les manuscrits musulmans." In Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient , edited by François Déroche and Francis Richard (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1997): 189-221.

Weisweiler, Max. "Arabische Schreiberverse." In  Orientalistische Studien. Enno Littmann zu seinem 60 , Ed. Rudi Paret (Leiden: Brill, 1935): 101–120. 

Witkam, Jan Just. "Twenty-nine Rules for Qur'ān Copying. A Set of Rules for the Lay-out of a Nineteenth-century Ottoman Qur'ān Manuscript." Journal Of Turkish Studies 26, ii (2002): 339-348.

Writing Material (i.e. Support or Writing Surface)

"III. Writing Surfaces" In the "Guide to Further Reading" of Déroche et al. (p.386 ff.)

"Papers and Papermaking" section of this guide.

Kropf, Evyn. "Resources for the Study of Watermarks."  Islamic Manuscript Studies  2012- available online at  guides.lib.umich.edu/islamicmsstudies/watermarks  

Malczycki, W. Matt. "The Papyrus Industry in the Early Islamic Era." Journal of the Economic & Social History of the Orient 54, 2 (2011): 185-202

Richard, Francis. "The Writing Surface: Paper." In François Déroche, et al.  Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script . (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 49-63.

"The Writing Surface: Papyrus and Parchment." In François Déroche, et al.  Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script . (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 25-47

Case Study Research Method in Psychology

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a person, group, event, or community. Typically, data is gathered from various sources using several methods (e.g., observations & interviews).

The case study research method originated in clinical medicine (the case history, i.e., the patient’s personal history). In psychology, case studies are often confined to the study of a particular individual.

The information is mainly biographical and relates to events in the individual’s past (i.e., retrospective), as well as to significant events that are currently occurring in his or her everyday life.

The case study is not a research method, but researchers select methods of data collection and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies.

Freud (1909a, 1909b) conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses.

This makes it clear that the case study is a method that should only be used by a psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist, i.e., someone with a professional qualification.

There is an ethical issue of competence. Only someone qualified to diagnose and treat a person can conduct a formal case study relating to atypical (i.e., abnormal) behavior or atypical development.

 Famous Case Studies

• Anna O – One of the most famous case studies, documenting psychoanalyst Josef Breuer’s treatment of “Anna O” (real name Bertha Pappenheim) for hysteria in the late 1800s using early psychoanalytic theory.
• Little Hans – A child psychoanalysis case study published by Sigmund Freud in 1909 analyzing his five-year-old patient Herbert Graf’s house phobia as related to the Oedipus complex.
• Bruce/Brenda – Gender identity case of the boy (Bruce) whose botched circumcision led psychologist John Money to advise gender reassignment and raise him as a girl (Brenda) in the 1960s.
• Genie Wiley – Linguistics/psychological development case of the victim of extreme isolation abuse who was studied in 1970s California for effects of early language deprivation on acquiring speech later in life.
• Phineas Gage – One of the most famous neuropsychology case studies analyzes personality changes in railroad worker Phineas Gage after an 1848 brain injury involving a tamping iron piercing his skull.

Clinical Case Studies

• Studying the effectiveness of psychotherapy approaches with an individual patient
• Assessing and treating mental illnesses like depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD
• Neuropsychological cases investigating brain injuries or disorders

Child Psychology Case Studies

• Studying psychological development from birth through adolescence
• Cases of learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD
• Effects of trauma, abuse, deprivation on development

Types of Case Studies

• Explanatory case studies : Used to explore causation in order to find underlying principles. Helpful for doing qualitative analysis to explain presumed causal links.
• Exploratory case studies : Used to explore situations where an intervention being evaluated has no clear set of outcomes. It helps define questions and hypotheses for future research.
• Descriptive case studies : Describe an intervention or phenomenon and the real-life context in which it occurred. It is helpful for illustrating certain topics within an evaluation.
• Multiple-case studies : Used to explore differences between cases and replicate findings across cases. Helpful for comparing and contrasting specific cases.
• Intrinsic : Used to gain a better understanding of a particular case. Helpful for capturing the complexity of a single case.
• Collective : Used to explore a general phenomenon using multiple case studies. Helpful for jointly studying a group of cases in order to inquire into the phenomenon.

Where Do You Find Data for a Case Study?

There are several places to find data for a case study. The key is to gather data from multiple sources to get a complete picture of the case and corroborate facts or findings through triangulation of evidence. Most of this information is likely qualitative (i.e., verbal description rather than measurement), but the psychologist might also collect numerical data.

1. Primary sources

• Interviews – Interviewing key people related to the case to get their perspectives and insights. The interview is an extremely effective procedure for obtaining information about an individual, and it may be used to collect comments from the person’s friends, parents, employer, workmates, and others who have a good knowledge of the person, as well as to obtain facts from the person him or herself.
• Observations – Observing behaviors, interactions, processes, etc., related to the case as they unfold in real-time.
• Documents & Records – Reviewing private documents, diaries, public records, correspondence, meeting minutes, etc., relevant to the case.

2. Secondary sources

• News/Media – News coverage of events related to the case study.
• Academic articles – Journal articles, dissertations etc. that discuss the case.
• Government reports – Official data and records related to the case context.
• Books/films – Books, documentaries or films discussing the case.

3. Archival records

Searching historical archives, museum collections and databases to find relevant documents, visual/audio records related to the case history and context.

Public archives like newspapers, organizational records, photographic collections could all include potentially relevant pieces of information to shed light on attitudes, cultural perspectives, common practices and historical contexts related to psychology.

4. Organizational records

Organizational records offer the advantage of often having large datasets collected over time that can reveal or confirm psychological insights.

Of course, privacy and ethical concerns regarding confidential data must be navigated carefully.

However, with proper protocols, organizational records can provide invaluable context and empirical depth to qualitative case studies exploring the intersection of psychology and organizations.

• Organizational/industrial psychology research : Organizational records like employee surveys, turnover/retention data, policies, incident reports etc. may provide insight into topics like job satisfaction, workplace culture and dynamics, leadership issues, employee behaviors etc.
• Clinical psychology : Therapists/hospitals may grant access to anonymized medical records to study aspects like assessments, diagnoses, treatment plans etc. This could shed light on clinical practices.
• School psychology : Studies could utilize anonymized student records like test scores, grades, disciplinary issues, and counseling referrals to study child development, learning barriers, effectiveness of support programs, and more.

How do I Write a Case Study in Psychology?

Follow specified case study guidelines provided by a journal or your psychology tutor. General components of clinical case studies include: background, symptoms, assessments, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. Interpreting the information means the researcher decides what to include or leave out. A good case study should always clarify which information is the factual description and which is an inference or the researcher’s opinion.

1. Introduction

• Provide background on the case context and why it is of interest, presenting background information like demographics, relevant history, and presenting problem.
• Compare briefly to similar published cases if applicable. Clearly state the focus/importance of the case.

2. Case Presentation

• Describe the presenting problem in detail, including symptoms, duration,and impact on daily life.
• Include client demographics like age and gender, information about social relationships, and mental health history.
• Describe all physical, emotional, and/or sensory symptoms reported by the client.
• Use patient quotes to describe the initial complaint verbatim. Follow with full-sentence summaries of relevant history details gathered, including key components that led to a working diagnosis.
• Summarize clinical exam results, namely orthopedic/neurological tests, imaging, lab tests, etc. Note actual results rather than subjective conclusions. Provide images if clearly reproducible/anonymized.
• Clearly state the working diagnosis or clinical impression before transitioning to management.

3. Management and Outcome

• Indicate the total duration of care and number of treatments given over what timeframe. Use specific names/descriptions for any therapies/interventions applied.
• Present the results of the intervention,including any quantitative or qualitative data collected.
• For outcomes, utilize visual analog scales for pain, medication usage logs, etc., if possible. Include patient self-reports of improvement/worsening of symptoms. Note the reason for discharge/end of care.

4. Discussion

• Analyze the case, exploring contributing factors, limitations of the study, and connections to existing research.
• Analyze the effectiveness of the intervention,considering factors like participant adherence, limitations of the study, and potential alternative explanations for the results.
• Identify any questions raised in the case analysis and relate insights to established theories and current research if applicable. Avoid definitive claims about physiological explanations.
• Offer clinical implications, and suggest future research directions.

5. Additional Items

• Thank specific assistants for writing support only. No patient acknowledgments.
• References should directly support any key claims or quotes included.
• Use tables/figures/images only if substantially informative. Include permissions and legends/explanatory notes.
• Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.
• Provides insight for further research.
• Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations.

Case studies allow a researcher to investigate a topic in far more detail than might be possible if they were trying to deal with a large number of research participants (nomothetic approach) with the aim of ‘averaging’.

Because of their in-depth, multi-sided approach, case studies often shed light on aspects of human thinking and behavior that would be unethical or impractical to study in other ways.

Research that only looks into the measurable aspects of human behavior is not likely to give us insights into the subjective dimension of experience, which is important to psychoanalytic and humanistic psychologists.

Case studies are often used in exploratory research. They can help us generate new ideas (that might be tested by other methods). They are an important way of illustrating theories and can help show how different aspects of a person’s life are related to each other.

The method is, therefore, important for psychologists who adopt a holistic point of view (i.e., humanistic psychologists ).

Limitations

• Lacking scientific rigor and providing little basis for generalization of results to the wider population.
• Researchers’ own subjective feelings may influence the case study (researcher bias).
• Difficult to replicate.
• Time-consuming and expensive.
• The volume of data, together with the time restrictions in place, impacted the depth of analysis that was possible within the available resources.

Because a case study deals with only one person/event/group, we can never be sure if the case study investigated is representative of the wider body of “similar” instances. This means the conclusions drawn from a particular case may not be transferable to other settings.

Because case studies are based on the analysis of qualitative (i.e., descriptive) data , a lot depends on the psychologist’s interpretation of the information she has acquired.

This means that there is a lot of scope for Anna O , and it could be that the subjective opinions of the psychologist intrude in the assessment of what the data means.

For example, Freud has been criticized for producing case studies in which the information was sometimes distorted to fit particular behavioral theories (e.g., Little Hans ).

This is also true of Money’s interpretation of the Bruce/Brenda case study (Diamond, 1997) when he ignored evidence that went against his theory.

Breuer, J., & Freud, S. (1895).  Studies on hysteria . Standard Edition 2: London.

Curtiss, S. (1981). Genie: The case of a modern wild child .

Diamond, M., & Sigmundson, K. (1997). Sex Reassignment at Birth: Long-term Review and Clinical Implications. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine , 151(3), 298-304

Freud, S. (1909a). Analysis of a phobia of a five year old boy. In The Pelican Freud Library (1977), Vol 8, Case Histories 1, pages 169-306

Freud, S. (1909b). Bemerkungen über einen Fall von Zwangsneurose (Der “Rattenmann”). Jb. psychoanal. psychopathol. Forsch ., I, p. 357-421; GW, VII, p. 379-463; Notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis, SE , 10: 151-318.

Harlow J. M. (1848). Passage of an iron rod through the head.  Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 39 , 389–393.

Harlow, J. M. (1868).  Recovery from the Passage of an Iron Bar through the Head .  Publications of the Massachusetts Medical Society. 2  (3), 327-347.

Money, J., & Ehrhardt, A. A. (1972).  Man & Woman, Boy & Girl : The Differentiation and Dimorphism of Gender Identity from Conception to Maturity. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Money, J., & Tucker, P. (1975). Sexual signatures: On being a man or a woman.

Further Information

• Case Study Approach
• Case Study Method
• Enhancing the Quality of Case Studies in Health Services Research
• “We do things together” A case study of “couplehood” in dementia
• Using mixed methods for evaluating an integrative approach to cancer care: a case study

Related Articles

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What Is Face Validity In Research? Importance & How To Measure

Criterion Validity: Definition & Examples

Straight Talk About Soy

The Takeaway: Soy is a unique food that is widely studied for its estrogenic and anti-estrogenic effects on the body. Studies may seem to present conflicting conclusions about soy, but this is largely due to the wide variation in how soy is studied. Results of recent population studies suggest that soy has either a beneficial or neutral effect on various health conditions. Soy is a nutrient-dense source of protein that can safely be consumed several times a week, and probably more often, and is likely to provide health benefits—especially when eaten as an alternative to red and processed meat.

Soy is exalted as a health food by some, with claims of taming hot flashes, warding off osteoporosis, and protecting against hormonal cancers like breast and prostate.

At the same time, soy is shunned by others for fear that it may cause breast cancer, thyroid problems, and dementia, though these claims have not been substantiated.

Whether published in a popular press article or a well-designed clinical study, some debate about soy remains. As a species within the legume family , nutrition scientists often label soy as a food with potential for significant health benefits. However, due to contrary research that suggests possible negative effects of soy in certain situations, there has been a hesitancy to wholeheartedly promote soy.

Part of the uncertainty is due to the intricacy of soy’s effects on the body. Soy is unique in that it contains a high concentration of isoflavones, a type of plant estrogen (phytoestrogen) that is similar in function to human estrogen but with much weaker effects. Soy isoflavones can bind to estrogen receptors in the body and cause either weak estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activity. The two major soy isoflavones are called genistein and daidzein. Soy isoflavones and soy protein appear to have different actions in the body based on the following factors:

• Type of study . Is it being examined in a study with animals or humans? Soy may be metabolized differently in animals, so the outcomes of animal studies may not be applicable to humans.
• Hormone levels . Because soy can have estrogenic properties, its effects can vary depending on the existing level of hormones in the body. Premenopausal women have much higher circulating levels of estradiol—the major form of estrogen in the human body—than postmenopausal women. In this context soy may act like an anti-estrogen, but among postmenopausal women soy may act more like an estrogen. Also, women with breast cancer are classified into hormone type—either hormone positive (ER+/PR+) or hormone negative (ER-/PR-) breast cancer—and these tumors respond differently to estrogens.
• Type of soy . What type of soy is being studied: Whole soy foods such as tofu and soybeans, processed versions like soy protein powders, or soy-based veggie burgers? Fermented or unfermented soy foods? If supplements are used, do they contain isoflavones or soy protein?

Thus, there are many factors that make it difficult to construct blanket statements about the health effects of soy. 

Aside from their isoflavone content, soy foods are rich in nutrients including B vitamins , fiber , potassium , magnesium , and high-quality protein . Unlike some plant proteins, soy protein is considered a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids that the body cannot make which must be obtained from the diet. Soy foods are also classified as fermented or unfermented (see table with examples, below). Fermented means that the soy food has been cultured with beneficial bacteria , yeast, or mold. Some believe that fermenting soy improves its digestibility and absorption in the body, as this process partially breaks down soy’s sugar and protein molecules.

Research on Soy and Disease

Learn more about the research on soy and specific diseases or other conditions:

Soy protein took center stage after research showed that it might lower levels of harmful cholesterol. A 1995 meta-analysis of 38 controlled clinical trials showed that eating approximately 50 grams of soy protein a day (no small amount as this translates to 1½ pounds of tofu or eight 8-ounce glasses of soy milk!) in place of animal protein reduced harmful LDL cholesterol by 12.9 percent. [1] Such reductions, if sustained over time, could mean a greater than 20% lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or other forms of cardiovascular disease. In response to this finding, in 1999 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed companies to claim that diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that also contain soy “may reduce the risk of heart disease.” [2]

However, a number of studies since have tempered that finding. [3] According to a comprehensive update of soy research by the nutrition committee of the American Heart Association (AHA) published in 2000, eating 50 grams of soy per day lowered LDL by only about 3%. [3] In October 2017, after review of additional scientific studies since the health claim was authorized, the FDA proposed a rule to revoke the claim because numerous studies presented inconsistent findings on the relationship between soy protein and heart disease. [4] Some of these inconsistencies may have resulted because soy was compared with a variety of alternative foods.

Even though soy protein may have only a small direct effect on cholesterol, soy may still benefit the heart in other ways. An epidemiological study following three large cohorts of American men and women who did not have cardiovascular disease at the start of the study found that those who ate the highest amounts of tofu and isoflavones from soy foods, compared with those who ate the least, had an 18% and 13% lower risk, respectively, of developing heart disease. [5] The benefit of tofu was stronger in premenopausal women and postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy.

Soy foods are generally good for the heart and blood vessels because they provide polyunsaturated fat, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and are low in saturated fat. Replacing red meat with plant proteins including soy foods, beans, and nuts was associated with a 14% lower risk of heart disease, as found in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, a large long-term epidemiological study of more than 43,000 men. [6] Another large cohort of more than 500,000 Chinese adults with no previous cardiovascular disease found that those with the highest intakes of soy (4+ days a week) compared with those who never ate soy had a 25% lower risk of deaths from heart attack. [7]

Hormone replacement therapy has traditionally been used as an effective treatment for hot flashes and other unpleasant symptoms that accompany menopause, but its long-term use has raised concerns of an increased risk of some diseases including breast cancer and stroke. Soy has been a popular alternative treatment but not clearly supported by research; in theory the potential estrogenic effects of soy isoflavones could help to tame hot flashes by giving an estrogen-like boost during a time of dwindling estrogen levels.

In many Far East Asian countries where soy is eaten daily, women have lower rates of menopausal symptoms, although research is conflicting as to whether soy is a primary contributor. [8] Reports suggest that about 70–80% of U.S. women of menopausal and perimenopausal age experience hot flashes, in comparison with 10–20% of Far Eastern Asian women. [9] Further, the average blood concentration of the isoflavone genistein in Asian women who regularly consume soy is about 12 times higher than that of U.S. women. [9]

Yet several meta-analyses and carefully controlled clinical studies have not found strong evidence of a link. [10,11] An AHA review in 2006 concluded that it was unlikely that soy isoflavones exert enough estrogenic activity to have an important impact on hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. [3] A JAMA review the same year found highly conflicting results with soy isoflavone extracts and stated that the overall evidence did not support its benefit in relieving hot flashes. [12]

In another review of 43 randomized controlled trials have examined the effects of phytoestrogens on hot flashes and night sweats in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Four trials found that extracts of 30 mg or greater of genistein consistently reduced the frequency of hot flashes. Other trials that used dietary soy or soy extracts suggested a reduced frequency and severity of hot flashes and night sweats when compared with placebo, but these trials were small with a possible strong placebo effect. [8] No adverse effects were noted from the soy treatments when followed for up to two years, but the authors did not feel overall there was strong and consistent evidence for a benefit of soy.

Another meta-analysis of 16 studies found that soy isoflavone supplements had a small and gradual effect in weakening menopausal hot flashes compared with estradiol (human estrogen). However, authors noted weaknesses in the analysis due to a small number of participants and high variability in study design. [9]

A more recent review of randomized trials found that some studies showed benefit of soy supplements on hot flashes; the therapeutic dosage ranged from 40-70 mg of isoflavones daily. [13] The authors also observed that the presence of equol (a protective substance made from the breakdown of isoflavones that only some women can produce) may be needed for isoflavones to effectively reduce hot flashes. Despite these results, the study authors did not offer a confident conclusion on the use of isoflavone supplements due to variations in study design and length; differences in the types and dosages of supplements; and the small sample sizes and high drop-out rates.

This area needs further research as questions remain about a possible benefit of soy. Results are conflicting, potentially due to variation in the types of soy preparations used, the quantities given, and for how long they are used.

Phytoestrogens don’t always mimic estrogen. In some tissues and in some people, they may block the action of estrogen. If soy’s estrogen-blocking action occurs in the breast, then eating soy could, in theory, reduce the risk of breast cancer because estrogen stimulates the growth and multiplication of breast and breast cancer cells. Studies so far have not provided a clear answer. Some have shown a benefit with soy consumption and breast cancer while others show no association. [14-17] It appears that the effects of soy may vary depending on menopausal status, the age at which soy is consumed, and type of breast cancer.

In animal and cell studies, high dosages of isoflavone or isolated soy protein extracts tend to stimulate breast cancer growth. [18,19] However, studies that observe people consuming soy foods over time show either a protective or neutral effect. Women from Asian countries appear to receive greater protective benefit from breast cancer with high soy intakes than American and European women, but this may simply be a difference in the amount of soy consumed. [20,21] Asian women may have higher levels of equol, a substance metabolized from the isoflavone daidzein by bacterial flora in the intestines. [22] Equol is believed to block potentially negative effects of human estrogen, but not all women possess the bacteria needed to create equol. [23] It is estimated that 30-50% of all humans are able to produce equol. [24] Eating soy foods starting at an early age (such as those found in many traditional Far East Asian diets) may be why women from some countries find greater benefit from soy foods than others. [19] However, the overall evidence on equol and cancer risk is unsettled. [25]

The Shanghai Women’s Health Study which followed 73,223 Chinese women for more than 7 years has been the largest and most detailed study of soy and breast cancer risk in a population with high soy consumption. [26] In this study, women who ate the most soy had a 59% lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer compared with those who ate the lowest amounts of soy. There was no association with postmenopausal breast cancer. Risk was 43% lower when soy was eaten during adolescence. Seven years later, the study authors published a follow-up analysis from the same cohort over 13 years to evaluate any association between soy foods and specific types of breast cancer defined by hormone receptors and by menopausal status (Estrogen [ER] +/-; Progesterone [PR] +/-). [27] Key highlights of the study:

• A 22% lower risk of breast cancer when comparing the highest to lowest intakes of soy during adulthood.
• A 28% lower risk of hormone positive (ER+, PR+) breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
• A 54% lower risk of hormone negative (ER-, PR-) breast cancer in premenopausal women.
• A 47% lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer when comparing high to low intakes of soy during adolescence and adulthood.

The Breast Cancer Family Registry was a prospective study following 6,235 women for 9 years diagnosed with breast cancer and living in the U.S. and Canada; intake of soy isoflavones was examined in relation to deaths from all causes. [28] Key highlights of the study:

• Women who ate the highest amounts of soy isoflavones had a 21% lower risk of death compared with women with the lowest intakes.
• Women who had ER-/PR- tumors and who were not receiving tamoxifen appeared to receive greatest benefit from the higher soy isoflavone intakes. However, isoflavone intake did not have a negative impact on women who were receiving tamoxifen or who had ER+/PR+ tumors.
• Of all ethnicities, Asian American women tended to have the highest isoflavone intakes at about 6 mg daily, but this amount was still much lower than women living in Asian countries who eat closer to 46 mg daily. The authors noted that American women appeared to benefit from eating smaller amounts of soy.

Another prospective study followed 1,954 American women who were breast cancer survivors for six years. [29] Key highlights of the study:

• Among postmenopausal women treated with tamoxifen, breast cancer recurrence was 60% lower when comparing the highest to the lowest daidzein (a specific type of soy isoflavone) No benefit was observed in women who had never used tamoxifen.
• Recurrence was lower with increasing isoflavone intake among women with tumors that were ER+/PR+ but not ER-/PR-.
• The most frequent sources of soy foods were not whole or minimally processed soy foods, but rather soy sauce, breakfast or diet drinks, tofu, diet bars, and soy protein isolate powder. The mean amount of isoflavones in the “high” category was about 19 mg daidzein and 27 mg genistein daily—a modest amount compared with Asian populations.
• The authors concluded that soy isoflavones eaten at levels comparable to those in Asian populations may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence in women receiving tamoxifen therapy and does not appear to interfere with tamoxifen efficacy. However, the findings need to be confirmed because they were mainly in subgroups and could be due to chance.

Prospective studies also find soy foods to be protective from breast cancer deaths:

• A cohort study of 1,460 Chinese women who were early-stage breast cancer survivors looked at dietary soy isoflavone intakes at baseline and after the breast cancer diagnosis, over a four-year period. [30] Higher soy intakes at baseline were associated with a 66% lower risk of deaths from any cause and a 64% lower risk of deaths from breast cancer. Higher soy intakes after diagnosis were associated with a 64% and 51% lower risk of deaths, from any cause and from breast cancer, respectively. The effects were greater in women who were premenopausal, had ER-/PR- tumors, and were taking tamoxifen.
• A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies found a 12% reduction in breast cancer deaths with each 5 gram per day increase in soy protein intake. [31]

However, randomized controlled trials do not show an effect of soy foods on risk factors for breast cancer:

• A review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) looked at isoflavone intakes ranging from 36-235 mg/day from food or supplements, taken from 1 month to 3 years, and breast cancer risk (as measured by breast density, changes in estrogen, and bloodwork) in healthy women. [32] The eighteen RCTs included both pre- and postmenopausal participants. No changes in breast cancer risk factors were found with isoflavone intakes. The authors noted limitations in their analysis in that there were wide variations in numbers of participants and the doses and duration of treatments, which made drawing firm conclusions difficult. Most importantly, these studies did not examine actual incidence of breast cancer.

The incidence of prostate cancer is highest in Western countries and lowest in Asian countries, where soy foods are a regular part of the daily diet. In addition, observational studies have found an increased risk of prostate cancer in Chinese and Japanese men who move to Western countries and adopt a Western diet, but not in those who continue eating a traditional diet. [33] Soy isoflavones, specifically genistein and daidzein, are incorporated in prostate tissue and may act as weak estrogens and inhibit the development of prostate cancer. [34]

In a meta-analysis of 30 case-control and cohort studies from the U.S., Europe, Japan, and China, intakes of total soy foods, genistein, daidzein, and unfermented soy foods were associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer. [34]

A review of eight randomized controlled trials examined the effects of soy in men with or at risk of developing prostate cancer. Two of these studies found that isoflavone supplements or dietary soy protein reduced the risk of prostate cancer in men at high risk of developing the disease. However, none of the studies found a significant effect on prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, a protein produced by the prostate gland that is used to detect prostate cancer. There were no adverse effects reported with soy supplementation. The authors discussed limitations of the review including the small number of participants, the short duration of studies (less than one year), and variation in dosages and types of soy given. [33]

A small randomized controlled trial in 2021 examined if soy protein supplements could slow down or reverse rising PSA levels in men who had previously been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer, but who had a recurrence (as evidenced by rising PSA levels). The study found that even though the soy protein supplements increased blood levels of genistein, there was no effect of the supplement versus placebo on PSA levels when given for 6-8 months. [35]

Fermented soy foods commonly eaten in East Asian diets, including natto, tempeh, soy paste, and soy sauce, contain isoflavones and also bacteria that might have benefits for neurological disorders including cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Soy’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects may reduce the oxidative stresses associated with AD and PD. [36] Animal studies have suggest that soy compounds can weaken the progression of AD and prevent nerve cell death. They also find that soy can reduce inflammation and excess free radical production in the brain. AD has been associated with decreased levels of beneficial anti-inflammatory bacteria while harboring increased levels of proinflammatory bacteria.  Fermented soy foods are produced with beneficial bacteria like Lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria, and Bacillus species that produce butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that regulates immune function and is being investigated for its protective effects on the brain.

Long-term low levels of estrogen the occur in menopausal women can reduce the number of estrogen receptors in the brain that are necessary for specific cognitive functions like memory and learning. [37] The soy isoflavone, daidzein, has been hypothesized to reduce decline in cognitive function or disease processes related to cognition and behavior. Thus, the possibility has been raised that eating soy foods might help prevent age-related memory loss or decline in thinking skills. [38]

Studies in humans, however, are not conclusive on soy’s effects on the brain:

• Trials have yielded contradictory results, with some showing a benefit with soy isoflavone supplementation [39, 40] and others showing no benefit. [41-43] A review of 13 randomized controlled trials found that in about half of the studies, isoflavone supplementation had a beneficial effect on cognition in older men and women compared with controls, including improvements in attention, information-processing speed, and memory. However the results overall were mixed, with other studies not demonstrating a benefit. This may have been due to differing dosages given or the types of cognition tests used. [37]

One large study in men found a detrimental effect on cognitive function. In a prospective cohort study of more than 3,700 Japanese-American men living in Hawaii, those with the highest intakes of tofu (eaten almost daily) at midlife ages had greater cognitive impairment and brain atrophy in late life compared with men with the lowest tofu intakes (almost never eaten). [44] However, the actual number of men eating very high amounts of tofu was small, and past dietary information was collected by relying on the participants’ memory, some of whom may have already experienced cognitive decline. Because of this, the researchers stated that the findings were too preliminary to make recommendations. [45]

A meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials found that although soy supplements raised thyroid stimulating hormone levels slightly, they did not have any effect on actual thyroid hormone production. [46] However, another study found that soy may interfere with thyroid hormone medication used to treat hypothyroidism. In one randomized double-blinded trial, 60 patients with a mild form of hypothyroidism (called subclinical hypothyroidism) were given low or high-dose phytoestrogen supplements (both also contained 30 grams of soy protein), the amount that might be obtained from a vegetarian diet. [47] Risk of developing clinical hypothyroidism was increased in the higher phytoestrogen group (no effect in the lower phytoestrogen group). The authors suggested that female vegetarian patients with subclinical hypothyroidism may need more careful monitoring of thyroid function. However, the authors also found a benefit on of reduced cardiovascular risk factors in the high phytoestrogen group, with a significant reduction in insulin resistance, inflammatory markers, and blood pressure. The effect of soy on thyroid function needs further examination.

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Last reviewed January 2022

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• Health Info

TMD (Temporomandibular Disorders)

On this page, helpful tips, additional resources.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are a group of more than 30 conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and muscles that control jaw movement. “TMDs” refers to the disorders, and “TMJ” refers only to the temporomandibular joint itself. People have two TMJs; one on each side of the jaw. You can feel them by placing your fingers in front of your ears and opening your mouth.

There are three main classes of TMDs:

• Disorders of the joints, including disc disorders.
• Disorders of the muscles used for chewing (masticatory muscles).
• Headaches associated with a TMD.

There are several disorders within each class. See diagram below for some examples.

Classification of Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs) with Examples

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*A person may have one or more of these conditions at the same time.

Many TMDs last only a short time and go away on their own. However, in some cases they can become chronic, or long lasting. In addition, TMDs can occur alone or at the same time as other medical conditions such as headaches, back pain, sleep problems, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome.

A recent study found that about 11-12 million adults in the United States had pain in the region of the temporomandibular joint.

Temporomandibular disorders are twice as common in women than in men, especially in women between 35 and 44 years old.

Injury to the jaw or temporomandibular joint can lead to some TMDs, but in most cases, the exact cause is not clear. For many people, symptoms seem to start without obvious reason. Recent research suggests a combination of genes, psychological and life stressors, and how someone perceives pain, may play a part in why a TMD starts and whether it will be long lasting.

Because TMDs are more common in women than in men, researchers are exploring whether the differences in TMJ structure and mechanics between females and males may play a role.

Research does not support the belief that a bad bite or orthodontic braces cause TMDs.

It is important to know that sounds (such as clicking or popping) without pain in the TMJs are common, are considered normal, and don’t need treatment.

However, the following symptoms may signal a TMD:

• Pain in the chewing muscles and/or jaw joint (most common symptom).
• Pain that spreads to the face or neck.
• Jaw stiffness.
• Limited movement or locking of the jaw.
• Painful clicking, popping, or grating in the jaw joint when opening or closing the mouth.
• Ringing in the ears, hearing loss, or dizziness.
• A change in the way the upper and lower teeth fit together.

There is no widely accepted, standard test available to diagnose TMDs. Because the exact causes and symptoms are not clear, identifying these disorders can be difficult.

Your doctor or dentist will note your symptoms and take a detailed medical history. He or she will ask questions about your pain, including its location, when it occurs, what makes it better or worse, and if it stays in one area or spreads to other parts of your body. The doctor or dentist will also ask if you have other pain conditions such as headache or back pain.

He or she also will examine your head, neck, face, and jaw for tenderness; jaw clicking or popping; or difficulty with movement. The doctor or dentist might also suggest imaging studies such as an x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or computed tomography (CT).

Pain in the mouth, jaw, or face may or may not be related to TMDs. Your doctor or dentist may have to rule out other conditions before diagnosing a TMD.

Before receiving treatment for TMDs, you should know:

• Sounds without pain in the temporomandibular joints are normal, happen frequently, and do not need treatment.
• Signs and symptoms of TMD go away in many people without treatment.
• Because evidence is lacking for the majority of TMD treatments, experts strongly recommend staying away from treatments that cause permanent changes to the jaw joints, teeth, or bite; or that involve surgery.

Nonsurgical Treatments

Because many jaw joint and muscle problems are temporary and do not get worse, simple treatment may be all that is necessary.

When you first feel discomfort in your jaw joints or muscles, your doctor or dentist may have you:

• Eat soft foods.
• Apply heat or cold to the face in combination with exercises to gently stretch and strengthen the jaw muscles.
• Take over-the-counter medications, for example nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen.
• Reduce habits such as jaw clenching, gum chewing, or nail biting.

If these steps do not help, or if in the process of trying them your doctor/dentist diagnoses a specific type of TMD, one or more of the following treatments may be recommended.

Physical Therapy

The goal of physical therapy is to maintain, improve, or bring back movement and physical function. There are several types of physical therapy. One type is manual therapy, in which a therapist uses his/her hands to stretch the soft tissues and muscles around the joint. Manual therapy has been shown to help improve function and relieve pain.

Self-management and Behavioral Health Approaches

Self-management refers to activities you can do yourself and include:

• Learn all you can about your specific type(s) of TMD.
• Learn meditation & relaxation techniques.
• Set specific goals related to managing your condition.
• Stay involved in activities that are meaningful to you.

Certain behavioral health approaches, usually offered by a psychologist, have been shown to help manage TMDs. These include cognitive behavioral therapy and biofeedback.

Cognitive behavioral therapy seeks to identify negative thoughts or thought patterns and change them, as well as provide coping skills.

Biofeedback involves using sensors that monitor breathing, heart rate, muscle contraction, and temperature. For example, a sensor on your jaw can detect when you tighten your jaw muscles. With the help of a therapist, you can learn to notice the unwanted behavior and relax.

Medications

Your doctor or dentist may recommend medication(s) to treat your symptoms.

These include:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), used to treat pain.
• Antianxiety medications.
• Antidepressants.
• Antiseizure medications.

Some of these medications can lead to addiction or have other serious side effects. If you are prescribed any of these medications, make sure your doctor or dentist explains how to take them and for how long.

Intraoral Appliances

Intraoral appliances are devices that fit over the teeth. They do not change the teeth or bite. They are also known as nightguards, splints, stabilization appliances, occlusal splints, interocclusal splints, or bruxism splints.

There is not a lot of evidence they improve TMD pain. If a dentist or doctor suggests you use one:

• Make sure it is not designed to permanently change your bite.
• Stop using it and consult your dentist/doctor if it causes pain.

Complementary Treatments

A complementary treatment is a non-mainstream practice used together with conventional medicine. Acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) are two complementary treatments that have been studied for TMDs.

Acupuncture is a technique in which practitioners stimulate specific points on the body—most often by inserting thin needles through the skin. There is limited evidence that it helps TMDs.

TENS is a battery-powered device that uses electrodes placed on the skin. The device creates electrical impulses that may change how pain is perceived. Although some studies have shown that TENS may help relieve pain in TMDs and improve the ability to open the mouth, the studies were small with short-duration TENS treatments.

Surgery and Other Medical & Dental Procedures

The treatments discussed in this section are more complex, involve going into the chewing muscles or the temporomandibular joints (with a needle or other instrument), or changing your bite and teeth. More importantly, some of them – like occlusal treatments (see below)— don’t work and may make the problem worse . Before having any of these procedures:

• Ask about simpler treatments and try those first.
• Ask the doctor or dentist to explain the procedure—in detail—in a way you can understand.
• Ask how the procedure will help improve your specific TMD.
• Ask about the risks.
• Get second opinions from qualified medical or dental specialists.

Occlusal Treatments

Occlusion refers to how teeth fit together. For years it was thought that misaligned teeth (malocclusion) were a cause of TMDs; however, there is no evidence to support this belief. Occlusal treatments modify the teeth and bite. Examples include:

• Placing crowns on the teeth.
• Grinding down the teeth.
• Using orthodontic treatment(s) to change the position of some or all teeth.

There is no evidence these occlusal treatments work, and they could make the problem worse.

Botulinum Toxin

Botulinum toxin Type A works by relaxing muscles. It is FDA-approved for some medical conditions (like migraines) but not for TMDs. Studies have looked at injecting botulinum toxin Type A into the chewing muscles to reduce muscle spasm and pain. However, the information from these studies is limited and it is not clear whether this medication works to relieve TMD symptoms .

Prolotherapy

Prolotherapy involves injecting a solution into the TMJ area that causes irritation, with the goal of triggering the body to respond by repairing the joint. Prolotherapy has shown promise specifically for TMDs in which the joint is out of its normal position (dislocation) or when the joint goes beyond its normal range of movement (hypermobility). However, there have been only a few small studies on this treatment for TMDs .

Arthrocentesis

In this procedure a needle is used to push liquid into the TMJ. The pressure caused by the liquid removes scar-like tissue (adhesions). In addition, when the liquid is flushed out of the joint, it removes substances that cause inflammation. Arthrocentesis has been shown to help with pain relief and improve mouth opening in people whose temporomandibular disc is out of place; however, these effects do not last long.

Arthroscopy

During arthroscopy the doctor inserts an instrument with a tiny video camera into the jaw joint. The doctor can see the joint, which can help in diagnosis. He or she can also remove adhesions or reposition the joint’s disc. This procedure works moderately well in helping improve pain and function.

Open surgery gives access to the temporomandibular joint through a cut (incision) next to the ear. It’s important to know that surgery makes permanent changes to your joint. There are no long-term research studies on the safety of open surgery for TMDs or on how well it works to relieve symptoms .

Surgery should only be considered if:

• There is destruction of the joint that cannot be fixed with other procedures.
• There are severe symptoms (pain and/or difficulty opening the mouth), despite trying other treatments.

If your healthcare provider suggests surgery, be sure to ask:

• Why are you suggesting surgery?
• Are there other options besides surgery?
• How will it help me?
• What are the risks?

TMJ Implants

Implants are artificial devices that are used to replace part of the jaw joint or the entire joint. There are currently three TMJ implants approved by the FDA.

Implants might be considered when:

• There is an injury to the joint.
• There is a condition you’re born with (congenital condition) that needs to be repaired.
• The joint is frozen (ankylosis), commonly caused by injury or infection.
• There’s severe damage to the joint.
• There’s ongoing pain.
• All simpler treatments have been tried and have failed.

Some studies suggest that, when used in very specific cases, TMJ implants can improve function and quality of life. As with any surgery, proceed with caution .

Implants used many years ago (and since taken off the market), did not help patients and left them with severe complications, including permanent damage to the jaw joint(s). Because of this, researchers have called for long-term studies to look at the safety and efficacy of the newer TMJ implants.

Remember: Before any surgery, including implant surgery, it is extremely important to get opinions from more than one doctor and to completely understand the risks. If possible, seek an opinion from a surgeon who specializes in treating TMDs .

Summary of Treatments for Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs)

If you think you have a TMD or are diagnosed with one:

• Start with simple treatments first; remember that TMD symptoms often go away on their own, without treatment.
• Consult a dentist or doctor.
• Learn all you can about the TMD you have.
• Avoid (when possible) treatments that involve going into or permanently changing the jaw joints, especially surgery or TMJ implants.
• Understand all the risks when considering surgery or other medical or dental procedures that result in permanent change and seek an opinion from an orofacial pain clinic at a medical or dental school, if possible.
• MedlinePlus: Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction The NIH National Library of Medicine's collection of links to government, professional, and non-profit/voluntary organizations with information on temporomandibular disorders.
• The TMJ Association The TMJ Association is a non-profit, patient advocacy organization whose mission is to improve the quality of health care and the lives of everyone affected by temporomandibular disorders.
• American Chronic Pain Association The ACPA offers peer support and education in pain management skills to people with pain, their family and friends, and health care professionals.

TMD (Temporomandibular Disorders) Research from NIDCR

• NIDCR is PRIMED to move AHEAD with IMPACT: Institute Awards $14 Million to Tackle Unsolved Clinical Challenges
• Looking Forward to Greater IMPACT on Temporomandibular Disorders
• Inflammation May Curb, Not Cause, Chronic Pain
• National Dental PBRN Enters Next Phase
• Predicting Pain that Persists

Islamic Studies Research Databases & Reference Sources: Home

• Middle East & Islamic Studies: a Research Guide

Major Online Reference Sources -- Accessible

Islamic studies research  databases & online reference sources.

(Access may require CU log-in and is restricted to the CU community )

Research Tools & Methods  

• Library Research at Cornel l   [Stepwise guides to efficient research using the Cornell University Library]
• Encyclopedias Online: Use Subject Encyclopedias to Understand Your Topic   [Use encyclopedias to understand the  context and background for your research using articles written by scholars and experts].
• Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria   [Cues for recognizing scholarly  journals, news sources, popular magazines, and sensational periodicals].
• Citation Styles: Handbooks, Resources, and Guides   [ Advice about proper citation with a list of print titles and links to  online guides,  manuals, and handbooks for MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian, CSE, ACS, and more].
• Critically Analyzing Information Sources   [Ten things to look for when you evaluate an information source].
• Dissertations and Theses: A Finding Guide [Where and how to look for Cornell and non-Cornell dissertations and theses].

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and indexes 

• Encyclopaedia of Islam [Online] Current—     (EI Online) sets out the present state of knowledge of the Islamic World and is a unique reference tool, an essential key to understanding the world of Islam. It includes biographical articles on distinguished Muslims of every age and land, on tribes and dynasties, on the crafts and sciences, on political and religious institutions, on the geography, ethnography, flora and fauna of the various countries and on the history, topography and monuments of the major towns and cities. In its geographical and historical scope, it encompasses the old Arabo-Islamic empire, the Islamic countries of Iran, Central Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Indonesia, the Ottoman Empire and all other Islamic countries.  
• Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World  Looks at Islam's role in the modern world, doing so in context of the religion's history and development over the last 13 centuries. Contains thematic articles, biographies of key figures, definitions, illustrations, maps and more.
• Encyclopaedia Islamica Based on the abridged and edited translation of the Persian Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī , one of the most comprehensive sources on Islam and the Muslim world. A unique feature of the Encyclopaedia lies in the attention given to Shiʿi Islam and its rich and diverse heritage; offers the Western reader an opportunity to appreciate the various dimensions of Shiʿi Islam, the Persian contribution to Islamic civilization, and the spiritual dimensions of the Islamic tradition. (Projected 16-volume. New content will be added every year in alphabetical order, with an expected completion in 2023.)
• Index Islamicus 1906- present- An international bibliography of publications in European languages covering all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, including history, beliefs, societies, cultures, languages, and literature. The database includes material published by Western orientalists, social scientists, and Muslims.
• Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies   Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the range of lived experiences and textual traditions of Muslims as they are articulated in various countries and regions throughout the world. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. Contains a "My OBO" function that allows users to create personalized bibliographies of individual citations from different bibliographies. [In Persian, Arabic, Urdu, English, Turkish English, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu.]

Qur’an Research Sources

• Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an [Online]  A reader’s guide to read and understand the Qur’an as a text and as a vital piece of Muslim life.  Comprises over 30 original essays by leading scholars. Provides exceptionally broad coverage - considering the structure, content, and rhetoric of the Qur’an; how Muslims have interpreted the text and how they interact with it; and the Qur’an’s place in Islam. Features notes, an extensive bibliography, indexes of names, Qur’an citations, topics, and technical terms.
• Dictionary of Qurʾanic Usage is the first comprehensive, fully-researched and contextualized Arabic-English dictionary of Qur'anic usage. The work is based on Classical Arabic dictionaries and Qur'an commentaries with cross-references. This online version full-text searchable in Arabic and English.
• Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān is an encyclopaedic dictionary of Qur’ānic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur’ānic studies.
• Qurʾān Concordance is a unique finding aid which allows users to identify and localize text fragments, or even snippets, of the Qurʾān. The use of the Qurʾān Concordance (QC) requires some understanding of its underlying concepts, as described in the “How To.”
• Early Western Korans Online This collection contains all Arabic Koran editions printed in Europe before 1850, as well as all complete translations directly from the Arabic (until about 1860). Among the secondary translations, only those into German and Dutch are offered completely. Of the partial editions, only the typographically or academically most interesting ones are presented here. This collection includes Korans and Koran translations in eight languages.
• Encyclopedia of Canonical Ḥadīth Online Work on the earliest development of the religion and cultures of Islam comprises English translations of all canonical ḥadīths (oral traditions of or about the Prophet Muhammad), complete with their respective chains of transmission (isnāds). The work is organized in alphabetical order based on the names of the transmitters. Each of them is listed with the tradition(s) for the wording of which he can be held accountable, or with which he can at least be associated.
• Concordance et Indices de la Tradition Musulmane Online Wensinck’s  Condordance  is an essential research tool for those who are interested in Islam’s Tradition ( ḥadīth ) literature. This body of texts is a major source for Islamic theology and law and forms an important source for historians of early Islam. The  Concordance  offers an index of all words found in traditions included in the six canonical  ḥadīth  collections of Sunni Islam, complemented by Mālik ibn Anas’s  Muwaṭṭaʾ  and the  Musnads  of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and al-Dārimī.

Subject Reference & Research Guides

• Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology [ Olin Library BP166.1 .C36 2008. ( PRINT )].  Critical reflections on the evolution and major themes of pre-modern Muslim theology begins with the revelation of the Koran, and extends to the beginnings of modernity in the eighteenth century. Devoting especial attention to questions of rationality, scriptural fidelity, and the construction of 'orthodoxy', this volume introduces key Muslim theories of revelation, creation, ethics, scriptural interpretation, law, mysticism, and eschatology.
• Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought Reflects the variety of trends, voices, and opinions in the contemporary Muslim intellectual scene . It challenges Western misconceptions about the modern Muslim world, demonstrating that it is far from being a monolithic religious, cultural and intellectual phenomenon. The companion consists of 36 essays written by contemporary Muslim writers and scholars. These essays revolve around such issues as Islamic tradition, modernity, globalization, feminism, the West, the USA, reform, and secularism. They explore the history, range, and future of these issues in contemporary Muslim societies. Furthermore, they help readers to situate Islamic intellectual history in the context of Western intellectual trends and issues.
• Conflict and conquest in the Islamic world : a historical encyclopedia Documents the extensive military history of the Islamic world between the 7th century and the present (wars, revolutions, sieges, institutions, leaders, armies, weapons, and other aspects of wars and military life). Includes over 600 A–Z entries, many with accompanying images. Provides a convenient glossary of commonly used Islamic military terms. This reference work covers relevant historical information regarding Islam in Middle Eastern regions and countries, North Africa, Central Asia, Southeastern Asia, and Oceania.
• Twentieth century religious thought : Volume II, Islam .  Multivolume, cross-searchable online collection that brings together the seminal works and archival materials related to worldwide religious thinkers from the early 1900s until the first decade of the 21st century. Focuses on modern Islamic theology and tradition and details Islam's evolution from the late 19th century by examining printed works and rare documents by Muslim writers, both non-Western and Western voices.
• World Almanac of Islamism 2014-- American Foreign Policy Council.  The first comprehensive reference work to detail the current activities of radical Islamist movements world wide. The contributions, written by subject experts, provide annual updates on the contemporary Islamist threat in all countries and regions where it exists.  
• Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures [Online] [Print: Olin Library Reference (Non-Circ.) HQ1170 .E53 2003+]  An interdisciplinary, trans-historical, and global project embracing women and Islamic cultures in every region where there have been significant Muslim populations. It aims to cover every topic for which there is significant research, examining these regions from the period just before the rise of Islam to the present. The Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures Online crosses history, geographic borders and disciplines to create a groundbreaking reference work reflecting the very latest research on gender studies and the Islamic world. v. 1. Methodologies, paradigms and sources for studying women and Islamic cultures. v. 2. Family, law, and politics. v. 3. Family, body, sexuality, and health. v. 4. Economics, education, mobility, and space.

Online Collections & Aggregated Sources

BRILL Collections:   Middle East and Islamic Studies E-Books Online, Collection

Series in Islam - Oxford University Press:

• The Oxford Encyclopedias of the Islamic World: Digital Collection
• The Oxford handbook of Islamic theology
• Makers of Contemporary Islam
• The Islamic World: Past and Present   
• The Oxford History of Islam
• Islam in Transition
• Modernist Islam
• Teaching Islam
• Liberal Islam
• Islamic Library  "Worlds Largest Free Online Islamic Books Library."
•   المكتبة الشاملة – Maktabah Shamilah – Islamic Library  A library on the various Islamic sciences [Arabic only]
• Islamic Library | Shia Islamic PDFs * Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books * مكتبة الشيعة *  Shia Library (A Great Collection Of Books From Shia Sect)

More Resources for Research from the Cornell University Library

    middle east & islamic studies: a research guide.

[http://guides.library.cornell.edu/MideastIslamStudies]

General Introductions and Terminology -- Accessible

What is Islam?  Check the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary  for a definition and the Encyclopedia Britannica for information on the history, principles and practices of Islam.

Sunnis and Shia: Islam's ancient schism - BBC, UK.

Islam vs Muslim: When and why do we use the different terms?   

Muslim vs Moslem: Why do people say Muslim now instead of Moslem?

'Muslim' vs 'Islamic' -   DAWN.COM

Muslims vs. Islamists Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies - Taylor & Francis Concepts in Islamic Studies series spans a number of subject areas that are closely linked to the religion.

More Concepts @ Cornell University Library

Intro to Islam Research Paper                 /  Lynette White,                   ....

Islam (religion) -- Encyclopedia Britannica

American Religion Data Archive  The ARDA collection includes data on USA religious groups (individuals, congregations and denominations). The collection consists of individual surveys covering various groups and topics.

Religions of the book - faculty.fairfield.edu Three world religious traditions have their origins in the Middle East-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-but there are also a number of more highly localized traditions. These include Zoroastrianism (primarily in Iran); the Druze of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel; and the Kurdish-speaking Yazidi-s of northern Iraq, each with their own traditions of religious identity and practice. [ WORLD RELIGIONS -The Middle East and Central Asia: an anthropological approach ].

Access our Library Anywhere -- Accessible

Middle East & Islamic Studies Curator

Spotlight -- General Interest Sources

Essential Readings on Political Islam (by Peter Mandaville)

As befits a topic that is global in scope, increasingly controversial in nature, and the focus of academic inquiry for more than half a century, the literature on political Islam is voluminous. The readings presented here represent some of the most important efforts to study contemporary Islamism using the tools, methodologies, and academic rigor associated with the humanities and social sciences. Though hardly exhaustive, this list will provide the reader with a sense of how the study of political Islam—in major publications either written or available in English—as an object of academic inquiry has evolved over the years.

Islamic Painted Page database - a huge free database of references for Persian paintings, Ottoman paintings, Arab paintings and Mughal paintings. This site enables you to locate printed reproductions, commentaries and weblinks for thousands of Islamic paintings, including illuminated "carpet" pages, decorated Quran pages, and book bindings from over 230 collections all over the world.

Manuscripts | Digital Resources and Projects in Islamic Studies

 The Maydan is proud to introduce a new initiative highlighting digital resources and projects in the field of Islamic Studies. Included in this roundup are manuscripts collections, digitized manuscripts, and manuscripts catalogues from universities and libraries around the world. *This is an ongoing project*

• Next: Middle East & Islamic Studies: a Research Guide >>
• Last Updated: Oct 17, 2023 1:18 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.cornell.edu/IslamicStudiesResearch

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Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Fact Sheet

On this page:

What are genes?

Do changes in genes cause diseases, genes and alzheimer's disease, genetic testing for alzheimer's disease.

• Alzheimer's genetics research

Many people wonder if Alzheimer’s disease runs in their family. Is it in your genes? This question isn’t easy to answer. Researchers have identified several genetic variants that are associated with Alzheimer’s and may increase or decrease a person’s risk of developing the disease. What does that mean? Let’s first learn about the role of genes.

Human cells contain the instructions needed for a cell to do its job. These instructions are made up of DNA , which is packed tightly into structures called chromosomes . Each chromosome has thousands of segments called genes.

Genes are passed down from a person’s biological parents. They carry information that defines traits such as eye color and height. Genes also play a role in keeping the body’s cells healthy.

Variations in genes — even small changes to a gene — can affect the likelihood of a person developing a disease such as Alzheimer’s.

Permanent changes in one or more specific genes are called genetic variants. Some of these variants are quite common in the human population. While most genetic variants don’t cause diseases, some do. In some cases, a person inherits a genetic variant that will almost certainly lead to that individual developing a disease. Sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, and some cases of early-onset Alzheimer’s are examples of inherited genetic disorders. However, other variants may simply increase, or even decrease, a person’s risk of developing that disease. Identifying genetic variants and their effects can help researchers uncover the most effective ways to treat or prevent diseases in an individual.

Additionally, factors such as exercise, diet, chemicals, or smoking can have positive or negative effects by changing the way certain genes work. In the field of epigenetics , researchers are studying how such factors can alter a cell’s DNA in ways that affect gene activity.

Genetic research is a component of precision medicine , an emerging approach that considers individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle. Precision medicine will enable researchers and doctors to predict more accurately which treatment and prevention strategies will work in particular groups of people.

In most cases, Alzheimer’s does not have a single genetic cause. Instead, it can be influenced by multiple genes in combination with lifestyle and environmental factors. Consequently, a person may carry more than one genetic variant or group of variants that can either increase or reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Importantly, people who develop Alzheimer’s do not always have a history of the disease in their families. Still, those who have a parent or sibling diagnosed with the disease have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s than those without that association.

Genetic variants that affect Alzheimer's disease risk

In 2010, we knew of just 10 genetic areas associated with Alzheimer’s. Today, thanks in large part to the work of NIH-funded researchers, we know of at least 80 genetic areas associated with this disease. Understanding which genes play a role — and what role they play — may help identify new methods to prevent, delay, or treat dementia.

One well-known gene that influences Alzheimer’s risk is the apolipoprotein E ( APOE ) gene. The APOE gene is involved in making a protein that helps carry cholesterol and other types of fat in the bloodstream. Problems in this process are thought to contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s. APOE comes in several forms, called alleles (e.g., ε2, ε3 ).

• APOE ε2 may provide some protection against the disease. If Alzheimer’s occurs in a person with this allele, it usually develops later in life than it would in someone with the APOE ε4 gene. Roughly 5% to 10% of people have this allele.
• APOE ε3 , the most common allele, is believed to have a neutral effect on the disease — neither decreasing nor increasing risk of Alzheimer’s.
• APOE ε4 increases risk for Alzheimer’s and is associated with an earlier age of disease onset in certain populations. About 15% to 25% of people have this allele, and 2% to 5% carry two copies.

Each person inherits two APOE alleles, one from each biological parent, meaning people can have one of six possible combinations: 2/2, 2/3, 2/4, 3/3, 3/4, and 4/4. Having two copies of APOE ε4 is associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s than having one copy. While inheriting APOE ε4 increases a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s, some people with an APOE ε4 allele never develop the disease.

Researchers are also finding other rare genetic variants , in addition to APOE ε2 , that appear to provide some protection against developing Alzheimer’s.

However, prevalence and risk associated with APOE and other genetic variants may not be the same across all population groups. Research suggests that the degree of risk may be affected by genetic ancestry — the global geographic region from which a person is biologically descended — and differ among people of African, Asian, American Indian , and European descent. More research is needed to better understand how certain genetic variants might affect a person’s or group’s risk for Alzheimer’s and to identify treatment and prevention strategies that will work best for that particular group.

Genetic variants that cause Alzheimer's disease

Of the genetic variants so far associated with Alzheimer’s, three rare single-gene variants are known to cause the disease:

• Amyloid precursor protein ( APP ) on chromosome 21
• Presenilin 1 ( PSEN1 ) on chromosome 14
• Presenilin 2 ( PSEN2 ) on chromosome 1

A child whose biological parent carries a genetic variant for one of these three genes has a 50/50 chance of inheriting that altered version of the gene. If the variant is inherited, the child has a very strong probability of developing Alzheimer’s before age 65 and sometimes much earlier. When someone develops Alzheimer’s before age 65, it’s known as “early-onset Alzheimer’s” or sometimes “younger-onset Alzheimer’s” or “earlier-onset Alzheimer’s.” Less than 10% of all people with Alzheimer’s develop symptoms this early. Of those who do, 10% to 15% can be attributed to changes in APP , PSEN1 , and PSEN2 .

Changes in these three genes result in the production of abnormal proteins that are associated with the disease. Each of these mutations contributes to the breakdown of APP, a protein that’s function isn’t completely understood. The breakdown of APP is part of a process that makes harmful forms of sticky amyloid fragments. These fragments cluster to form plaques in the brain, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

In addition to the three genetic variants that are known to cause Alzheimer’s, people with Down syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21, which carries the APP gene, and a higher risk of developing early-onset Alzheimer’s. Estimates suggest that 50% or more of people living with Down syndrome will develop Alzheimer’s with symptoms appearing in their 50s and 60s. Learn more about Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome .

Genetic tests are not routinely used in clinical settings to diagnose or predict the risk of developing Alzheimer’s or a related dementia.

In some cases, if a person has symptoms at an early age with a strong family history of Alzheimer’s, a neurologist or other medical specialist may order a genetic test for APP , PSEN1 , and PSEN2 .

Although APOE testing is also available, the results cannot fully predict who will or won’t develop Alzheimer’s. Rather, this type of testing is used primarily in research settings to identify study participants who may have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s. This approach helps scientists look for early brain changes and compare the effectiveness of possible treatments for people with different APOE profiles.

Some people learn their APOE status through consumer genetic testing. These products are available for a fee and provide some information around the results and what they mean. While at-home genetic tests are convenient, people considering them may also benefit from talking with a doctor or genetic counselor to better understand this type of test and their test results.

General information about genetic testing can be found at:

• Genetic Testing
• What is Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing?
• Getting a Genetic Test
• Genetic Testing FAQ

Understanding Alzheimer's genetics in diverse populations

Research shows the rates of dementia vary among different racial and ethnic groups . While the concepts of race and ethnicity are socially defined, these social definitions offer researchers another way of looking at risk factors that may affect certain groups. These risk factors can include external influences, such as the environment, education, and income levels, as well as biological factors like genetics.

One way researchers are using genetics to advance health disparities research is to look at genetic ancestry. Genetic ancestry refers to the region from which a person is biologically descended. People of the same race and ethnicity may share genetic ancestry, but this is not always the case. Large genetic research studies can help scientists identify unique factors that are linked to genetic ancestry. Understanding these factors in diverse populations is important to identifying ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat Alzheimer’s in all people.

Alzheimer’s genetics research

Discovering as much as possible about the role of Alzheimer’s genetic risk and protective factors across populations is an important area of research. NIA funds several major genetics research programs . Understanding more about the genetic basis of the disease will help researchers:

• Answer a number of basic questions, such as: What makes the disease process begin? Why do some people with memory and other thinking problems develop Alzheimer’s while others don’t?
• Determine how genetic risk and protective factors may interact with other genes and lifestyle or environmental influences to affect Alzheimer’s risk in any one person.
• Identify people who are at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s so they can benefit from new interventions and treatments as much and as soon as possible.
• Explain differences in Alzheimer’s risks and protections among racial groups and genders.
• Use individual gene discoveries to develop potential therapies to prevent or treat the disease.

Research needs volunteers of all different races, ethnicities, ancestries, ages, and genders to participate in clinical trials and studies. Talk with a doctor if you’re interested in participating in Alzheimer’s research or search the Alzheimers.gov Clinical Trials Finder to find a study near you or online.

You may also be interested in

• Learning more about the causes of Alzheimer's
• Finding out about  assessing risk for Alzheimer's
• Discovering the changes that happen in the brain in Alzheimer's

Sign up for weekly tips from Alzheimers.gov

For more information about alzheimer's disease genetics.

NIA Alzheimer’s and related Dementias Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center 800-438-4380 [email protected] www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers The NIA ADEAR Center offers information and free print publications about Alzheimer’s and related dementias for families, caregivers, and health professionals. ADEAR Center staff answer telephone, email, and written requests and make referrals to local and national resources.

Alzheimers.gov www.alzheimers.gov Explore the Alzheimers.gov website for information and resources on Alzheimer’s and related dementias from across the federal government.

National Center for Biotechnology Information National Library of Medicine www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

National Human Genome Research Institute www.genome.gov/health

This content is provided by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date.

Content reviewed: March 1, 2023

nia.nih.gov

An official website of the National Institutes of Health

• Patient Care & Health Information
• Diseases & Conditions
• Autoimmune hepatitis

Autoimmune hepatitis is a liver disease that happens when the body's immune system attacks the liver. This can cause swelling, irritation and damage to the liver. The exact cause of autoimmune hepatitis is unclear, but genetic and environmental factors appear to interact over time to trigger the disease.

Untreated autoimmune hepatitis can lead to scarring of the liver, called cirrhosis. It can also eventually lead to liver failure. When diagnosed and treated early, however, autoimmune hepatitis often can be controlled with medicines that suppress the immune system.

A liver transplant may be an option when autoimmune hepatitis doesn't respond to medicines or liver disease becomes advanced.

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Symptoms of autoimmune hepatitis vary from person to person and may come on suddenly. Some people have few, if any, recognized problems in the early stages of the disease, whereas others experience symptoms that may include:

• Belly discomfort.
• Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, called jaundice. Depending on skin color, this change may be harder or easier to see.
• An enlarged liver.
• Irregular blood vessels on the skin, called spider angiomas.
• Joint pain.
• Loss of menstrual periods.

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with a healthcare professional if you have any symptoms that worry you.

Autoimmune hepatitis occurs when the body's immune system, which usually attacks viruses, bacteria and other causes of disease, instead targets the liver. This attack on the liver can lead to long-lasting inflammation and serious damage to liver cells. Just why the body turns against itself is unclear, but researchers think autoimmune hepatitis could be caused by the interaction of genes controlling immune system function and exposure to viruses or medicines.

Types of autoimmune hepatitis

Experts have identified two main forms of autoimmune hepatitis.

• Type 1 autoimmune hepatitis. This is the most common type of the disease. It can occur at any age. About half the people with type 1 autoimmune hepatitis have other autoimmune disorders, such as celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis or ulcerative colitis.
• Type 2 autoimmune hepatitis. Although adults can develop type 2 autoimmune hepatitis, it's most common in children and young people. Other autoimmune diseases may accompany this type of autoimmune hepatitis.

Risk factors

Factors that may increase your risk of autoimmune hepatitis include:

• Being female. Although both males and females can develop autoimmune hepatitis, the disease is most common in females.
• Genetics. Evidence suggests that a predisposition to autoimmune hepatitis may run in families.
• Having an autoimmune disease. People who already have an autoimmune disease, such as celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis or hyperthyroidism (Graves' disease or Hashimoto thyroiditis), may be more likely to develop autoimmune hepatitis.

Complications

Esophageal varices

Esophageal varices are enlarged veins in the esophagus. They're often due to obstructed blood flow through the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestine to the liver.

Autoimmune hepatitis that goes untreated can cause permanent scarring of the liver tissue, known as cirrhosis. Complications of cirrhosis include:

Enlarged veins in the esophagus, called esophageal varices. The portal vein carries blood from the intestine to the liver. When circulation through the portal vein is blocked, blood may back up into other blood vessels, mainly those in the stomach and esophagus.

These blood vessels have thin walls. And because they become filled with more blood than they're meant to carry, they're likely to bleed. Massive bleeding in the esophagus or stomach from these blood vessels is a life-threatening emergency that needs immediate medical care.

• Fluid in the abdomen, called ascites (uh-SY-teez). Liver disease can cause large amounts of fluid to build up in the belly. Ascites can be uncomfortable and may interfere with breathing. It's usually a sign of advanced cirrhosis.
• Liver failure. Liver failure happens when extensive damage to liver cells makes it not possible for the liver to function well. At this point, a liver transplant is needed.
• Liver cancer. People with cirrhosis have an increased risk of liver cancer.

Living with autoimmune hepatitis?

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• Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). American Liver Foundation. https://liverfoundation.org/liver-diseases/autoimmune-liver-diseases/autoimmune-hepatitis-aih/. Accessed March 22, 2024.
• Overview of chronic hepatitis. Merck Manual Professional Version. https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/hepatic-and-biliary-disorders/hepatitis/overview-of-chronic-hepatitis. Accessed March 22, 2024.
• Heneghan MA. Overview of autoimmune hepatitis. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed March 22, 2024.
• AskMayoExpert. Autoimmune hepatitis. Mayo Clinic; 2023.
• Autoimmune hepatitis. National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/autoimmune-hepatitis. Accessed March 22, 2024.
• Liver transplantation. Merck Manual Professional Version. https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/immunology-allergic-disorders/transplantation/liver-transplantation. Accessed March 22, 2024.

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Acupuncture: What You Need To Know

.header_greentext{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_bluetext{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_redtext{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_purpletext{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_yellowtext{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_blacktext{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_whitetext{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.header_darkred{color:#803d2f!important;}.Green_Header{color:green!important;font-size:24px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Blue_Header{color:blue!important;font-size:18px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Red_Header{color:red!important;font-size:28px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Purple_Header{color:purple!important;font-size:31px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Yellow_Header{color:yellow!important;font-size:20px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.Black_Header{color:black!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;}.White_Header{color:white!important;font-size:22px!important;font-weight:500!important;} What is acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a technique in which practitioners insert fine needles into the skin to treat health problems. The needles may be manipulated manually or stimulated with small electrical currents (electroacupuncture). Acupuncture has been in use in some form for at least 2,500 years. It originated from  traditional Chinese medicine but has gained popularity worldwide since the 1970s.

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According to the World Health Organization, acupuncture is used in 103 of 129 countries that reported data.

In the United States, data from the National Health Interview Survey showed a 50 percent increase in the number of acupuncture users between 2002 and 2012. In 2012, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 6.4 percent of U.S. adults reported they had used acupuncture, and 1.7 percent reported they had used it in the past 12 months.

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National survey data indicate that in the United States, acupuncture is most commonly used for pain, such as back, joint, or neck pain.

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How acupuncture works is not fully understood. However, there’s evidence that acupuncture may have effects on the nervous system, effects on other body tissues, and nonspecific (placebo) effects. 

• Studies in animals and people, including studies that used imaging methods to see what’s happening in the brain, have shown that acupuncture may affect nervous system function.
• Acupuncture may have direct effects on the tissues where the needles are inserted. This type of effect has been seen in connective tissue.
• Acupuncture has nonspecific effects (effects due to incidental aspects of a treatment rather than its main mechanism of action). Nonspecific effects may be due to the patient’s belief in the treatment, the relationship between the practitioner and the patient, or other factors not directly caused by the insertion of needles. In many studies, the benefit of acupuncture has been greater when it was compared with no treatment than when it was compared with sham (simulated or fake) acupuncture procedures, such as the use of a device that pokes the skin but does not penetrate it. These findings suggest that nonspecific effects contribute to the beneficial effect of acupuncture on pain or other symptoms. 
• In recent research, a nonspecific effect was demonstrated in a unique way: Patients who had experienced pain relief during a previous acupuncture session were shown a video of that session and asked to imagine the treatment happening again. This video-guided imagery technique had a significant pain-relieving effect.

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Research has shown that acupuncture may be helpful for several pain conditions, including back or neck pain, knee pain associated with osteoarthritis, and postoperative pain. It may also help relieve joint pain associated with the use of aromatase inhibitors, which are drugs used in people with breast cancer. 

An analysis of data from 20 studies (6,376 participants) of people with painful conditions (back pain, osteoarthritis, neck pain, or headaches) showed that the beneficial effects of acupuncture continued for a year after the end of treatment for all conditions except neck pain.

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• In a 2018 review, data from 12 studies (8,003 participants) showed acupuncture was more effective than no treatment for back or neck pain, and data from 10 studies (1,963 participants) showed acupuncture was more effective than sham acupuncture. The difference between acupuncture and no treatment was greater than the difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture. The pain-relieving effect of acupuncture was comparable to that of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
• A 2017 clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians included acupuncture among the nondrug options recommended as first-line treatment for chronic low-back pain. Acupuncture is also one of the treatment options recommended for acute low-back pain. The evidence favoring acupuncture for acute low-back pain was judged to be of low quality, and the evidence for chronic low-back pain was judged to be of moderate quality.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on low-back pain .

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• In a 2018 review, data from 10 studies (2,413 participants) showed acupuncture was more effective than no treatment for osteoarthritis pain, and data from 9 studies (2,376 participants) showed acupuncture was more effective than sham acupuncture. The difference between acupuncture and no treatment was greater than the difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture. Most of the participants in these studies had knee osteoarthritis, but some had hip osteoarthritis. The pain-relieving effect of acupuncture was comparable to that of NSAIDs.
• A 2018 review evaluated 6 studies (413 participants) of acupuncture for hip osteoarthritis. Two of the studies compared acupuncture with sham acupuncture and found little or no difference between them in terms of effects on pain. The other four studies compared acupuncture with a variety of other treatments and could not easily be compared with one another. However, one of the trials indicated that the addition of acupuncture to routine care by a physician may improve pain and function in patients with hip osteoarthritis.
• A 2019 clinical practice guideline from the American College of Rheumatology and the Arthritis Foundation conditionally recommends acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, or hand. The guideline states that the greatest number of studies showing benefits have been for knee osteoarthritis.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on osteoarthritis .

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• A 2020   review of nine studies that compared acupuncture with various drugs for preventing migraine found that acupuncture was slightly more effective, and study participants who received acupuncture were much less likely than those receiving drugs to drop out of studies because of side effects.
• There’s moderate-quality evidence that acupuncture may reduce the frequency of migraines (from a 2016 evaluation of 22 studies with almost 5,000 people). The evidence from these studies also suggests that acupuncture may be better than sham acupuncture, but the difference is small. There is moderate- to low-quality evidence that acupuncture may reduce the frequency of tension headaches (from a 2016 evaluation of 12 studies with about 2,350 people).

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on headache .

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• Myofascial pain syndrome is a common form of pain derived from muscles and their related connective tissue (fascia). It involves tender nodules called “trigger points.” Pressing on these nodules reproduces the patient’s pattern of pain.
• A combined analysis of a small number of studies of acupuncture for myofascial pain syndrome showed that acupuncture applied to trigger points had a favorable effect on pain intensity (5 studies, 215 participants), but acupuncture applied to traditional acupuncture points did not (4 studies, 80 participants).  

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• Sciatica involves pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling in the leg, usually on one side of the body, caused by damage to or pressure on the sciatic nerve—a nerve that starts in the lower back and runs down the back of each leg.
• Two 2015 evaluations of the evidence, one including 12 studies with 1,842 total participants and the other including 11 studies with 962 total participants, concluded that acupuncture may be helpful for sciatica pain, but the quality of the research is not good enough to allow definite conclusions to be reached.

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• A 2016 evaluation of 11 studies of pain after surgery (with a total of 682 participants) found that patients treated with acupuncture or related techniques 1 day after surgery had less pain and used less opioid pain medicine after the operation.

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• A 2016 review of 20 studies (1,639 participants) indicated that acupuncture was not more effective in relieving cancer pain than conventional drug therapy. However, there was some evidence that acupuncture plus drug therapy might be better than drug therapy alone.
• A 2017 review of 5 studies (181 participants) of acupuncture for aromatase inhibitor-induced joint pain in breast cancer patients concluded that 6 to 8 weeks of acupuncture treatment may help reduce the pain. However, the individual studies only included small numbers of women and used a variety of acupuncture techniques and measurement methods, so they were difficult to compare.
• A larger 2018 study included 226 women with early-stage breast cancer who were taking aromatase inhibitors. The study found that the women who received 6 weeks of acupuncture treatment, given twice each week, reported less joint pain than the participants who received sham or no acupuncture.

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• Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome is a condition in men that involves inflammation of or near the prostate gland; its cause is uncertain.
• A review of 3 studies (204 total participants) suggested that acupuncture may reduce prostatitis symptoms, compared with a sham procedure. Because follow-up of the study participants was relatively brief and the numbers of studies and participants were small, a definite conclusion cannot be reached about acupuncture’s effects.

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• A 2019 review of 41 studies (3,440 participants) showed that acupuncture was no more effective than sham acupuncture for symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, but there was some evidence that acupuncture could be helpful when used in addition to other forms of treatment.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on irritable bowel syndrome .

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• A 2019 review of 12 studies (824 participants) of people with fibromyalgia indicated that acupuncture was significantly better than sham acupuncture for relieving pain, but the evidence was of low-to-moderate quality.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on fibromyalgia . 

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In addition to pain conditions, acupuncture has also been studied for at least 50 other health problems. There is evidence that acupuncture may help relieve seasonal allergy symptoms, stress incontinence in women, and nausea and vomiting associated with cancer treatment. It may also help relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life in people with asthma, but it has not been shown to improve lung function.

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• A 2015 evaluation of 13 studies of acupuncture for allergic rhinitis, involving a total of 2,365 participants, found evidence that acupuncture may help relieve nasal symptoms. The study participants who received acupuncture also had lower medication scores (meaning that they used less medication to treat their symptoms) and lower blood levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE), a type of antibody associated with allergies.
• A 2014 clinical practice guideline from the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery included acupuncture among the options health care providers may offer to patients with allergic rhinitis.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on seasonal allergies .

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• Stress incontinence is a bladder control problem in which movement—coughing, sneezing, laughing, or physical activity—puts pressure on the bladder and causes urine to leak.
• In a 2017 study of about 500 women with stress incontinence, participants who received electroacupuncture treatment (18 sessions over 6 weeks) had reduced urine leakage, with about two-thirds of the women having a decrease in leakage of 50 percent or more. This was a rigorous study that met current standards for avoiding bias.

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• Experts generally agree that acupuncture is helpful for treatment-related nausea and vomiting in cancer patients, but this conclusion is based primarily on research conducted before current guidelines for treating these symptoms were adopted. It’s uncertain whether acupuncture is beneficial when used in combination with current standard treatments for nausea and vomiting.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on cancer .

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• In a study conducted in Germany in 2017, 357 participants receiving routine asthma care were randomly assigned to receive or not receive acupuncture, and an additional 1,088 people who received acupuncture for asthma were also studied. Adding acupuncture to routine care was associated with better quality of life compared to routine care alone.
• A review of 9 earlier studies (777 participants) showed that adding acupuncture to conventional asthma treatment improved symptoms but not lung function.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on asthma .

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• A 2018 review of 64 studies (7,104 participants) of acupuncture for depression indicated that acupuncture may result in a moderate reduction in the severity of depression when compared with treatment as usual or no treatment. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution because most of the studies were of low or very low quality.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on depression .

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• In recommendations on smoking cessation treatment issued in 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of experts that makes evidence-based recommendations about disease prevention, did not make a recommendation about the use of acupuncture as a stop-smoking treatment because only limited evidence was available. This decision was based on a 2014 review of 9 studies (1,892 participants) that looked at the effect of acupuncture on smoking cessation results for 6 months or more and found no significant benefit. Some studies included in that review showed evidence of a possible small benefit of acupuncture on quitting smoking for shorter periods of time.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on quitting smoking .

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• A 2021 review evaluated 6 studies (2,507 participants) that compared the effects of acupuncture versus sham acupuncture on the success of in vitro fertilization as a treatment for infertility. No difference was found between the acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups in rates of pregnancy or live birth.
• A 2020 review evaluated 12 studies (1,088 participants) on the use of acupuncture to improve sperm quality in men who had low sperm numbers and low sperm motility. The reviewers concluded that the evidence was inadequate for firm conclusions to be drawn because of the varied design of the studies and the poor quality of some of them. 

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• A 2018 review of 12 studies with 869 participants concluded that acupuncture and laser acupuncture (a treatment that uses lasers instead of needles) may have little or no effect on carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms in comparison with sham acupuncture. It’s uncertain how the effects of acupuncture compare with those of other treatments for this condition.    
• In a 2017 study not included in the review described above, 80 participants with carpal tunnel syndrome were randomly assigned to one of three interventions: (1) electroacupuncture to the more affected hand; (2) electroacupuncture at “distal” body sites, near the ankle opposite to the more affected hand; and (3) local sham electroacupuncture using nonpenetrating placebo needles. All three interventions reduced symptom severity, but local and distal acupuncture were better than sham acupuncture at producing desirable changes in the wrist and the brain.

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• A 2018 review of studies of acupuncture for vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause (hot flashes and related symptoms such as night sweats) analyzed combined evidence from an earlier review of 15 studies (1,127 participants) and 4 newer studies (696 additional participants). The analysis showed that acupuncture was better than no acupuncture at reducing the frequency and severity of symptoms. However, acupuncture was not shown to be better than sham acupuncture.

For more information, see the  NCCIH webpage on menopause .

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• Auricular acupuncture is a type of acupuncture that involves stimulating specific areas of the ear. 
• In a 2019 review of 15 studies (930 participants) of auricular acupuncture or auricular acupressure (a form of auricular therapy that does not involve penetration with needles), the treatment significantly reduced pain intensity, and 80 percent of the individual studies showed favorable effects on various measures related to pain.
• A 2020 review of 9 studies (783 participants) of auricular acupuncture for cancer pain showed that auricular acupuncture produced better pain relief than sham auricular acupuncture. Also, pain relief was better with a combination of auricular acupuncture and drug therapy than with drug therapy alone.
• An inexpensive, easily learned form of auricular acupuncture called “battlefield acupuncture” has been used by the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs to treat pain. However, a 2021 review of 9 studies (692 participants) of battlefield acupuncture for pain in adults did not find any significant improvement in pain when this technique was compared with no treatment, usual care, delayed treatment, or sham battlefield acupuncture.

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• Relatively few complications from using acupuncture have been reported. However, complications have resulted from use of nonsterile needles and improper delivery of treatments.
• When not delivered properly, acupuncture can cause serious adverse effects, including infections, punctured organs, and injury to the central nervous system.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates acupuncture needles as medical devices and requires that they be sterile and labeled for single use only.

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• Some health insurance policies cover acupuncture, but others don’t. Coverage is often limited based on the condition being treated.
• An analysis of data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative U.S. survey, showed that the share of adult acupuncturist visits with any insurance coverage increased from 41.1 percent in 2010–2011 to 50.2 percent in 2018–2019.
• Medicare covers acupuncture only for the treatment of chronic low-back pain. Coverage began in 2020. Up to 12 acupuncture visits are covered, with an additional 8 visits available if the first 12 result in improvement. Medicaid coverage of acupuncture varies from state to state.

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• Most states license acupuncturists, but the requirements for licensing vary from state to state. To find out more about licensing of acupuncturists and other complementary health practitioners, visit the NCCIH webpage  Credentialing, Licensing, and Education . 

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NCCIH funds research to evaluate acupuncture’s effectiveness for various kinds of pain and other conditions and to further understand how the body responds to acupuncture and how acupuncture might work. Some recent NCCIH-supported studies involve:

• Evaluating the feasibility of using acupuncture in hospital emergency departments.
• Testing whether the effect of acupuncture on chronic low-back pain can be enhanced by combining it with transcranial direct current stimulation.
• Evaluating a portable acupuncture-based nerve stimulation treatment for anxiety disorders.

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• Don’t use acupuncture to postpone seeing a health care provider about a health problem.
• Take charge of your health—talk with your health care providers about any complementary health approaches you use. Together, you can make shared, well-informed decisions.

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Nccih clearinghouse.

The NCCIH Clearinghouse provides information on NCCIH and complementary and integrative health approaches, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature. The Clearinghouse does not provide medical advice, treatment recommendations, or referrals to practitioners.

Toll-free in the U.S.: 1-888-644-6226

Telecommunications relay service (TRS): 7-1-1

Website: https://www.nccih.nih.gov

Email: [email protected] (link sends email)

Know the Science

NCCIH and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide tools to help you understand the basics and terminology of scientific research so you can make well-informed decisions about your health. Know the Science features a variety of materials, including interactive modules, quizzes, and videos, as well as links to informative content from Federal resources designed to help consumers make sense of health information.

Explaining How Research Works (NIH)

Know the Science: How To Make Sense of a Scientific Journal Article

Understanding Clinical Studies (NIH)

A service of the National Library of Medicine, PubMed® contains publication information and (in most cases) brief summaries of articles from scientific and medical journals. For guidance from NCCIH on using PubMed, see How To Find Information About Complementary Health Approaches on PubMed .

Website: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

NIH Clinical Research Trials and You

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has created a website, NIH Clinical Research Trials and You, to help people learn about clinical trials, why they matter, and how to participate. The site includes questions and answers about clinical trials, guidance on how to find clinical trials through ClinicalTrials.gov and other resources, and stories about the personal experiences of clinical trial participants. Clinical trials are necessary to find better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases.

Website: https://www.nih.gov/health-information/nih-clinical-research-trials-you

Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures & Results (RePORTER)

RePORTER is a database of information on federally funded scientific and medical research projects being conducted at research institutions.

Website: https://reporter.nih.gov

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• Befus D, Coeytaux RR, Goldstein KM, et al.  Management of menopause symptoms with acupuncture: an umbrella systematic review and meta-analysis . Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2018;24(4):314-323.
• Bleck   R, Marquez E, Gold MA, et al.  A scoping review of acupuncture insurance coverage in the United States . Acupuncture in Medicine. 2020;964528420964214.
• Briggs JP, Shurtleff D.  Acupuncture and the complex connections between the mind and the body. JAMA. 2017;317(24):2489-2490.
• Brinkhaus B, Roll S, Jena S, et al.  Acupuncture in patients with allergic asthma: a randomized pragmatic trial. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2017;23(4):268-277.
• Chan MWC, Wu XY, Wu JCY, et al.  Safety of acupuncture: overview of systematic reviews. Scientific Reports. 2017;7(1):3369.
• Coyle ME, Stupans I, Abdel-Nour K, et al.  Acupuncture versus placebo acupuncture for in vitro fertilisation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupuncture in Medicine. 2021;39(1):20-29.
• Hershman DL, Unger JM, Greenlee H, et al.  Effect of acupuncture vs sham acupuncture or waitlist control on joint pain related to aromatase inhibitors among women with early-stage breast cancer: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2018;320(2):167-176.
• Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, et al.  Acupuncture for the prevention of episodic migraine. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2016;(6):CD001218. Accessed at  cochranelibrary.com on February 12, 2021.
• Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, et al.  Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2016;(4):CD007587. Accessed at  cochranelibrary.com on February 12, 2021.
• MacPherson H, Vertosick EA, Foster NE, et al. The persistence of the effects of acupuncture after a course of treatment: a meta-analysis of patients with chronic pain . Pain. 2017;158(5):784-793.
• Qaseem A, Wilt TJ, McLean RM, et al.  Noninvasive treatments for acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2017;166(7):514-530.
• Seidman MD, Gurgel RK, Lin SY, et al.  Clinical practice guideline: allergic rhinitis. Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. 2015;152(suppl 1):S1-S43.
• Vickers AJ, Vertosick EA, Lewith G, et al. Acupuncture for chronic pain: update of an individual patient data meta-analysis . The Journal of Pain. 2018;19(5):455-474.
• White AR, Rampes H, Liu JP, et al.  Acupuncture and related interventions for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2014;(1):CD000009. Accessed at  cochranelibrary.com on February 17, 2021.
• Zia FZ, Olaku O, Bao T, et al.  The National Cancer Institute’s conference on acupuncture for symptom management in oncology: state of the science, evidence, and research gaps. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs. 2017;2017(52):lgx005.

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• Adams D, Cheng F, Jou H, et al. The safety of pediatric acupuncture: a systematic review. Pediatrics. 2011;128(6):e1575-1587.
• Candon M, Nielsen A, Dusek JA. Trends in insurance coverage for acupuncture, 2010-2019. JAMA Network Open. 2022;5(1):e2142509.
• Cao J, Tu Y, Orr SP, et al. Analgesic effects evoked by real and imagined acupuncture: a neuroimaging study. Cerebral Cortex. 2019;29(8):3220-3231.
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Decision Memo for Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain (CAG-00452N). Accessed at https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/details/nca-decision-memo.aspx?NCAId=295 on June 25, 2021.
• Chen L, Lin C-C, Huang T-W, et al. Effect of acupuncture on aromatase inhibitor-induced arthralgia in patients with breast cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials . The Breast. 2017;33:132-138. 
• Choi G-H, Wieland LS, Lee H, et al. Acupuncture and related interventions for the treatment of symptoms associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018;(12):CD011215. Accessed at cochranelibrary.com on January 28, 2021.
• Cui J, Wang S, Ren J, et al. Use of acupuncture in the USA: changes over a decade (2002–2012). Acupuncture in Medicine. 2017;35(3):200-207.
• Federman DG, Zeliadt SB, Thomas ER, et al. Battlefield acupuncture in the Veterans Health Administration: effectiveness in individual and group settings for pain and pain comorbidities. Medical Acupuncture. 2018;30(5):273-278.
• Feng S, Han M, Fan Y, et al. Acupuncture for the treatment of allergic rhinitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy. 2015;29(1):57-62.
• Franco JV, Turk T, Jung JH, et al. Non-pharmacological interventions for treating chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018;(5):CD012551. Accessed at cochranelibrary.com on January 28, 2021.
• Freeman MP, Fava M, Lake J, et al. Complementary and alternative medicine in major depressive disorder: the American Psychiatric Association task force report. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry . 2010;71(6):669-681.
• Giovanardi CM, Cinquini M, Aguggia M, et al. Acupuncture vs. pharmacological prophylaxis of migraine: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Frontiers in Neurology. 2020;11:576272.
• Hu C, Zhang H, Wu W, et al. Acupuncture for pain management in cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2016;2016;1720239.
• Jiang C, Jiang L, Qin Q. Conventional treatments plus acupuncture for asthma in adults and adolescent: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine . 2019;2019:9580670.
• Ji M, Wang X, Chen M, et al. The efficacy of acupuncture for the treatment of sciatica: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.  2015;2015:192808.
• Kaptchuk TJ. Acupuncture: theory, efficacy, and practice. Annals of Internal Medicine . 2002;136(5):374-383.
• Kolasinski SL, Neogi T, Hochberg MC, et al. 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation guideline for the management of osteoarthritis of the hand, hip, and knee. Arthritis Care & Research. 2020;72(2):149-162. 
• Langevin H. Fascia mobility, proprioception, and myofascial pain. Life. 2021;11(7):668. 
• Liu Z, Liu Y, Xu H, et al. Effect of electroacupuncture on urinary leakage among women with stress urinary incontinence: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2017;317(24):2493-2501.
• MacPherson H, Hammerschlag R, Coeytaux RR, et al. Unanticipated insights into biomedicine from the study of acupuncture. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2016;22(2):101-107.
• Maeda Y, Kim H, Kettner N, et al. Rewiring the primary somatosensory cortex in carpal tunnel syndrome with acupuncture. Brain. 2017;140(4):914-927.
• Manheimer E, Cheng K, Wieland LS, et al. Acupuncture for hip osteoarthritis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018;(5):CD013010. Accessed at cochranelibrary.com on February 17, 2021. 
• Moura CC, Chaves ECL, Cardoso ACLR, et al. Auricular acupuncture for chronic back pain in adults: a systematic review and metanalysis. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P. 2019;53:e03461.
• Napadow V. Neuroimaging somatosensory and therapeutic alliance mechanisms supporting acupuncture. Medical Acupuncture. 2020;32(6):400-402.
• Patnode CD, Henderson JT, Coppola EL, et al. Interventions for tobacco cessation in adults, including pregnant persons: updated evidence report and systematic review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA. 2021;325(3):280-298.
• Qin Z, Liu X, Wu J, et al. Effectiveness of acupuncture for treating sciatica: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2015;2015;425108.
• Smith CA, Armour M, Lee MS, et al. Acupuncture for depression. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018;(3):CD004046. Accessed at cochranelibrary.com on January 20, 2021.
• US Preventive Services Task Force. Interventions for tobacco smoking cessation in adults, including pregnant persons. US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. JAMA. 2021;325(3):265-279.
• Vase L, Baram S, Takakura N, et al. Specifying the nonspecific components of acupuncture analgesia. Pain. 2013;154(9):1659-1667.
• Wang R, Li X, Zhou S, et al. Manual acupuncture for myofascial pain syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupuncture in Medicine. 2017;35(4):241-250.
• World Health Organization. WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy: 2014–2023. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2013. Accessed at https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241506096 on February 2, 2021.
• Wu M-S, Chen K-H, Chen I-F, et al. The efficacy of acupuncture in post-operative pain management: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2016;11(3):e0150367.
• Xu S, Wang L, Cooper E, et al. Adverse events of acupuncture: a systematic review of case reports. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2013;2013:581203.
• Yang J, Ganesh R, Wu Q, et al. Battlefield acupuncture for adult pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine. 2021;49(1):25-40.
• Yang Y, Wen J, Hong J. The effects of auricular therapy for cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2020;2020:1618767.  
• Yeh CH, Morone NE, Chien L-C, et al. Auricular point acupressure to manage chronic low back pain in older adults: a randomized controlled pilot study. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2014;2014;375173.
• You F, Ruan L, Zeng L, et al. Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of oligoasthenozoospermia: a systematic review. Andrologia. 2020;52(1):e13415.
• Zhang X-C, Chen H, Xu W-T, et al. Acupuncture therapy for fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Pain Research. 2019;12:527-542.
• Zheng H, Chen R, Zhao X, et al. Comparison between the effects of acupuncture relative to other controls on irritable bowel syndrome: a meta-analysis. Pain Research and Management. 2019;2019:2871505.

Acknowledgments

NCCIH thanks Pete Murray, Ph.D., David Shurtleff, Ph.D., and Helene M. Langevin, M.D., NCCIH for their review of the 2022 update of this fact sheet. 

This publication is not copyrighted and is in the public domain. Duplication is encouraged.

NCCIH has provided this material for your information. It is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your health care provider(s). We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with your health care provider. The mention of any product, service, or therapy is not an endorsement by NCCIH.

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What is cloud computing?

With cloud computing, organizations essentially buy a range of services offered by cloud service providers (CSPs). The CSP’s servers host all the client’s applications. Organizations can enhance their computing power more quickly and cheaply via the cloud than by purchasing, installing, and maintaining their own servers.

The cloud-computing model is helping organizations to scale new digital solutions with greater speed and agility—and to create value more quickly. Developers use cloud services to build and run custom applications and to maintain infrastructure and networks for companies of virtually all sizes—especially large global ones. CSPs offer services, such as analytics, to handle and manipulate vast amounts of data. Time to market accelerates, speeding innovation to deliver better products and services across the world.

What are examples of cloud computing’s uses?

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Brant Carson is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Vancouver office; Chandra Gnanasambandam and Anand Swaminathan are senior partners in the Bay Area office; William Forrest is a senior partner in the Chicago office; Leandro Santos is a senior partner in the Atlanta office; Kate Smaje is a senior partner in the London office.

Cloud computing came on the scene well before the global pandemic hit, in 2020, but the ensuing digital dash  helped demonstrate its power and utility. Here are some examples of how businesses and other organizations employ the cloud:

• A fast-casual restaurant chain’s online orders multiplied exponentially during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, climbing to 400,000 a day, from 50,000. One pleasant surprise? The company’s online-ordering system could handle the volume—because it had already migrated to the cloud . Thanks to this success, the organization’s leadership decided to accelerate its five-year migration plan to less than one year.
• A biotech company harnessed cloud computing to deliver the first clinical batch of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate for Phase I trials in just 42 days—thanks in part to breakthrough innovations using scalable cloud data storage and computing  to facilitate processes ensuring the drug’s safety and efficacy.
• Banks use the cloud for several aspects of customer-service management. They automate transaction calls using voice recognition algorithms and cognitive agents (AI-based online self-service assistants directing customers to helpful information or to a human representative when necessary). In fraud and debt analytics, cloud solutions enhance the predictive power of traditional early-warning systems. To reduce churn, they encourage customer loyalty through holistic retention programs managed entirely in the cloud.
• Automakers are also along for the cloud ride . One company uses a common cloud platform that serves 124 plants, 500 warehouses, and 1,500 suppliers to consolidate real-time data from machines and systems and to track logistics and offer insights on shop floor processes. Use of the cloud could shave 30 percent off factory costs by 2025—and spark innovation at the same time.

That’s not to mention experiences we all take for granted: using apps on a smartphone, streaming shows and movies, participating in videoconferences. All of these things can happen in the cloud.

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How has cloud computing evolved?

Going back a few years, legacy infrastructure dominated IT-hosting budgets. Enterprises planned to move a mere 45 percent of their IT-hosting expenditures to the cloud by 2021. Enter COVID-19, and 65 percent of the decision makers surveyed by McKinsey increased their cloud budgets . An additional 55 percent ended up moving more workloads than initially planned. Having witnessed the cloud’s benefits firsthand, 40 percent of companies expect to pick up the pace of implementation.

The cloud revolution has actually been going on for years—more than 20, if you think the takeoff point was the founding of Salesforce, widely seen as the first software as a service (SaaS) company. Today, the next generation of cloud, including capabilities such as serverless computing, makes it easier for software developers to tweak software functions independently, accelerating the pace of release, and to do so more efficiently. Businesses can therefore serve customers and launch products in a more agile fashion. And the cloud continues to evolve.

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Cost savings are commonly seen as the primary reason for moving to the cloud but managing those costs requires a different and more dynamic approach focused on OpEx rather than CapEx. Financial-operations (or FinOps) capabilities  can indeed enable the continuous management and optimization of cloud costs . But CSPs have developed their offerings so that the cloud’s greatest value opportunity is primarily through business innovation and optimization. In 2020, the top-three CSPs reached $100 billion  in combined revenues—a minor share of the global $2.4 trillion market for enterprise IT services—leaving huge value to be captured. To go beyond merely realizing cost savings, companies must activate three symbiotic rings of cloud value creation : strategy and management, business domain adoption, and foundational capabilities.

What’s the main reason to move to the cloud?

The pandemic demonstrated that the digital transformation can no longer be delayed—and can happen much more quickly than previously imagined. Nothing is more critical to a corporate digital transformation than becoming a cloud-first business. The benefits are faster time to market, simplified innovation and scalability, and reduced risk when effectively managed. The cloud lets companies provide customers with novel digital experiences—in days, not months—and delivers analytics absent on legacy platforms. But to transition to a cloud-first operating model, organizations must make a collective effort that starts at the top. Here are three actions CEOs can take to increase the value their companies get from cloud computing :

• Establish a sustainable funding model.
• Develop a new business technology operating model.
• Set up policies to attract and retain the right engineering talent.

How much value will the cloud create?

Fortune 500 companies adopting the cloud could realize more than $1 trillion in value  by 2030, and not from IT cost reductions alone, according to McKinsey’s analysis of 700 use cases.

For example, the cloud speeds up design, build, and ramp-up, shortening time to market when companies have strong DevOps (the combination of development and operations) processes in place; groups of software developers customize and deploy software for operations that support the business. The cloud’s global infrastructure lets companies scale products almost instantly to reach new customers, geographies, and channels. Finally, digital-first companies use the cloud to adopt emerging technologies and innovate aggressively, using digital capabilities as a competitive differentiator to launch and build businesses .

If companies pursue the cloud’s vast potential in the right ways, they will realize huge value. Companies across diverse industries have implemented the public cloud and seen promising results. The successful ones defined a value-oriented strategy across IT and the business, acquired hands-on experience operating in the cloud, adopted a technology-first approach, and developed a cloud-literate workforce.

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What is the cloud cost/procurement model?

Some cloud services, such as server space, are leased. Leasing requires much less capital up front than buying, offers greater flexibility to switch and expand the use of services, cuts the basic cost of buying hardware and software upfront, and reduces the difficulties of upkeep and ownership. Organizations pay only for the infrastructure and computing services that meet their evolving needs. But an outsourcing model  is more apt than other analogies: the computing business issues of cloud customers are addressed by third-party providers that deliver innovative computing services on demand to a wide variety of customers, adapt those services to fit specific needs, and work to constantly improve the offering.

What are cloud risks?

The cloud offers huge cost savings and potential for innovation. However, when companies migrate to the cloud, the simple lift-and-shift approach doesn’t reduce costs, so companies must remediate their existing applications to take advantage of cloud services.

For instance, a major financial-services organization  wanted to move more than 50 percent of its applications to the public cloud within five years. Its goals were to improve resiliency, time to market, and productivity. But not all its business units needed to transition at the same pace. The IT leadership therefore defined varying adoption archetypes to meet each unit’s technical, risk, and operating-model needs.

Legacy cybersecurity architectures and operating models can also pose problems when companies shift to the cloud. The resulting problems, however, involve misconfigurations rather than inherent cloud security vulnerabilities. One powerful solution? Securing cloud workloads for speed and agility : automated security architectures and processes enable workloads to be processed at a much faster tempo.

What kind of cloud talent is needed?

The talent demands of the cloud differ from those of legacy IT. While cloud computing can improve the productivity of your technology, it requires specialized and sometimes hard-to-find talent—including full-stack developers, data engineers, cloud-security engineers, identity- and access-management specialists, and cloud engineers. The cloud talent model  should thus be revisited as you move forward.

Six practical actions can help your organization build the cloud talent you need :

• Find engineering talent with broad experience and skills.
• Balance talent maturity levels and the composition of teams.
• Build an extensive and mandatory upskilling program focused on need.
• Build an engineering culture that optimizes the developer experience.
• Consider using partners to accelerate development and assign your best cloud leaders as owners.
• Retain top talent by focusing on what motivates them.

How do different industries use the cloud?

Different industries are expected to see dramatically different benefits from the cloud. High-tech, retail, and healthcare organizations occupy the top end of the value capture continuum. Electronics and semiconductors, consumer-packaged-goods, and media companies make up the middle. Materials, chemicals, and infrastructure organizations cluster at the lower end.

Nevertheless, myriad use cases provide opportunities to unlock value across industries , as the following examples show:

• a retailer enhancing omnichannel  fulfillment, using AI to optimize inventory across channels and to provide a seamless customer experience
• a healthcare organization implementing remote heath monitoring to conduct virtual trials and improve adherence
• a high-tech company using chatbots to provide premier-level support combining phone, email, and chat
• an oil and gas company employing automated forecasting to automate supply-and-demand modeling and reduce the need for manual analysis
• a financial-services organization implementing customer call optimization using real-time voice recognition algorithms to direct customers in distress to experienced representatives for retention offers
• a financial-services provider moving applications in customer-facing business domains to the public cloud to penetrate promising markets more quickly and at minimal cost
• a health insurance carrier accelerating the capture of billions of dollars in new revenues by moving systems to the cloud to interact with providers through easier onboarding

The cloud is evolving  to meet the industry-specific needs of companies. From 2021 to 2024, public-cloud spending on vertical applications (such as warehouse management in retailing and enterprise risk management in banking) is expected to grow by more than 40 percent annually. Spending on horizontal workloads (such as customer relationship management) is expected to grow by 25 percent. Healthcare and manufacturing organizations, for instance, plan to spend around twice as much on vertical applications as on horizontal ones.

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What are the biggest cloud myths?

Views on cloud computing can be clouded by misconceptions. Here are seven common myths about the cloud —all of which can be debunked:

• The cloud’s value lies primarily in reducing costs.
• Cloud computing costs more than in-house computing.
• On-premises data centers are more secure than the cloud.
• Applications run more slowly in the cloud.
• The cloud eliminates the need for infrastructure.
• The best way to move to the cloud is to focus on applications or data centers.
• You must lift and shift applications as-is or totally refactor them.

How large must my organization be to benefit from the cloud?

Here’s one more huge misconception: the cloud is just for big multinational companies. In fact, cloud can help make small local companies become multinational. A company’s benefits from implementing the cloud are not constrained by its size. In fact, the cloud shifts barrier to entry skill rather than scale, making it possible for a company of any size to compete if it has people with the right skills. With cloud, highly skilled small companies can take on established competitors. To realize the cloud’s immense potential value fully, organizations must take a thoughtful approach, with IT and the businesses working together.

For more in-depth exploration of these topics, see McKinsey’s Cloud Insights collection. Learn more about Cloud by McKinsey —and check out cloud-related job opportunities if you’re interested in working at McKinsey.

Articles referenced include:

• “ Six practical actions for building the cloud talent you need ,” January 19, 2022, Brant Carson , Dorian Gärtner , Keerthi Iyengar, Anand Swaminathan , and Wayne Vest
• “ Cloud-migration opportunity: Business value grows, but missteps abound ,” October 12, 2021, Tara Balakrishnan, Chandra Gnanasambandam , Leandro Santos , and Bhargs Srivathsan
• “ Cloud’s trillion-dollar prize is up for grabs ,” February 26, 2021, Will Forrest , Mark Gu, James Kaplan , Michael Liebow, Raghav Sharma, Kate Smaje , and Steve Van Kuiken
• “ Unlocking value: Four lessons in cloud sourcing and consumption ,” November 2, 2020, Abhi Bhatnagar , Will Forrest , Naufal Khan , and Abdallah Salami
• “ Three actions CEOs can take to get value from cloud computing ,” July 21, 2020, Chhavi Arora , Tanguy Catlin , Will Forrest , James Kaplan , and Lars Vinter

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