Online Research Bibliography of Written Language and Literacy (ORBWLL)
Version 11 [20220429]: 9,300 entries; 67,238 citations; 3,750 source bibliographies
PDF format [All 9,300 entries (without Cited by information)] PDF
PDF format [Top 104 most-cited (49+ citations; without Cited by information)] PDF
Online format [Sepatate A-Z lists (with Cited by information)] ACCESS
Brief explanation
In terms of its scope, ORBWLL aspires to be as inclusive as possible. Reflecting the diverse perspectives that help to inform our understandings of scripts and writing systems, ORBWLL seeks to be interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on a range of domains, such as diachronic studies (epigraphy, palaeography), linguistic approaches (relationships to language and speech, typology of writing system), sociolinguistic considerations (spelling, script reforms), pedagogical questions (learning to read, phonological awareness), psycholinguistic investigations (visual word recognition, dyslexia), to technological matters (character encodings, fonts) ..... as well as their related issues and concerns.
Based on 3,750 source bibliographies (increased from 3,000 of previous version), the latest version consists of 9,300 entries (up from 7,545), together with 67,238 citations to those entries (up from 54,881). The source bibliographies continue to be selected based on their status as authoratitive works and/or on their inclusion within a selection of prestigious academic journals dedicated to scripts, reading, written language and literacy issues. The other 5,550 entries are works that are consistently cited by a certain number of the sources, indicating their relevance and importance for written language and literacy research.
Moreover, based on all 3,750 sources processed to date, the full ORBWLL database currently consists of 120,266 separate entries for which there are approximately 208,654 citations in total. The next version update will take place once 4,500 source bibliographies have been processed, whenever that may be ....
ORBWLL is being compiled solely by Terry Joyce. It is included within the AWLL website (with kind approval of AWLL board) to help reach a wider community of potential users. However, AWLL is not responsible for any errors that may exist in the bibliographic information; that responsibility rests entirely with the compiler who sincerely asks to be informed of any inaccuracies, if discovered, so that they can be corrected. Recommendations for further citations to include would also be most welcome.
A fuller description of ORBWLL and its ongoing development is available here.

[Updated 20220429]
© 2022 Association for Written Language and Literacy (AWLL)