Scholarly editions, as defined by Laurie Sampsel in Music Research, a Handbook 3rd edition (2019), p.282, are "music edition(s) based on the current standards of editing, for example, the inclusion of a critical commentary and indications of editorial changes."

 Scholarly editions include:

           Collected sets in the M 2 section (Monuments of Music)

           Collected works by composer in the M 3 section

           Urtext editions, shelved with performing editions in the general collection.

Scholarly editions are indexed in Oxford Music Online and the following reference books:

A.H. Heyer: Historical Sets, Collected Editions, and Monuments of Music: a Guide to their Contents (Chicago, 1957, 3/1980) ML 113 .H52 1980 (2 vols., Music Reference Collection)

G.R. Hill: Collected Editions, Historical Series & Sets, & Monuments of Music: A Bibliography (1995) ML 113 .H55 1997 (Music Reference Collection)

To locate the works list for a composer, find the Oxford Music Online biography article for a composer, then on the left column, find "Works". Click there to go to a list of the complete works for this composer.

Thematic catalogues provide lists of composer's works in an organized fashion; often by opus number or chronology; many include incipits for the beginning of each work/movement. Well-known examples are Otto Deutsch's Schubert thematic catalogue and Bach's BWV Bach Werke‐Verzeichnis (Index to Bach's Works). For a more detailed definition, see the entry in Oxford Music Online. Thematic catalogs can also help you locate individual works in a composer's collected edition.

To find a thematic catalogue for a particular composer you can:

1. search in the library catalog for the composer's name and "catalog"
2. check in Barry S. Brook's Thematic Catalogues in Music: An Annotated Bibliography ML 113 .B86 1997 (Music Reference Collection)
3. Browse in the ML 134 section in the circulating collection, composers arranged A-Z
4. check the Oxford Music Online entry for the composer, which often lists the thematic catalog before the works list, as in this example.

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