Major bibliographies:
Currey, L.W. Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: a Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction. G.K. Hall & Co, Boston, 1979
Reginald, Robert. Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature Volume 1: a Checklist 1700-1974. Gale Research Co., Michigan, 1979
Reginald, Robert. Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature 1975-1991. Gale Research Inc., Michigan, 1992
The major encyclopaedias:
Clute, John and Peter Nichols (editors). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Orbit, London, 1993 Updates are here
Clute, John and John Grant (editors). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Orbit, London, 1997. Updates are here
Tuck, Donald H. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1968. Advent, Chicago, 1974 - 1982 in 3 volumes: 1: Who’s Who A-L ISBN 0-911682-20-1; 2: Who’s Who M-Z ISBN 0-911682-22-8; 3: Miscellaneous ISBN 0-911682-26-0. Still invaluable for its inclusion of book contents, reprint details and notes
Specific works on Science Fiction and Fantasy series:
Cottrill, Tim, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh. Science Fiction and Fantasy Series and Sequels. Garland Publishing, New York, 1986 ISBN: 0-8240-8671-6 A comprehensive bibliography of series to 1985. Anthology series are listed separately. Includes horror series
Pringle, David. "Of Sequels and Prequels - and Sequels by Other Hands" Million: The Magazine About Popular Fiction, no. 9 May/Jun 1993; pp 24-26. An excellent article looking at the many forms of series. Million, alas, is now defunct. Back issues can be obtained from Interzone (see below)
Major journals:
Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction Field. Monthly ISSN 0047-4959 Locus Publications, PO Box 13305, Oakland CA 94661, USA. The "Books Received" columns and trade advertisements are a major source of information about new series . See their site at www.locusmag.com. The books received information and William Contento's invaluable Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections can be accessed through this link
Interzone: Science Fiction and Fantasy. Monthly ISSN 0264-3596 217 Preston Drove, Brighton BN1 6FL, United Kingdom. Fiction and some non-fiction.. Its "Books Received" column includes a separate segment for "Novelizations, Spinoffs, Sequels by Other Hands, Shared Worlds, Sharecrops"
Of many other sources consulted, these were useful:
Barron, Neil (editor) Horror Literature: a Reader’s Guide. Garland Publishing, New York, 1990 ISBN: 0-8240-4347-2
Barron, Neil (editor) Fantasy Literature: a Reader’s Guide. Garland Publishing, New York, 1990 ISBN: 0-8240-3148-2
Carter, Margaret L. The Vampire in Literature: a Critical Bibliography. UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, 1989 ISBN: 0-8357-1998-7
Hawk, Pat. Hawk's Authors' Pseudonyms III. Hawk's Enterprises, Greenville, TX , 1999. Available as an expensive book, but also on CD-ROM using Adobe Acrobat PDF files - CD-ROM ISBN 0-9653185-2-0. Invaluable for details of the numerous pseudonyms and by-lines in all kinds of fiction. Contact Pat Hawk at hawk@koyote.com
Lynn, Ruth Nadelman. Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults: an Annotated Bibliography. R.R. Bowker, New York, 1989 3rd edition ISBN 0-8352-2347-7
Melton, J. Gordon. The Vampire Book: the Encyclopedia of the Undead. Second edition. Visible Ink Press / Gale Research, Farmington Hills, NJ, 1999. ISBN 157859-071-X. Up-to-date coverage of authors, themes, films etc. Many entries include bibliographies.
Simkin, John E. (compiler). The Whole Story: 3000 Years of Sequels and Sequences. Thorpe, Melbourne, 1996 ISBN 1-875589-26-0 A massive undertaking, including romance, westerns, detective, children's & any other series one could imagine.