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Animation, Games & Visual Effects: Finding articles

A guide for students studying Animation, Computer Animation, Games and Visual Effects and Motion Graphics at USW. Mae'r canllaw hon hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg.

What is a journal?

Journals are publications that are published on a regular and ongoing basis, for example, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually.  They contain a selection of articles in a subject area by different authors.  These articles are known as journal articles.  Academic journal articles are written by researchers and their articles are reviewed by other experts in the same subject area, in a process called peer-review.  Peer-reviewed journal articles are considered to be the best quality journal articles available. Journal articles are the best place to find the most recent research on a topic. 

Looking for a journal article

  1. If you would like to find journal articles on a subject, try searching by keyword using Advanced Search in FINDit.
  2. You can browse a specific journal through the journals finder. This journal browser allows you to explore journal collections by subject.
  3. Try going directly to a specialist database for results focussed on a subject area.
  4. If you have found an article for which we do not provide access, you can request it from another library.

Useful websites

  • Character Design - Interviews and galleries from the top artists in animation, movies, games,illustration and comics.
  • DICE Summit - The D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, brings together the top video game designers and developers from around the world and business leaders from all major publishers to discuss the state of the industry, its trends and the future.
  • DiGRA: Digital Games Research Association - High-quality research into digital games and associated phenomena, promoting collaboration and dissemination of work by its members. Includes a Digital Library of peer-reviewed conference proceedings, and also the journal ToDiGRA (Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association).
  • Gamasutra - Online free version of Game Developer Magazine. Weekly articles on game design and threads for discussion. 
  • Games for Change - Founded in 2004, Games for Change facilitates the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts.
  • Onedotzero - onedotzero create distinctive events, producing culturally significant experiences: merging arts, entertainment and technology to thrilling effect.

Key databases

These are some of the most important databases for your subject:

To access the complete list of databases suitable for Animation & Games, go here.

Google Scholar

What is Google Scholar?
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. In Scholar you can search across many disciplines and sources, including journal articles, theses, books and abstracts, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. 

How is it different from Google?
Google has a broader scope than Google Scholar and looks for resources regardless of where they come from and who they are written by. Instead of searching the entire web, Google Scholar just searches for scholarly literature. This means you will get far more relevant, authoritative and up to date results.

Can I access full text articles?
Yes, but not always. Some articles are freely available, plus you can also set up Google Scholar to access the University’s journal subscriptions.

To do this click on Settings then Library Links. Type USW into the search box and select FINDit@University of South Wales – Viewonline@USW.Tick the boxes next to the results and save. You will now be able to access our subscriptions via Google Scholar.
 

Do I still need to use FINDit?
Google Scholar is a good starting point for your research, but please be aware that it doesn’t index everything. It is important to use FINDit as well to search our subscription databases and journals for relevant journal articles.

For more information have a look at our Guide to FINDit or contact your Faculty Librarian.

 

Google Scholar Search