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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

Google Scholar is a great way of searching for information and is a useful supplement to database searches. 

Google Scholar Search