Getting Research Help
Book a Research Appointment
Get lengthier and more specialized research help with our book an appointment service.
Visit our Research Help Desk
Visit the Research Help Desk on the main floor of the Library for help.
Attend a Workshop
Workshops are scheduled throughout the term.
Online Guides and Videos
How-to guides and videos on writing, research and citation
Special Collections Librarian
Finding Online Articles
The following databases are a good place to start finding peer reviewed articles on film studies topics. For advice on how to search, using boolean operators, and identifying scholarly resources, look at our Library Research Skills Tutorial.
- FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
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The International Index to Film Periodicals offers in-depth coverage of the world's foremost academic and popular film journals. This database contains FIAF's “Treasures from Film Archives”; a detailed index of the silent-era film holdings of archives from around the world, a selection of Reference volumes and the linked full-text of over 60 journals from 1972 to the present day. - American Film Scripts Online This link opens in a new window
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American Film Scripts Online contains 1,009 scripts by 1,062 writers together with detailed, fielded information on the scenes, characters and people related to the scripts. In addition, the database includes facsimile images for more than 500 of these screenplays. - Art Full Text This link opens in a new window
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Art Full Text provides comprehensive abstracting and indexing for periodicals published throughout the world. Full-text coverage for selected periodicals is also included. - JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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JSTOR has created a full text digital archive of core scholarly journals with complete back runs of many titles. As part of JSTOR’s agreement with publishers, current issues (usually the last 3 – 5 years) are not digitized by JSTOR and may be obtained elsewhere. The Toronto Metropolitan University Library has access to the entire content of JSTOR’s archival journal collections. - MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
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The MLA International Bibliography, produced by the Modern Languages Association of America, is the fundamental research tool for the humanities. The database is an index of international scholarly materials on modern language, literature, linguistics, and folklore. The citations are from over 4,000 journals and series, monographs, working papers and conference proceedings. - Oxford Bibliographies Online - Cinema and Media Studies This link opens in a new window
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Oxford Bibliographies in Cinema and Media Studies has recruited many of the finest scholars in cinema and media studies to chart a path through the information thicket and toward a carefully organized, thoroughly peer-reviewed account of the most important books, articles, and Web sites. With frequent updates, Oxford Bibliographies in Cinema and Media Studies is an essential resource for students, faculty, and researchers. - ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window
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ProQuest Research Library provides one-stop access to thousands of full-text periodicals from one of the broadest, most inclusive general reference databases ProQuest has to offer. Search from a highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, professional and trade publications, and magazines covering over 150 subjects and topics.
How to Search with Keywords
Your keywords are the main concepts or ideas of your paper.
For example the keywords for a paper on “youth employment in Canada” would be:
- Youth
- Employment
- Canada
Use synonyms: Often there are multiple ways to express the same concept. For example these synonyms mean essentially the same thing – make sure to use them:
employment can also be:
- job
- work
- career
Use “AND” and “OR”: By bridging your truncated keywords and synonyms with the capitalized search words “AND” and “OR” (known as Boolean operators), you can search for multiple concepts effectively.
We Have More information on Search Techniques
Film Analysis and Film Language Glossary (Terms)
Yale Film Analysis Guide
The Film Analysis Guide was developed to meet the needs of faculty and students at Yale who are interested in becoming familiar with the vocabulary of film studies and the techniques of cinema.
Columbia Film Language Glossary
The Columbia Film Language Glossary is a teaching tool designed to enhance the study of film. The Glossary features key terms in film studies selected by Columbia faculty and illustrated with detailed explanations, film clips, and visual annotations.
Peer Reviewed Resources
What is a peer reviewed article?
A peer reviewed article is an article that has been written by an expert and has been reviewed by other experts before being published. This review process ensures the quality of information in the article.
How to find peer reviewed articles
The Library subscribes to a large number of journals, newspapers and other resources. Not all articles are peer-reviewed, so you need to find a way to limit your results to peer reviewed articles.
- Some databases (Eg. Proquest) will let you click a peer review only checkbox before you start searching
- Other databases and Search Everything will let you limit to peer reviewed articles once you have completed the search
Proquest Search Box with Peer reviewed option checked
Search Everything Search Results with Peer Reviewed limit applied
How can I tell if my article is peer reviewed?
I've found a great article, but I don't know if it is peer reviewed? By using a resource called Ulrich's International Periodical Directory, you can check to see if the journal that the article is from is peer-reviewed.
- Go to Ulrich's
- Enter the title of the journal (not the title of the article) in the search box
- If an icon
appears by the journal title in the peer reviewed column, then the title is peer reviewed.
