How to Access the Full Text of an Article
"Get it at UC" Button
Most databases provide a description of articles and other resources to help you find what you need by searching through the indexed literature within their website. Included as part of the item record is the “Get it at UC” button. Clicking this button will direct you to a copy of the full text of the article.
Interlibrary Loan Request
If we do not own a journal or book, you can submit an interlibrary loan (ILL) request to have the book or article (e)mailed to you for free from another UC library. Learn more about how to request books or articles.
Find Articles via Subject Databases
Recommended Subject Databases:
- Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text This link opens in a new windowDatabase is a comprehensive bibliographic and full-text database covering television and film. Subject coverage includes film and television theory, preservation and restoration, screenwriting, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. It provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 380 publications, with selected coverage of an additional 300 publications, as well as full text for more than 120 journals, and 100 books. Includes Variety movie reviews from 1914 to present and over 36,300 images from the MPTV Image Archive.
[Coverage: 1914-present] - Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database This link opens in a new windowAn online citation index to over 60,000 historical and critical items about science fiction, fantasy and horror, developed by Hal W. Hall. This index is a useful supplement to the MLA International Bibliography, since it includes both scholarly and fan writing. Does not include book review coverage.
[Coverage: 1878-present] - Film Index International This link opens in a new windowFilm Index International provides indexing of over 125,000 films, and biographical information for over 800,000 personalities. Film coverage extends from silent movies to current films and includes international film awards and prizes, and searchable plot summaries and full cast and crew lists. Based on the Summary of Film and Television database maintained by the British Film Institute.
[Coverage: 1900-Current] - FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals This link opens in a new windowThe International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) provides in-depth coverage over 400 academic and popular film journals. The database includes: the International Index to TV Periodicals; the International Directory of Film/TV Documentation Collections; and Treasures from Film Archives, a detailed index of the silent-era film holdings of archives from around the world.
[Coverage: 1972-present] - AFI Catalog This link opens in a new windowThe American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog is the most authoritative resource of American film information for the years 1893 - 1971, including summaries, technical and cast information, and bibliographies.
[Coverage: 1893-1971]
Interdisciplinary databases:
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowAcademic Search Complete is a multidisciplinary database broadly covering newspapers, magazines and journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences and technology.
[Coverage: 1887-present] - ATLA Religion Database This link opens in a new windowATLA indexes journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in more than 60 languages. Subject coverage includes Religious Studies, Biblical explication, Archaeology & Antiquities, Church History, Human Culture & Society, Missions & Ecumenism, Pastoral Ministry, Philosophy & Ethics, Theology, and World Religions.
[Coverage: 1949-present] - Black Studies Center This link opens in a new windowBlack Studies Center brings together historical and current material for research projects on African-Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa. It is comprised of three modules: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience. The International Index to Black Periodicals. a database covering some 150 scholarly and popular Black Studies journals, many of them in full text. Newspapers, including the full text backfile of the influential Afro-American newspaper, The Chicago Defender (1910-1975).
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowArchive of scholarly journals and ebooks in over 50 disciplines spanning the arts, humanities, social sciences and the sciences. For journals, coverage begins with volume one of each title and continues to within 3 to 5 years of the most current issue, with some up-to-date dependent on the title. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization established with the assistance of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- ARTstor This link opens in a new windowContains a library of digital images, covering many time periods and cultures, and documents the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design, as well as many other forms of visual culture.
- Communication Abstracts This link opens in a new windowAbstracts major journals in communication; mass media; and includes topics in interpersonal communication and relations; economics and communication; communication, culture, and society; education and communication and health communication.
[Coverage: 1978-present] - Music & Performing Arts This link opens in a new windowMusic & Performing Arts cross-searches audio, video, scores, and full-text reference content pertaining to music, film, dance and drama, for more than 75 Alexander Street Press collections. Spans all time periods, representation from diverse groups, many cultures, historic periods and geographic regions, highlighting hundreds of thousands of seminal artists, composers, choreographers, and ensembles. Music includes opera, jazz, popular, contemporary world music, Smithsonian Global Sound, and enthnographic sound archives. Reference includes: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Film include documentaries, The Criterion Collection, Sony Pictures Classic Collection, silent movies, broad geographic representation including U.S. Britain, U.S. Eastern Europe, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and other Asian cultures. Searchable by film directors, awards and genres. Drama incorporates diverse representation of groups including North American Native Indian, Black, Latin American and Women. Dramatic works include Broadway, LA Theatre Works, National Theater and more. Includes film scripts and music periodicals.
[Coverage: 1500s-current] - Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new windowThe Arts & Humanities Citations Index within Web of Science (select under Editions dropdown) is a multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities. It indexes 1,100 of the world’s leading arts and humanities journals, as well as covering selected, relevant items from over 6,800 major science and social science journals.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowThe Modern Language Association International Bibliography (MLAIB) covers international scholarly materials on all languages, literatures, linguistics, and folklore from around the world. It includes citations to items from journals, series, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. MLAIB does not index book reviews.
[Coverage: 1926-present]
Identify Peer-Reviewed Articles
A peer-reviewed source is an article that has been reviewed by several other experts in the field before being published in order to ensure its quality. This 2 minute video describes the peer review process.
How do I Know if an Article is Peer-Reviewed?
Look for limits/filters
Many databases allow you to specify that you want to search only in “peer-reviewed” or “refereed” sources.
Visit the journal’s webpage
Search online for your journal’s title. Sections like “about this journal” or “editorial policies” generally mention whether the journal is peer-reviewed/refereed.
Check a directory
Use the Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory to find key information about a journal, including whether it has a peer-review process.