Contact info

For Library research help, please contact Moninder Lalli, Librarian for Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies by email moninder_lalli@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.

Research process

Start Your Research Here - This page gives you an overview of the research process, or in other words how to find materials for your essay.

Definitions and theories

Use encyclopedias, dictionaries and handbooks to obtain definitions and overviews of a topic and also to identify key authors.

• A-Z of gender and sexuality : from Ace to Ze
• Ashgate research companion to queer theory
• Encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & queer culture
• Global encyclopedia of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) history
• Greenwood encyclopedia of LGBT issues worldwide
• Routledge Handbook of East Asian Gender studies
• Routledge handbook of sexuality, health and rights
• Routledge Handbook of Sexuality Studies in East Asia
• Routledge history of queer America
• Routledge international encyclopedia of queer culture
• Rowman & Littlefield handbook of transgender studies
• Sage encyclopedia of LGBTQ studies
• Transgender : a Reference Handbook
• Transgender encyclopedia

Find journal articles

Databases let you easily search for scholarly articles from within the journals of a disicipline.

How to find journal articles tutorial. 

What is a scholarly (or peer-reviewed) journal?

If the full-text of the article is not available within the database then use the "Get@SFU" link to find it or to initiate an inter-library loan request.

• Women's Studies International - key database for the discipline
• Academic Search Premier - Multidisciplinary index to academic & popular journals. Limit to "scholarly" or "peer-reviewed" articles
• ProQuest Sociology Collection - for issues related to class, gender, racism, sexuality and sexism and theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and policy science. For information of immigrants, racism, society, structural barriers, etc.
• Social Sciences Full Text  Multi-disciplinary database
• Geobase - database for geography, which includes articles on migration
• Global Health  - Provides information on international health, biomedical life sciences, non-communicable diseases, public health nutrition, food safety and hygiene, and much more from around the world.

Find books

The Library Catalogue provides access to books, journal articles, videos, government documents and much more.  To limit the search results to "books", use the filter (left-hand column in search results) to "resource type" of "books."

Library Catalogue search guide

Search the SFU Library Catalogue, either the Basic or the Advanced search

Note: In the searches below, you can limit search results to "Online Resources only" and "Resource type" of "Books". You can further limit by using "Subject" (left-hand column)

• (trans OR transgender* OR queer*) AND feminis* AND (theor* or perspective* or framework)
• queer AND (theor* OR framework OR  debate*)
• transgender AND (theor* OR framework OR  debate*)
• (trans OR transgender* OR queer*) AND [name of country or region]
• (queer* OR transgender* OR intersex*) AND (Asia Pacific OR China OR Japan OR Korea OR Indonesia)
• (racis* OR racial* OR discrimin* OR colonial*) AND (queer* OR transgender* OR intersex*) AND (Asia Pacific OR China OR Japan OR Korea OR Indonesia)
• (racis* OR colonial* OR medical) AND discours* AND (queer* OR transgender* OR intersex*) 
• (non-normative OR non-binary OR non-heteronormative) AND gender* AND subjectiv*
• (non-normative OR non-binary OR non-heteronormative) AND (medic* OR health* OR illness OR surg* OR gender change)
• (trans OR transgender* OR queer*) AND [your topic words]

Combine different concepts using AND
Combine same concepts using OR
Use quotation marks to search for a phrase
Use brackets for synonyms
Use asterisk (*) for different endings of words

Note:  For Catalogue Search, when combining concepts, use CAPITAL letters ( "OR", "AND")

Look at the titles in the "results list" and for those books that look relevant, click on their subject headings.

Selected books

• After eunuchs : science, medicine, and the transformation of sex in modern China
• As Normal As Possible Negotiating Sexuality and Gender in Mainland China and Hong Kong
• Colonialism and Homosexuality
• Cultural Politics of Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Asia
• Current Critical Debates in the Field of Transsexual Studies: In Transition
• Edges of the rainbow : LGBTQ Japan
• Feminist and queer theory : an intersectional and transnational reader [print]
• Gender diversity in Indonesia : sexuality, Islam and queer selves
• Gender on the edge : transgender, gay, and other Pacific islanders
• Gendered Bodies and Public Scrutiny
• Genders, transgenders and sexualities in Japan
• Introduction to transgender studies
• Japan: Discrimination against Lesbians, Bisexual Women and Transgender Persons
• Pleasure Consuming Medicine: The Queer Politics of Drugs
• Politics of love in Myanmar : LGBT mobilization and human rights as a way of life
• Queer comrades : gay identity and Tongzhi activism in postsocialist China
• Queer Korea
• Queer singapore : illiberal citizenship and mediated cultures
• Queerly Canadian : an introductory reader in sexuality studies [print]
• Transgender China
• Transtopia in the Sinophone Pacific
• What even is gender?

Browse by subject

Browse by subject (change the default "Browse by title" to ""Browse by subject" using the pull-down menu)

• Feminist theory
• Feminist theory -- Cross cultural studies
• Lesbian feminist Theory
• Gay Rights -- Canada
• Gay Rights -- United States
• Gay Liberation Movement -- Canada
• Gays
• Gays -- [country or region]
• Gender identity
• Gender identity -- [country or region]
• Gender transition
• Health -- Sex differences
• Intersexuality
• Queer theory
• Sex and law
• Sex and law -- Canada
• Sex change
• Sexual minorities
• Sexual minorities -- [country or region]
• Sexual minorities -- Health
• Sexual minorities -- Mental health
• Transgender people
• Transgender Persons
• Transsexualism
• Transsexuals
• Transsexuals -- Civil rights
• Transsexuals -- Legal status, laws, etc.

Presentation skills

• Resources on developing your participation skills
• Resources to help you improve your presentation skills

Library guides

• Library Research Skills [interactive tutorial]
• Popular versus scholarly sources [video]
• What is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal?
• What is plagiarism? [guide]
• Evaluating sources
• How to Write an Annotated Bibliography
• Referencing and citation management software For help, please contact us at citation-managers@sfu.ca 
• Tutorials
• Student Learning Commons & Writing help

Writing help

See the Student Learning Commons for expert and friendly help with academic writing, learning, and study strategies.