Psychology Research: Search Strategy

OneSearch  -  on campus or off-campus w/ library card
Search most of Skyline Library's article databases and book catalog to find a wide range of articles (and other documents) from academic journals, popular magazines, reference sources, e-books & other sources plus print books available in the library (Includes: PsychARTICLES and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection.)

- Click on the link above to open a new library home page window with the OneSearch search box.

- To search for more than one "concept", click on "Advanced Search" below the Search box (in the database window)

• In each search box, type the search word(s) for a separate concept.
• Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept.
• Use quote marks (“ ”) around search phrases (multiple words that should be searched together), e.g. "media use"

Search example 1: How should early childhood education programs deal with children who have been affected by family violence?

Start with searching for two or three "concepts" (key ideas)

"early childhood education"
"family violence"

Expand your search by adding synonymous words or phrases for each concept with OR between each

"early childhood education" OR preschools OR daycare OR kindergarten
"family violence" OR "domestic violence" OR "domestic abuse"

Search example 2: What is the effect of video games on elementary school students' academic performance?

"video games" OR "computer games" OR gaming OR "online games" OR "internet games"
"elementary school" OR "grade school" OR K-8
performance OR achievement OR grades OR "test scores"

Click the “Search” button to begin a search

• When the results page is displayed, click on an article title to see detailed information and a summary of the article.
• To see the full-text of an article, click on PDF Full Text, HTML Full Text, Full-Text Finder, or other link to full-text at the upper left of the detailed information page
• Once you find one article specifically on your topic, click on any relevant subject headings (near the top of the article page) to find more articles on that topic.
• To limit search results to only academic journal articles, click on "Academic Journals" on the left column under "Source Types"
   
• To find research studies: Look for articles in academic journals that include the following sections (IMRAD):
  • Introduction/Literature review: introductory section that discusses previous research on the same topic
  • Method(s) (may include "Procedure", "Participants", "Measures", etc.) - always labeled
  • Results - always labeled
  • Discussion - always labeled
     
• To print or e-mail an article, click on the print or e-mail buttons on the right task bar.