Experimental Methods
Psychology 390/391

Spring 2008

Books | Journal Articles | Websites | Citing Sources

• Search PsycINFO
  

FINDING BOOKS ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY

Using Subject Headings

Search by Keyword and look for Subject Headings in individual records.
To modify a search:

• Use words from the Subject Heading in a Keyword search
• Click on the Subject Heading itself

Examples of Subject Headings:

• Psychology
• Psychology--Research
• Psychology--Experimental
• Social Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Women--Psychology

Background Sources

• Biographical Dictionary of Psychology
  Ref. BF 109.A1 B56 1997
• Dictionary of Psychology
  Ref. BF31 .C65 2006
• Dictionary of Theories, Laws, and Concepts in Psychology
  Ref. BF 31 .R625 1998
• DSM-IV Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.
  Ref. RC 455.2.C4 D54 1994
• DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., text revision
  Ref. RC 455.2.C4 D536 2000
• Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 4 vols.
  Ref. BF 31 .E5 1994
• Encyclopedia of Human Emotions, 2 vols.
  Ref. BF 531 .E55 1999
• Encyclopedia of Mental Health, 3 vols.
  Ref. RA 790.5 .E53 1998
• Encyclopedia of Psychology, 8 vols.
  Ref. BF 31 .E52 2000
• Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood & Adolescence
  Ref. HQ 772 .G27 1998
• Handbook of Social Psychology, 2 vols.
  Ref. HM 251 .H224 1998
• International Dictionary of Psychology
  Ref. BF 31 .S83 1996
• Psychologist's Companion : a guide to scientific writing for students and researchers
  Ref. BF 76.8 .S73 1993
• Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms
  Ref. Z 695.1.P7 T48 2007

• Guide to Humanistic Psychology (Association for Humanistic Psychology)
• Topical References in Self Psychology
• Psychology: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources
  Ref. BF 121 .B34 1993
• Women in Psychology: A Bio-Bibliographic Sourcebook
  BF109.A1 W65 1990
• Female Psychology: An Annotated Psychoanalytic Bibliography
  Ref. RC 451.4 .W6 F45 1991
• Psychoanalysis, Psychology, and Literature, a Bibliography
  Ref. Z 6514.P78 K53 1982
• Psychology: An Introductory Bibliography
  Ref. BF 121 .P79 1996

Don't forget to use bibliographies contained in reference books, annotated bibliographies, circulating books, and journal articles!

See How to Find Journal Articles and the Psychology Research Guide on Finding Articles.

Journal Lists:
List of Psychology Journals in Kalamazoo College Library
Includes print and online journals
Electronic periodicals in Psychology and related fields
This site maintains an index of psychologically-related electronic journals, conference proceedings, and other periodicals.

Indexes

Indexes will lead you to article citations that include author, article title, journal title, volume number, publication date, and page number. Citations do not include the entire article. You must locate the journal once you have a citation.

PsycINFO < about >
Journals on Psychology and related fields.
Produced by the American Psychological Association.
Covers publications from 1887 to the present.
For help in selecting the best terms for searching PsycINFO, use:
Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (Ref. Z 695.1.P7 T48 2001)

General Science Abstracts < about >

Social Sciences Abstracts < about >

MEDLINE < about >

Full-Text Resources

Full text databases include citation information as well as the text of the article itself.

Proquest Research Library < about >
Includes a "Psychology Module" as well as a "Research Module."
Some of the Psychology titles in Proquest:
American Journal of Psychology (1986- )
Counseling Psychologist (1989- )
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (1992- )
Social Cognition (1992- )

JSTOR < about >
Some of the Psychology titles in JSTOR:
Journal of Health and Social Behavior (1967-3 years ago)
Journal of the History of Ideas (1940-1995)
Social Psychology Quarterly (1979-3 years ago)

Project MUSE < about >
Some of the Psychology titles in Project MUSE:
Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1996-)
Journal of Social History (1999- )
Journal of the History of Ideas (1996- )
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (2000- )
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (2000- )
Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology (1996- )

Wilson Select Plus < about >
Some of the Psychology titles in Wilson Select:
The British Journal of Psychology (Feb-1995- )
The Journal of General Psychology (Jan-1995 -)
The Journal of Genetic Psychology (Mar-1995- )
The Journal of Psychology (Jan-1995- )
The Journal of Social Psychology (Feb-1995- )
The Psychological Record (Jan-1995-)

Science Direct (formerly Academic Press Ideal)
Some Psychology titles in Science Direct to which the Library subscribes:
Animal Behaviour (1993- )
Brain and Language (1993- )
Cognitive Psychology (1993- )
Consciousness and Cognition (1993- )
Contemporary Educational Psychology (1993- )
Developmental Review (1993- )
Journal of Adolescence (1993- )
Journal of Environmental Psychology (1995- )
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (1993- )
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (1993- )
Journal of Mathematical Psychology (1993- )
Journal of Memory and Language (1993- )
Journal of Research in Personality (1993- )
Learning and Motivation (1993- )
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (1995- )

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe < about >

Infotrac General Reference Center Gold < about >

Infotrac Health Reference Center - Academic < about >

Annual Review of Psychology (1950- )
The mission of Annual Reviews is to provide the worldwide scientific community with a useful and intelligent synthesis of the primary research literature for a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. Annual Reviews critically reviews the most significant primary research literature each year. Distinguished researchers and editors synthesize and filter the vast amount of primary research in specific disciplines to guide you to the principal contributions of the field.

Annual Review of Psychology (print)
BF30 .A56 (1990 - ), ULC Second Floor

Psycoloquy (1990- )
Psycoloquy is a refereed international, interdisciplinary electronic journal sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Types of Periodicals

Scholarly Journals (Psychology of Women Quarterly)

• Authors are scholars or researchers in their fields.
• Authors cite their sources in footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies.
• Individual issues have little or no advertising.
• Articles must go through a peer-review process.
• Articles usually report original scholarly research.
• Most illustrations are charts, figures, or graphs.
• Authors use the specialized language or jargon of the discipline.

Popular Magazines (Psychology Today)

• Authors are free lance writers or magazine staff members.
• Authors may mention sources, but rarely cite them in notes or bibliographies.
• Individual issues contain many advertisements.
• There is no peer review process. Articles are reviewed by editors or publishers.
• Illustrations are numerous and colorful.
• Articles are meant to inform and entertain an educated audience.
• Language is written for the general adult audience (no specialized jargon).

  Scholarly or Not?
  Use Ulrich's Online
  Document Type MUST say "Academic/Scholarly Publication" to be considered scholarly!

Don't forget to use bibliographies contained in reference books, annotated bibliographies, circulating books, and journal articles!

For web search tools in Psychology, see Finding Web Sites on Psychology.

When evaluating sources, pay attention to:

1. Accuracy
How reliable is the information? Are there editors and fact checkers?
2. Authority
What are the author's qualifications? Is the publisher reputable?
3. Objectivity
Is the author trying to sway opinion? Is the information free from bias?
4. Currency
Is the publication date indicated? Is the source up to date?
5. Coverage
Does the site cover the topic comprehensively, or are there information gaps?

Guides for Evaluating Web Sites:

• Evaluating Web Resources
  Widener University Library
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
  Johns Hopkins University Library
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Resources
  New Mexico State University Library
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
  UCLA College Library

See: How to Cite Sources

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
5th ed., Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, 2001.
(Ref. BF 76.7 .P83 2001)

See the APA site on Electronic Reference Formats for citing electronic resources:
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

ALWAYS check the style manual!! DO NOT rely on other guides!

Plagiarism: copying or stealing another’s work or ideas.

To avoid plagiarism, you must cite:

• spoken and written quotations
• ideas and opinions
• facts that are not general knowledge
• paraphrases of all of the above

See Plagiarism: What it Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It
(Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University)

When in doubt, ask your instructor!