PsycINFO "Refine Search" Options

PsycINFO, as an EBSCOhost database, allows users to tailor their search requests with targeted refinements on the "refine search" options. These refinements include: Linked Full Text, Peer Reviewed, Publication Type, English Only Results, Age Groups, Population Groups, and Methodology.

Linked Full Text: it is not recommended that you select this option, as it removes full text options via (Article Linker.) There are many full-text resources that will be available in PsycINFO, but if you check the Linked Full Text option, you won’t have direct access to them.

Peer Reviewed: You can check this option to limit your results to peer reviewed journals. Be aware, however, that 98% of the journals in PsycINFO are peer reviewed, so this option really won't limit your results too much.

Publication Type: You can limit your search results to specific types. For example, if you only want journal articles, PsycINFO allows you to limit your search to just journals.

• All
• All Journals
  • Peer Reviewed Journals
  • Non-Peer Reviewed Journals
  • Peer-Reviewed Status-Unknown
• All Books
  • Authored Book
  • Edited Book
  • Encyclopedia
  • Dissertation Abstract
• Electronic Collection

English Only Results: If you are unable to read other languages, it’s probably wise to check the English results option. (Note: PsycINFO indexes 27 languages.)

Age Groups: allow you to select the age categories of individuals studied in the research, but doesn’t generally limit your results exclusively to that age group.

• Childhood (birth–12 years)
  • Neonatal (birth – 1 month)
  • Infancy (2-23 months)
  • Preschool Age (2-5 years)
  • School Age (6-12 years)
• Adolescence (13-17 years)
• Adulthood (18 years and older)
  • Young Adulthood (18-29 years)
  • Thirties (30-39 years)
  • Middle Age (40-64 years)
  • Aged (64 years and older)
  • Very Old (85 years and older)

Population Group: Remember that psychologists are just as likely to study animals as humans.

• Human
• Animal
• Male
• Female
• Inpatient
• Outpatient

Methodology: This category allows you to select the category of research conducted.

• Clinical Case Study
• Empirical Study
  • Experimental Replication
  • Followup Study
  • Longitudinal Study
    • Prospective Study
    • Retrospective Study
    • Field Study
    • Literature Review
    • Mathematical Modeling
    • Meta Analysis
    • Nonclinical Case Study
    • Qualitative Study
    • Quantitative Study
    • Treatment Outcome/Clinical Trial

Document Type: Odds are, you won’t need to consider tweaking the search for these document types.

• Abstract Collection
• Bibliography
• Column/Opinion
• Comment/Reply
• Editorial
• Encyclopedia Entry
• Erratum/Correction
• Letter
• Obituary
• Original Chapter
• Original Journal Article
• Publication Information
• Reprinted Chapter
• Reprinted Journal Article
• Review

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