Psychology Research Guide
OSU Library

Beginning Your Research Finding Psychology Research Articles Finding Psychology Books Finding Psychology Web Resources Citation Style Guides for Psychology Finding Psychology Tests and Measurements

Beginning Your Research

If you're starting the research process in psychology, you may need help in selecting a topic or collecting background information on your topic. There are excellent sources for basic background in psychology:

• Annual Review of Psychology: Provides comprehensive, timely collections of critical reviews in psychology written by leading scientists. Published annually, the Annual Review of Psychology is among the most highly cited in scientific literature, and is ranked within the top ten publications for the discipline of psychology.
• Encyclopedias: Encyclopedias can provide a look into various aspects of the discipline and can sometimes give you possible direction for research, including citations to excellent books, articles, etc. on a topic. There are general psychology encyclopedias , encyclopedias for psychological related areas, as well as general encyclopedias (which cover more than just psychology.)
  • General Psychology Encyclopedias
  • Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 150.3 C826 2001, Reference, 1st Floor
  • Magill's Encyclopedia of Social Science : Psychology, 150.3 M194, Reference, 1st Floor
  • Companion Encyclopedia of Psychology, 150.3 C737, 3rd Floor
  • Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychoanalysis, 616.89003 E56, Basement
  • Encyclopedia of Psychology, 150.3 E565 1994, 3rd Floor
  • Encyclopedia of Psychology, 150.3 E566, Reference, 1st Floor
  • Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 150.3 G151, 3rd Floor
  • Psychology Basics, 150.3 P9745, Reference, 1st Floor
  • Survey of Social Science: Psychology Series, 150.3 S9625, 3rd Floor
  • Subject Specific Psychology Encyclopedias</li>
    • Encyclopedia of Creativity, 153.35 E56, 3rd Floor
    • Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 150.3 E555, 3rd Floor
    • Encyclopedia of Human Emotions, 152.403 E56, 3rd Floor
    • Encyclopedia of Human Intelligence, 153.903 E56, 3rd Floor
    • Encyclopedia of Adult Development, 155.6 E56, 3rd Floor
    • Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, 153.03 E56, Reference, 1st Floor
    • Comprehensive Clinical Psychology, 616.89 C7365, Basement
    • Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreaming, 154.603 E56, 3rd Floor
    • MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, 153.03 M1105, 3rd Floor
    • Handbook of Child Psychology, 155.4 H236 1998, 3rd Floor
  • General Encyclopedias (Cover more than just Psychology)
  • New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 031 N532 1998, Reference, 1st Floor
  • International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 303 I6l, 3rd Floor
  • International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 300.3 I61 2001, Reference, 1st Floor
  • Note: to find other subject encyclopedias, search the Library Catalog by keywords, such as encyclopedia memory or handbook psychology.
• Browse Current Journals: You might opt to look through the table contents of some current psychology periodicals to see what kinds of research is being conducted. To identify some current journal titles to browse, you can search the Library Catalog by subject headings, such as:
  • Psychology Periodicals
  • Social Psychology Periodicals
  • Clinical Psychology Periodicals
  • Educational Psychology Periodicals
  • Psychiatry Periodicals
  Current issues of journals are kept in the periodicals area on the northeast side of the first floor of the Library, shelved alphabetically by title.

Finding Psychology Research Articles

To locate articles in periodicals (journals, magazines and newspapers), you will need to search a database index. An index will allow you to search for articles by keyword, subject heading, author, or journal name, etc. There are many databases available for research in psychology.

Psychology Specific Databases

There are a couple databases available for research in psychology:

• PsycINFO: PsycINFO is the major database resource for psychology. Covers psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as: anthropology, nursing, business, pharmacology, education, physiology, law, psychiatry, linguistics, sociology and medicine. Includes international material selected from nearly 2,000 periodicals written in over 35 languages since 1872. Note: PsycINFO includes PsycARTICLES.
• PsycArticles: PsycARTICLES is a source of searchable full text articles on current issues in psychology. PsycARTICLES covers general psychology and specialized, basic, applied, clinical and theoretical research in psychology. The database contains more than 35,000 searchable full text articles from 41 journals published by the American Psychological Association and 8 from allied organizations. Coverage spans from 1987 to the present.

Other Subject Specific Databases

The discipline of psychology is interdisciplinary -- which means that psychology pulls its information and research from a variety of other disciplines, largely in the social sciences, but also some science disciplines. The following databases cover a variety of social sciences, such as education and sociology.

• ERIC: ERIC, the Educational Resource Information Center, is a national information system supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Library of Education, and the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. It provides access to information from journals included in the Current Index of Journals in Education and Resources in Education Index. ERIC provides full text of more than 2,200 digests along with references for additional information and citations and abstracts from over 1000 educational and education-related journals.
• Sociological Abstracts: Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,700 serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Records added after 1974 contain in-depth and nonevaluative abstracts of journal articles. Covers 1963 to the present.
• MEDLINE: MEDLINE includes information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and pre-clinical sciences and combines the information from a variety of print resources into a comprehensive database of medical literature. This information is categorized with a specialized medical subject headings called MeSH. The majority of entries include abstracts. MEDLINE includes information from Index Medicus (overall medical subjects), International Nursing Index, Index to Dental Literature, and PREMEDLINE (very new, incomplete entries).
• Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA): Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) assists both generalists and specialists in keeping abreast of cutting-edge developments in disciplines concerned with the nature and use of language. The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Complete coverage is also given to various fields of linguistics including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. Coverage begins in 1973.
• Digital Dissertations: Digital Dissertations is a database for searching U.S. dissertations (and some masters theses.) Coverage is from 1861 - present. Abstracts are available starting in 1980, and OSU dissertations are available in full-text form from 1961 to the present. Dissertations from other universities are available from 1997 to the present, and in some cases earlier.
• Web of Science: Web of Science covers a broad spectrum of scientific and other research. It features Social Science Citation Index and Science Citation Index from 1981 - present. It is a database that can tell you who cites research literature.

Animal Studies Databases

If you are researching psychology pertaining to animals, such as animal behavior, there are several databases available:

• Biological Abstracts: Index to biology, botany, zoology, microbiology, clinical and experimental medicine and biochemistry. Coverage 1969 - present. Some full-text.
• Biological & Agricultural Index: Nearly 250 English-language periodicals in life sciences and agricultural subjects, published in the U.S. and elsewhere. Includes book reviews. Coverage July 1983 - present.

Sports Related Databases

For research in sports psychology, you may want to consult the following:

• SPORTDiscus: SPORTDiscus is an international database provided by SIRC. The database contains information on the following: sports medicine, exercise physiology, biomechanics, psychology, training techniques, coaching, physical education, physical fitness, active living, recreation, history, facilities and equipment. Many articles available Full-text. Coverage 1975 - present.

Additionally, there are other databases in the social sciences you may want to investigate. Be aware that not all of the databases listed there cover psychology. The major databases are listed above

To Find the Text of Articles

Once you have located journal articles (and if the database is not full-text), you will need to look the journal name (sometimes called the "source") in the Library Catalog. (Remember, search the journal name in the library catalog, NOT the article title.) The Library Catalog will generally lead you in the direction of whether the Library has full-text of the journal or if we own it, you will have a call number.

There is also a Full-Text Periodical List, which might also give you a full-text equivalent for the journal.

If the Library does not own the journal and if there is no full-text access for the journal, you may submit an Interlibrary Loan request for the article.

Finding Psychology Books

• Library Catalog: Search for books by topic, title or author. You can also use the Catalog to determine if the Library owns a particular journal.
• WorldCat: WorldCat contains records on more than 40 million items, including books, journals, musical scores, manuscripts, audio and videorecordings, etc. You can request an Interlibrary Loan for materials in WorldCat which are not owned by the OSU Library.
• PsycINFO: PsycINFO can be searched for book chapters. Check the Library Catalog to determine if the Library owns the book. (Note: make sure you search the Library Catalog for the book title, NOT the chapter title -- PsycINFO citations for book chapters can be hard to decipher.)

Psychology Book Subject Headings

A selective list of Library of Congress Subject Headings for books in the field of psychology include (but is not limited to) the following:

• Animal Behavior
• Child Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Human Behavior
• Learning, Psychology of
• Psychology, Applied
• Psychology, Comparative
• Psychology, Experimental
• Psychology, Industrial
• Psychology, Pathological
• Psychophysiology
• Sex (Psychology)
• Social Psychology

Finding Psychology Web Resources

• OSU Department of Psychology
• American Psychological Association
• Association for Psychological Science
• Scholarly Psychology Resources on the Web: Contains links to sites which offer scholarly information about a subtopic within the field of psychology. In addition to this page, Psych Web maintains lists of brochures and articles related to psychology, commercial psychology-related sites on the web, psychology departments on the web, psychology journals on the web, other megalists of psychology resources, and self-help sites on the web.
• Encyclopedia of Psychology: The Encyclopedia of Psychology is intended to facilitate browsing in any area of psychology, with two paths envisioned for that purpose: 1. Original information generated by respected researchers and practitioners in various fields of psychology, and 2. A hierarchical database of links to websites providing information about scientific psychology.
• Addiction Search: A directory of websites links to very current information on topics related to addiction, focusing on well-respected, reliable sources (not personal or self-help sites), including governmental agencies, clearinghouses, colleges and universities, research centers and not-for-profit organizations. Organized in eight categories: addictions, statistics, populations, treatment, prevention, social issues, organizations, and war on drugs.
• Classics in the History of Psychology: Classics in the History of Psychology is an effort to make the full texts of a large number of historically significant public domain documents from the scholarly literature of psychology and allied disciplines available on the World Wide Web. There are now over 25 books and about 200 articles and chapters on-line. The site also contains links to over 200 relevant works posted at other sites.
• National Institute of Mental Health: The NIMH is a governmental agency that supports and conducts national research on mental health and mental illness. The NIMH disseminates a great deal of authoritative information on many facets of mental health research.
• The Personality Project: Intended for novices interested in learning more about the field of personality, this site assumes one knows the major players in the research. Offers many abstracts of recent journal literature within the text of overview articles about the various facets of personality research.
• Psychology Online: Includes links to psychology course listings at various universities, sel-help resources, career and guidance information, descriptions (and sometimes full-text) of psychology journals, information about the various schools of psychology research and study, etc., as well as information on famous psychologists, theories, IQ testing, learning style inventories, personality tests, and Internet online services (bulletin boards and chatrooms.)
• Social Psychology Network: Purports to be "the largest social psychology database on the Internet." In these pages, you'll find more than 5,000 links related to psychology.
• PSYCLINE - Your Guide to Psychology and Social Science Journals on the Web: An Index of 1,000+ Psychology and Social Science Journals Online (Not all are full text)
• Internet Mental Health: Internet Mental Health is a free encyclopedia of mental health information.
• National Center for PTSD: Research and Education on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: "The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder carries out a broad range of multidisciplinary activities in research, education, and training. These initiatives support system-wide efforts in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to understand, diagnose, and treat PTSD in veterans who have developed psychiatric symptoms following exposure to war-zone stress."
• Dr. John Grohol's Psych Central: Psych Central is the oldest peer-reviewed psychology and mental health directory on the Internet, begun in 1992 as an index to mental health and support newsgroups. It now indexes over 3,000 resources, and offers hundreds of informative articles on mental health symptoms and treatments, psychology and relationship topics, as well as interactive online quizzes, and a vibrant online self-help support community.
• Psychology Resources: (Internet Public Library)
• Psychology Virtual Library: "The Psychology Virtual Library keeps track of online information as part of The World Wide Web Virtual Library. Sites are inspected and evaluated for their adequacy as information sources before they are linked from here."

Citation Style Guides for Psychology

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed., 808.02 P976 2001, General Reference, 1st Floor
• Guick Guide to APA Style (OSU Library)
• Citation Guides for Electronic Documents (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions)

Contact Information

Dan Chaney
Psychology Liaison Librarian
Humanities/Social Sciences Division
Edmon Low Library
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078-1071
Telephone: 405-744-9772
Email: dan.chaney@okstate.edu