Psychology: Find Articles on a Topic

Students have found this log useful to keep track of searches and articles of possible interest.

You can search for empirical articles in the Library's databases, such as APA PsycINFO.

Note that the Library's databases have more than just empirical articles! To help with searching, APA PsycInfo has a limiter for Methodology, which you can use to select "Empirical Study." This limiter is located at the bottom of the search page, under Limit Your Results.

In Library databases without a methodology limit, try adding the search term empirical. If you are not having luck, try adding a search term that refers to an empirical study. For example, qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods.

Remember that you must make the final determination if an article is empirical or not. If you have questions, please check with your professor.

To increase the size of the video for playback, begin the video and in the lower right hand corner of the video, choose the full screen option (which looks like a square).

Follow these steps to obtain the complete article, or full text, while searching:

• Look for an Access Now (PDF) or PDF link.

• No Access Now (PDF) or PDF link? Look for another full text link, such as Access Options or Check for Full Text. 

• Full text link does not give you the entire article? Use Journal Search. Enter the title of the journal, not the title of the article.

• Still no luck? You can request a copy of the article through Interlibrary Loan.

  • Most Interlibrary Loan article requests will be filled in three to five (3-5) business days, excluding holidays and weekends. However, some articles may take seven to ten (7-10) working days to arrive. Be sure to plan for this extra amount of time.

APA PsycInfo is the preeminent database for finding articles that focus on psychology and related fields. Remember that different databases have different content, so it is always a good idea to search more than one database. As such, other databases are listed below. 

SEARCH HINTS:

• Use the limiters at the bottom of the search page (under Limit Your Results). For example, be sure to check Peer Reviewed to find scholarly/journal articles
• Be sure to print, save, or e-mail articles. Do not copy and paste the link from the search box of your Internet browser.  
• If you only need a few articles, or have waited to the last minute to do your research, select Linked Full Text or Full Text (at the bottom of the search page or in the left-hand column on the search results page) to find articles available online.
• Consider using other databases depending on the focus of your topic. For instance, there are subject-specific databases for communication, education, health/medical, industrial/organizational/business, and more.

When searching for articles on perspectives in psychology, try using the alternate search terms on the Types of Psychology and Their Scopes document (see link).

For example, rather than searching for cognitive psychology, try using terms such as thinking or memory.

On the search results page in APA PsycInfo (left-hand column), there is also a limiter for Classification that may be helpful in identifying articles that have to deal with different scopes of psychology. Remember to check with your professor about whether an article is acceptable.