Finding Articles - PSYC 21700 - Psychological Assessment - Hiram College Library at Hiram College

What are Databases?

Databases are online indexes of journal articles and abstracts. Many include full-text journal articles. Some databases also contain book chapters, newspaper/magazine articles, citations for books, and more.

In plain English, a database is what you would use to find articles!

Psychology Databases

PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
The online version of Psychological Abstracts provides indexing to articles and books chapters published worldwide from 1887 to the present.
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text to nearly 500 journals in psychology, psychiatry, and anthropology.

APA Video: Peer-Reviewed Empirical Articles

What is an Empirical Study?

An empirical study is one that is based on "observation, investigation, or experiment rather than on abstract reasoning, theoretical analysis, or speculation." Empirical studies should be divided into the following parts: abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and references. Typically these studies also include tables, figures, and charts to display collected data.

Example: Westervelt, H. J., Bruce, J. M., & Faust, M. A. (2016). Distinguishing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies using cognitive and olfactory measures. Neuropsychology, 30(3), 304-311. doi:10.1037/neu0000230

Strategies for Using PsycINFO

In this video, you’ll learn how to use the Tests & Measures field in PsycINFO to look up information related to psychological tests and measures. The video demonstrates how to use the Tests & Measures field to identify research instruments on a particular topic.

At the 2:30 mark, you'll learn how to locate research that uses specific psychological tests or measures.

In this video, you’ll learn how use APA PsycInfo’s methodology limiter to find journal articles that use a specific methodology or study design.

APA Databases Methodology Field Values
This chart provides the values and definitions for the Methodology field in APA databases records.

Have you ever wondered how to use the PsycINFO Classification Codes? They are assigned by indexers and categorize the document according to its primary subject matter. This video will show you how to use them to limit a broad search in PsycINFO on the EBSCOhost platform.

APA PsycInfo Classification Categories and Codes
Every record in APA PsycInfo receives a classification code, which is used to categorize the document according to the primary subject matter. These classification codes can help you target your search by allowing you to restrict retrieval to a specific category.

OneSource Search

Advanced Search

I Have an Article Citation - Now What? (APA)

🍎 I Have the Article Citation - Now What?

A citation is like an address—it tells you where to find the article.

1. Understand the Citation:

Journal Title: Where it was published.
Article Title: The name of the article.
Author(s): Who wrote it.
Year, Volume, Issue, Pages: Details to help find it.

Example (APA):
Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(3), 5–13.
In the example above:

The New Criterion is the title of the journal.
The eclipse of listening is the article title.
Scruton, R. is the author's name.

2. Find the Article:

Search by Journal Title: Use the "Finding Journals" tool on the library website.
Search by Article Title: Use OneSource to look up the article directly.

3. Get the Article:

If it's available, view or download it.
If not, request it through Interlibrary Loan.
Save the link using a "Permalink" so you can access it later.

Need Help?
Check out the Virginia Tech Citation Tutorial for more practice!

Examining APA Citations (7th ed.)
An interactive tutorial that examines the elements of APA citations. Includes a brief quiz and resources for further exploration. Presented by the Virginia Tech Libraries.