Psychology

Accessing Psychology Journal Articles

There are several ways to locate full-text articles for psychology research.

Starting with Google

If you want to begin with Google, I would suggest starting with Google Scholar. When accessing articles via Google, keep in mind that full-text will not be available unless you are opening the article through one of our databases. The Proctor Library provides you with access - so the best thing to do is to copy down the citation for the article that you would like to read, then use the Journal Finder tab on the Library's website to see whether or not we have the full-text available.

If for some reason the Library does not have full-text access to an article that you need, there is always the option to submit an interlibrary loan request for the article.

Using the Library's Databases

An excellent place to begin is by doing broad searches of our research databases. Use as many keywords as necessary to narrow down your searches, and try to limit your results to peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles. Depending upon the guidelines provided by your professor, you may also be able to use newspapers and other sources. You can find a list of peer-reviewed journals and links to databases which are ideal for psychology research below.

What is Peer Review?

Peer review plays a central role in scholarly publishing. In a peer-reviewed ("scholarly") journal, articles are not accepted for publication until they have gone through the process of being read and critiqued by experts in the author's field (i.e., peers). Peer review helps to validate research and establishes a method by which that research can be evaluated as credible.

Peer-Reviewed Sources vs. Popular Sources

This short video from Carnegie Vincent Library at Lincoln Memorial University does a good job of explaining the differences between peer-reviewed, scholarly sources (which you should be using) and popular sources (which you generally want to avoid).

The Peer Review Process

• An author submits their article to the editor of a peer-reviewed journal.
• The journal editor forwards that article to one or more reviewers who carefully evaluate the quality of the submitted article.
• Peer reviewers check the article for accuracy and assess the validity of the author's research. There are several types of peer review:
  • A single-blind review means that the names of the reviewers are not known to the author of the article. This is the most common type of peer review.
  • A double-blind review means that both the names of the reviewers and the name of the author are not known to each other. This can prevent any bias on the part of the reviewers.
• If necessary, the reviewers suggest changes and the article is returned to the author to be revised. If they find that the article does not meet the standards set by the publication, the submission is rejected.
• After necessary revisions, the article can be submitted through the process again.
• If accepted, the article is published.

Because of the strict standards for publishing set by a peer-reviewed journal, articles in such publications are examples of the best research practices in a given field. However, keep in mind that even peer-reviewed journals will sometimes publish editorials or letters - these are considered opinion pieces and would not be suitable for use as a "scholarly" source.

What is a Primary Source?

In the social sciences, a primary source is original information that has not been interpreted or presented by another author. This could include a dataset or other quantitative results, or the results of an experiment published in a peer-reviewed journal. When searching for primary sources in the field of psychology, you will want to look for first-hand accounts of research conducted by the author(s). These are usually recent publications that present new information or discoveries.

Clues to Identifying a Primary Source

A primary source in psychology will be...

• an account of an original study, research or experiment published in a peer-reviewed journal. (For an explanation of peer review, see the above tab titled 'What is Peer Review?'.)
• using a specific format, including such sections as an abstract, methods or methodology, discussion, conclusion, and references.
• often including a statement identifying it as 'empirical research' or an 'empirical study.'

Databases Containing Primary Sources

These databases are good places to start your search for primary sources in psychology. Another good option can be Google Scholar. Our PsycARTICLES database has a search option where you can limit your results to a specific methodology, including empirical studies.

Formatting Citations in APA Style

Our APA citation guide was compiled with the help of useful information from Purdue University's Online Writing Lab. The Proctor Library's reference sheet for APA citations can come in handy as well.

Basic Rules for APA Citations

• All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin.
• Authors' names are given with the last name first; give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work for up to and including twenty authors.
• Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work. For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in chronological order, from earliest to most recent.
• Present the complete journal title, and maintain the punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title.
• Capitalize all major words in journal titles.
• When referring to books, chapters, articles, or Web pages, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
• Italicize the titles of longer works, such as books and journals.
• Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections.

Basic Format for Books

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher.

• This example book has only one author.

Basic Format for Articles

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of journal, volume number(issue number), pages. http://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy

• You can also cite an article retrieved from a database as though you were citing a print journal, unless it is from an open-access journal that is only accessible online.
• APA 7th edition advises to use a DOI even when using a print source; unless no DOI is available. If no DOI
  is provided for a print journal article, simply omit it from the citation.
• When listing page numbers for articles, do not use p. or pp. unless the periodical is a newspaper.

Note:The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association states (p.192) that including database information in citations is not necessary because databases change over time. When referencing a print article obtained from an online database (such as a database in the library), provide appropriate print citation information. By providing this information, you allow people to retrieve the print version if they do not have access to the database from which you retrieved the article.

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)

Digital Object Identifier System - This is the website of the International DOI Foundation. If you are curious about DOIs for your citations, this page has a lot of helpful information.

Crossref - Free DOI lookup. If you have a citation but aren't sure whether the source has a corresponding DOI, this search can help.