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Best Research Methods Databases
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new windowAbstracts professional and scholarly psychology journals and book chapters, plus dissertations and technical reports. The coverage includes over 1300 journals in 27 languages from approximately 50 countries. 1887-present. Updated monthly.
- APA PsycBooks This link opens in a new windowProvides electronic access to thousands of scholarly and professional titles published by the American Psychological Association (APA), including recent titles in psychological and behavioral science, plus a substantial backfile of classic and historic works.
- APA PsycArticles This link opens in a new windowProvides access to more than 100 important journals in all subject areas relevant to psychology. Journals published by the American Psychological Association, the Canadian Psychological Association, and English language journals from Hogrefe Publishing are included. Most titles are covered from volume one to the present. Citations in PsycINFO have links to the full-text in PsycARTICLES.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary database providing access to more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. It also offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals. Covers a wide range of academic topics including business, education, social sciences, humanities, science, & engineering. Coverage varies, with some publications going back to 1911.
- OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowThis multi-disciplinary database provides the complete content - indexing, abstracts, and full text - from six of Wilson's full-text databases: Education Full Text, General Science Full Text, Humanities Full Text, Readers' Guide Full Text, Social Sciences Full Text, and Business Full Text. Full-text articles from five additional periodical databases are also included when available: Applied Science & Technology Full Text, Art Full Text, Biological & Agricultural Index, Index to Legal Periodicals & Books, and Library Literature & Information Science Full Text. Indexing begins in 1982, abstracts in 1984, and full-text coverage in 1994. Updated daily.
Search Techniques
Searching databases for journal articles is a bit more challenging than using tools such as Google Scholar. The good news is that you have a lot more control over how you design your search. This also means you should get better, more targeted results. A search for the question: What treatment options are recommended for families with adopted or foster children? could look like this.
You can use an asterisk at the end of a word to retrieve various endings. For example, adopt* will retrieve adopt or adoption.
Other search tips that are useful in searching APA PsycInfo, APA PsycArticles, and APA PsycBooks:
- Age Groups: Some age groups (e.g., teens) are easy to define in a search, but the age groups feature will be a life saver for other groups (e.g., middle age).
- Methodology: The most useful choices are:
- Empirical Study - reports the results of original research
- Literature Review - see if someone has already examined your topic. This can save time and also provide guidance on how to write a literature review.
- Thesaurus: If you are not sure about what terms to use, the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms is very helpful.
If the full-text of an article is not available in the database, click on the Find It @ SCU Libraries link to see if it's available elsewhere. If not, you can request the article via Interlibrary Loan. This is a free service and you will usually get the article in 1-2 business days. Never pay a publisher for an article!