= Research Methods =

Psychology 2100

Print Sources  -  Databases  -  Online Catalog  -  APA Format

General Reference

The following is a brief sampling of general sources in psychology.  Browse the “BF” area of the reference section for more psychology sources.

Pashler.  Stevens’ Handbook of Experimental Psychology.  2002. (4 volumes).  REF  BF181  H336 

These four volumes outline major topics in experimental psychology in well-organized chapters.  Look at the end of each chapter for detailed bibliographies.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV.  2000.  REF RC455.2  C4  D54

This standard manual classifies, defines, and names the basic mental disorders as recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.  Individual disorders are broken down into categories such as anxiety or mood disorders.  Be sure to use the most current edition as psychological terms and research change quickly.

Kazdin.  Encyclopedia of Psychology.  2000.  (8 volumes)  REF BF31 E52

Bibliographies and Reviews

Bibliographic Guide to Psychology.  Annual.  REF121 . N48

This is a bibliography of both books and articles arranged alphabetically by topic.  It is especially useful to find recent publications on your topic.

Annual Review of Psychology  BF30  .A56

These volumes are shelved in the circulating collection and provide a solid overview of current research in the field.

Databases

PsycINFO provides indexing and abstracts for over one million articles in 1,700 journals. A limited number of these articles have links to full-text.  PsycArticles which provides full-text articles on current issues in psychology from 1988 to the present.  It includes more than 25,000 full-text articles from 42 journals published by the American Psychological Association and allied organizations.   

• Go to the library website at www.northpark.edu/library/

• Click on Databases/Articles.

• Choose Databases A-Z or Databases by Subject, and select PsycInfo.

• At this point, you will be in the list of Ebsco databases.  Click on PsycArticles.  Click “Continue” to enter and search both databases.

• Enter a search term in the Find box, and click on search.

• To look at the full citation or article, click on one of the titles in the results list.

  • The results will tell you if North Park has the cited journal, but you can all restrict your search to North Park holdings from the main search screen.

  • Some citations will say “checked linked full-text sources,” which allows you to read the complete article via another Ebsco database.  Click on the link to access the article.

  • You can print or email your results to yourself or others.

Search Tips

• If your results list is too long, go back to the search screen and add more keywords, or use fewer or different terms if you do not find enough.
• Expert Search allows you to combine terms in different fields and narrow your search to a specific journal type, or age group, or other category. 
• For most of your research, you will want to read journal articles only.  When doing an “expert search” you can select “journal article” as the publication type to narrow your search.

Online Catalog

Click here to find books, films and other resources in North Park’s library.  This will also allow you to search other Illinois library catalogs and order interlibrary loan items.

APA Style

When citing sources for a psychology course, remember to use APA format at all times.  Refer to a current Manual of the American Psychological Association when creating footnotes or a bibliography.   The following are examples of

Journal:

Bennett, D.J.,  & Warren, W. (2002).  Size scaling: Retinal or environmental frame of

reference?  Perception & Psychophysics, 64(3), 462-477.

Book:

Zillmann, D. & Vorderer, P.  (Eds.).  (2000).  Media entertainment : the psychology of its appeal. 

            Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associate.

Websites:

For instructions on citing websites click here for directions from APA:

http://www.apastyle.org/elecsource.html#88

For more citation information:

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (REF LB2369 .P9 2001)