Hewes Library: Psychology: Scholarly Articles

What is a Database?

A database is a collection of records. The records represent articles, chapters, or documents originally published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books or other sources. Some databases include the full text of the record.

How to find the full text:

1. Use the "Find This Item" button in the database to search all Monmouth College Library resources for the full text.

2. If the Article Linker does not lead to full text, you may use the link provided on that same page to place an Interlibrary Loan request. The digital copy of the article will be obtained from another library and emailed to you.

Databases for Psychology Research

PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
APA's renowned resource is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health.

Coverage: Over 3 million records are searched, covering the 20th and 21st centuries of scholarly international literature

What will I find? Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations

Full text: partial. Articles not available full text via PsycInfo may be obtained via interlibrary loan (ILLiad). See box at left for ILLiad FAQ. Books may be obtained via I-Share (I-Share FAQ)

PsycInfo Instructional Videos Explore the many expert search methods with these helpful videos produced by the the American Psychological Association
PsycInfo Quick Reference Guide (pdf) 3-page quick search guide
PsycInfo Citation Fields - Explained Explains the fields of a PsycInfo citation. Also in pdf format
PsycInfo Methodology Fields - Explained Definitions of research methods used in social science research. PsycInfo allows limiting to this field to find literature using a specific research method.

Use the Subject menu to explore additional resources in Health & Medicine, Kinesiology and Sociology (to name a few!)

Databases by Subject
Library databases grouped by Subject Area

Keyword (All Text) Searching

perception and (“ideal body” or “ideal shape” or “perfect body”)

schizophrenia and “sex differences”

stress and student* and (college* or universit*)

Subject Searching

Subject terms are words used to describe the main subject of the article/book. Using these terms help you find more relevant literature on a topic. Utilize the PsycInfo Thesaurus (see explanatory video) and notice subject terms in relevant articles.

MEDLINE This link opens in a new window
Indexes over 19,000 sources in life sciences, including international medical, dental and nursing journals. Originated at the National Library of Medicine. Coverage: since 1946. Updated daily. Freely available version at PubMed.

Boolean operators (connector words) such as AND, OR, and NOT, create phrases based on rules of search logic.

Operator	Examples	Results
AND	business AND ethics	Retrieves records that contain ALL of the search terms.
OR	hotels OR motels	Retrieves records that contain ANY of the search terms, but does not necessarily include all of them.
NOT	java NOT coffee	Excludes records containing the second search term.

Truncation
The “ * ” replaces any number of characters and will find all forms of a word root.

child* LOCATES child, children, childhood
therap* LOCATES therapy, therapies, therapist, therapists, therapeutic, therapeutically

Wildcard
Note: symbols used may differ based on the tool used. Consult the help documentation.

Wildcard " # " replaces any extra characters that may appear in alternative spellings.

colo#r LOCATES color, colour

Wildcard " ? ” replaces one character

ne?t LOCATES neat, nest, or next, but will not find net