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Psychology Research

Finding Journal Articles

Journals are the primary source for research findings in the field.  Faculty and other researchers write articles highlighting their research and present their methodology and findings.  Most psychology research journals are peer-reviewed, which means that before publication the articles are accepted they are reviewed by other researchers to validate the quality of the study and results.  Searching the databases here will lead you to the primary research in the field.

PsycInfo (APA PsycInfo)
This database contains more than one million citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations and technical reports, all in the field of psychology.  Use the FINDIt@FresnoState link to retrieve the text of the article.
 
PsycArticles (APA PsycArticles)
Provides full text articles from every APA Journal from first publication in 1894  to the present. Includes more than 25,000 full-text articles from 42 journals published by American Psychological Association and allied organizations. All journals included in this database are indexed in PsycINFO.
 
PubMed
PubMed comprises more than 27 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. Excellent source for neuroscience and clinical topics.
 
Web of Science
Web of Science Core Collection indexes a collection of over 21,000 peer-reviewed, high-quality scholarly journals published worldwide (including Open Access journals) in over 250 science, social sciences, and humanities disciplines. Conference proceedings and book data are also available. Web of Science also has a Cited Reference Search to find sources that have cited a published work.
 
Google Scholar (with Fresno State library access links)
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Upon following the link to Google Scholar below, you'll be presented with the option to associate your Google Scholar session with Fresno State library access links. Please SAVE these settings before continuing to use Google Scholar. Doing so will ensure that you're provided with Fresno State library access links when using this resource from off campus.
 
Education Research Complete 
Full-text coverage of scholarly research in all areas of education, including curriculum instruction, administration, policy, funding and related social issues. Topics covered include all levels of education from early childhood to higher education and all educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education and testing.
 
Comparing Characteristics of Journals/Magazines

CRITERIA

SCHOLARLY JOURNALS

POPULAR MAGAZINES

TRADE PUBLICATIONS

AUTHOR

Expert (scholar, professor, researcher, etc.) in field covered. Author is always named.

Journalist; nonprofessional or layperson. Sometimes author is not named.

Business or industry representative. Sometimes author is not named.

NOTES

Includes notes and/or bibliographic references.

Few or no notes or bibliographic references.

Few or no notes or bibliographic references.

CONTENTS

Research articles (methodology, theory) from the field.

Current events; general interest.

Business or industry information (trends, products, techniques).

STYLE

Written for experts using technical language.

Journalistic; written for nonprofessionals.

Written for people in the business or industry using technical language.

AUDIENCE

Scholars or researchers in the field.

General public.

People in the business or industry.

REVIEW

Usually reviewed by peer scholars (referees) not employed by the journal.

Reviewed by one or more editors employed by the magazine.

Reviewed by one or more editors employed by the magazine.

APPEARANCE

Plain; mostly print, sometimes with figures, tables, graphs and/or charts.

Glossy, with many pictures in color.

Glossy, with many pictures in color.

ADS

Few or none; if any, usually for books or other professional materials.

Many, often in color.

Some, often in color.

FREQUENCY

Usually monthly or quarterly.

Usually weekly or monthly.

Usually weekly or monthly.

EXAMPLES

Developmental Psychology (published by the American Psychological Association).

Psychology Today (commercially published).

Monitor on Psychology (published by the American Psychological Association

Finding Books

Books in the Fresno State Library

The library has a large collection of books on Psychology and you can find them through the Onesearch box on the library home page.   When you do your search, make sure that you select the "Books & Media" option.   We have many ebooks in psychology and we try to buy the ebook version whenever we get new titles.  Ebooks are identical to the print version, but are always available and can never be checked out.

We use the Library of Congress classification for our print books, most of which are on the lower level.  There is not one single area that has all of the Psychology books.  The list below shows the general call numbers used for Psychology.  If you want to browse you can go to these sections, but it is usually better to search the catalog if you need a specific book or books on a subject.

  • BF   Psychology, Parapsychology, Occult Sciences
  • BF176-176.5    Psychological Tests and Testing.
  • BF180-198.7    Experimental Psychology.
  • BF203              Gestalt Psychology.
  • BF231-299       Sensations. Aesthesiology.
  • BF309-499       Consciousness. Cognition.
  • BF501-505       Motivation.
  • BF511-593       Affection. Feeling. Emotion.
  • BF608-635       Will. Volition. Choice. Control.
  • BF636-637       Applied Psychology.
  • BF660-685       Comparative Psychology. Animal and Human Psychology.
  • BF692-692.5    Psychology of Sex. Sexual Behavior.
  • BF697-697.5    Differential Psychology. Individuality. Self.
  • BF698-698.5    Personality.
  • BF699-711       Genetic Psychology.
  • BF712-724.85  Developmental Psychology.
  • BF1001-1389   Parapsychology.
  • H   Social Sciences
  • HF5548.7-5548.85    Industrial Psychology.
  • HM1001-1281      Social psychology.
  • HV6035-6197      Criminal anthropology.
  • L   Education
  • LB1050.9-1091   Educational psychology.
  • Q   Science
  • QP351-495     Neurophysiology and neuropsychology.
  • R   Medicine
  • RC321-571      Neurosciences. Biological Psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry.
  • RC435-571      Psychiatry.
  • RC475-489      Therapeutics. Psychotherapy.
  • RC500-510      Psychoanalysis.
  • RC512-569.5   Psychopathology.
  • RJ499-507       Child psychiatry

 

Books from Other Libraries

While the Library has a lot of books, we certainly do not have everything.  If you need a book that is not in our collection or that is already checked out to someone else, follow these steps:

Use CSU+

All of the CSU campus libraries are linked and you can easily order books from any campus through the catalog.  Repeat the search that you did and change the limit to All CSU Libraries (CSU+)   If the book is available at another campus, log in and request it.  Books usually arrive in 1-2 days no matter which campus they are housed at.

Use Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Interlibrary loan is an international network of libraries who share materials with each other.  You can request pretty much anything through interlibrary loan and we will try and get it for you.  It takes more time to get materials from interlibrary loan than from CSU+, but the range of available items is much wider.  Go to ILL at https://ill.lib.csufresno.edu/   You will have to log in and create your account the first time that you use it.

 

Help with Research Methods

SAGE Research Methods

SAGE Research Methods is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. SAGE Research Methods links over 175,000 pages of SAGE’s renowned book, journal and reference content with truly advanced search and discovery tools. Researchers can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more.  Psychology is one of the disciplines highlighted in this database.

There are also many Psychology research methods books in the library collection, some as print books and most as ebooks.  Use this link to see a current list.  Search the catalog if you want more specific research methods.

 

Psychological Tests

Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print 

Measurements Yearbook™ (MMY) provides users with a comprehensive guide to over 2,000 contemporary testing instruments. Designed for an audience ranging from novice test consumers to experienced professionals, the MMY series contains information essential for a complete evaluation of test products within such diverse areas as psychology, education, business, and leadership. All MMY entries contain descriptive information (e.g., test purpose, publisher, pricing) and edited review(s) written by leading content area experts.

PsycTests (APA PsycTests) 

PsycTests is a research database that provides access to psychological tests, measures, scales, surveys, and other assessments as well as descriptive information about the test and its development and administration.

Locating and Using Surveys and Instruments

Citing Your Sources

APA 7th Edition

The 7th edition of the APA guide is now available at the library.  One copy is held at the Research Help Desk -- just ask at the desk to see it. 

APA 7th Edition handout

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association: the official guide to APA style.
Call number: BF76.7 .P83 2020