In all academic disciplines there is one database that tries to index all the literature of that discipline. For psychology it is APA PsycINFO. Anyone doing serious and comprehensive research in psychology should start their research there.
Below are important facts about APA PsycINFO:
To do more effective searching, try using the "Thesaurus" to find official subject headings.
Click on the link below to start searching APA PsyINFO. You will need to first enter you Multipass username and password.
Facts about PsycARTICLES:
The subject headings from the PsycINFO Thesaurus work here also.
Click the link below to start searching PsycARTICLES. You will need to first enter you Multipass username and password.
Using the APA PsycINFO Thesaurus
To find the subject headings to use when searching PsycINFO, click on the "Thesaurus" tab at the top of the screen.
In the Thesaurus search box type your keyword for the concept for which you wish to search. Click the button in front of "Relevancy Ranked." This will cause the Thesaurus to not only display the correct subject heading for your concept, but also will retrieve other subject headings that may be used to retrieve related materials. Click "Browse" to run your search of the Thesaurus.
Scan the result list for the subject heading that best describes the concept you want to search for. If you need to see how PsycINFO defines a subject heading, click on it to be taken to a "scope note" (definition of what PsycINFO means by the subject heading).
To use the search term in a PsycINFO search, click on the Advanced Search link at the top of the screen under the Basic Search box.
On the Advanced Search screen, type your official subject heading in the search box. Then pull down the menu to the right of the search box and choose "DE Subjects [exact]." Then click "Search" to run a search that will retrieve all citations on the subject (or subjects) you have entered.
