The PsycINFO Database Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to:

How to Access the PsycINFO Database:

  1. Go to the Pfau Library website (www.lib.csusb.edu)
  2. Under on the Databases button, choose the "Databases by Subject" link.
  3. From the menu of subjects, scroll down to "Psychology" and select it. Then click the "Go" button.
  4. PsycINFO is the first database on the list, under "Best Starting Points."

Using PsycINFO's Basic Search:

Although PsycINFO looks just like the EBSCOhost Academic database, it is very different. EBSCOhost Academic is a general database covering a wide range of subjects, but PsycINFO specializes in the area of psychology.

Mark the box labeled "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" to find only scholarly journal articles on your topic.

In the box labeled  "Find," enter a search using the command "and" between your keywords. Example: working mothers and guilt

From the list of results, click on the title of the article to see detailed information about it, including an "abstract" or summary. On the detailed screen, it's easy to find all the elements of the complete citation for the article, including "Title," "Author," and "Source." The Source field is particularly important. It gives the title of the journal, the volume number, the issue number, and the pages. The "Abstract" is a very brief summary of the article. It allows you to decide if you want the article without having to read the whole thing. (You DO have to read the whole article if you use it in your paper or project!) Below the Abstract is the "Subjects" field. The subjects included in the article are listed here and may give you ideas for other keywords to try in your search.

Let's see if the library has this article. Click the "Search for Full Text" button. (If you use a screen reader, this button link will say, "Search for full text. A new window will open.") This will launch a search in a new window.

The new window screen tells me, "Full text available via Blackwell Synergy Journals." That means this article is available in another library database. Click on the database name or use the GO button to find it. (If you use a screen reader that reads only links, follow the link that is a database name, or the GO link immediately after it.)

This launches a separate search in another new window. You may need to resize the window to see the article. In this case, we need to follow one more link to get to the actual text of the article. We have two links to choose from: one for the "Full Text HTML" and one for the "Full Text PDF." Choosing either of these links will display full article.

Let's look for another one. Close the extra windows to return to your search. Let's try another article, from the third page of our results. The "Search for Full Text" indicates that there is no full-text online. We check the Pfau Library Catalog, to see if it's available in paper. We do get a matching journal title. This example article is from 1991, so we need to check the Location and Holdings information for the journal title, to make sure we have the right year. Yes! 1991 is here in the Bound Periodicals section on the Third Floor, so we can make a photocopy of it.

Once again, close the extra windows to return to your PsycINFO search.

Using the Advanced Search:

From the PsycINFO Basic Search screen, click the "Advanced Search" tab. Before entering a search, scroll down the page to change two settings. Under "Publication Type," select "Peer Reviewed Journal." Under "Methodology," select "Empirical Study." Go back to the "Find" boxes at the top of the page and enter your search. Now your search results will be limited to a special kind of scholarly journal article, an empirical study. These are very desirable for research. The process for choosing individual articles and determining if the library has them or not is the same as for the basic search.

The End.

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