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Psychology

Overview of library resources for psychology.

Students working on laptops in mezzanine.Forming your Search String

The more complicated your question, the less likely a search engine can understand it. To get the best result, identify keywords and like terms to create a search string.

Example research question: How does video gaming impact interpersonal relationships in teenagers?

Keywords: Video gaming, interpersonal relationships, teenagers

Like terms can include synonyms and also examples of your keywords. If you don't get results from searching your keywords, it doesn't mean that the research doesn't exist. It could mean that the researcher used different language to describe the same topic

  • Video gaming: Xbox, MMORPG, computer game
  • Interpersonal relationships: friendship, dating
  • Teenagers: High schooler, adolescent, young adult

Search strings connect your keywords and like terms together for the best results.

Too many results? Use AND to narrow results

video gaming AND interpersonal relationships AND teenagers

Too few results? Use OR to broaden results

video gaming OR Xbox AND interpersonal relationships OR friendship AND teenagers OR adolescent

students reading in front of periodical display

Also known as peer-reviewed articles, scholarly articles are sources that are:

  • written by experts in the field
  • reviewed by other experts in the field (hence the peer-reviewed)
  • intended for an academic audience

While you can find scholarly articles through general search engines, databases contain a feature where you can narrow your results to only scholarly articles.

Find Subject-Specific Articles:

Find Articles in Multidisciplinary Databases:

Student thumbing through a book in front of library stacks

Books and eBooks often provide a broader overview and cover more information than a scholarly journal article.

You don't need to read an entire book to use it in your research. Use the index at the back of a book to find the information you need.

To find books and eBooks, you can either:

  • Search the NOBLE catalog
  • Browse the stacks for a book related to your topic

If you want to browse the shelves, most related call numbers begin with BF.

BF 1-990 Psychology
BF 1001-1389 Parapsychology
BF 1404-2055 Occult Sciences

Check out the Materials Location Guide for more information on where to find materials in Jenks Library.

If you find an article or book that you can't access, don't pay for it! Instead, submit an Interlibrary Loan request, and you'll receive articles within a few days!

Are you looking for a specific article, like an article that you found referenced in a bibliography? Search for the journal in Journal Finder, linked below: