Check out the library's self-paced tutorial How do I search library databases? to learn the basics of database searches.
1. How do I search for articles about my research question?
- Identify the keywords of your topic and use those as your search words.
- Each book and article has tags assigned to it, words or shorts phrases that make each book or article searchable
- You want your search words to match those tags
- Words like impact, benefits, effects, or causes are not used as tags
- Example topic: What causes eyewitnesses to make mistakes in cross-race identification?
- Search: eyewitness memory rac*
- rac* searches for race, races, racial, and racism
2. How do I search for my CogLab theory?
- Identify the main ideas of your topic and use those as your search words.
- Example CogLab experiment: experiment studying the Stroop Effect
- Search: "stroop effect"
- "stroop effect" in quotation marks searches for stroop effect as a phrase, not separate words
3. I have too many irrelevant search hits. How do I focus them to my assignment requirements?
- Use the Refine Results sidebar to the right of your search hits to focus them to sources more relevant to your assignment needs
- You can focus your search hits to:
- peer-reviewed or scholarly articles
- source type, such as journal articles, books, newspapers, or magazines
- publication date, so you get the most recent research
- Example: for your lab report, you are supposed to use research-based journal articles with up to date research
- Under Refine Results:
- check the box beside Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journals
- move the Publication Date scroll bar over to 2006 to present
- check the boxes beside Journals and Academic Journals under Source Types to find research-based articles
4. How do I know my search words match the tags assigned to articles about my research question?
- As you scroll through the search hits, look at the assigned Subjects (tags), and see if they match your search words
- Example: The articles about eyewitness identification are tagged with the Subject Witnesses
- Replace eyewitness with witnesses in your search
- New Search: witnesses and identification and rac*
- Subjects (tags) also help you identify the specific issues around your topic so you can give it direction and develop it into a focused research question.
5. How do I identify the areas to which my CogLab theory is applied? How do I focus the search hits to cognitive psychology or a more specific research area that interests me?
Under the Refine Results sidebar:
- Click on Subject: Major Heading or Subject to see a shortlist of specific subjects or research areas studied
- Click on Show More at the bottom of the shortlist list to open the full list of subjects or research areas studied
- Check the boxes beside the subjects or research areas to which you want to focus your search hits
- Click on Classification to see a shortlist of Psychology classifications studied
- Click on Show More at the bottom of the shortlist list to open the full list of psychology classifications studied
- Check the boxes beside Cognitive Psychology classifications to focus your search hits to Cognitive Psychology research areas
6. How do I identify Populations, Methodologies, and Tests used to assess my CogLab theory?
Under the Refine Results sidebar:
- click on Methodology to see a list of methodologies used
- click on Age, Gender, and Population to see a list of populations studied
- click on Tests & Measures to see a list of tests and measures used
7. How do I identify articles that cite an article I've chosen or that's in my CogLab list of articles?
Web of Science: use the Web of Science database to identify articles that cite your article:
- Enter your article title and select Title from the dropdown menu by the search box
- Look for Times Cited: # to the right of your search hits - click on the number to get a list of articles that have cited your article
- Click on Full Text from Publisher to read the article
8. I can't find anything on my research question. What do I do?
- The search words you're using to describe your topic may not match the tags that PsycINFO or PsycARTICLES has assigned to books and articles on your research question
- Use the PsycINFO Thesaurus to identify the words that PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES use to describe your disorders or topics
- There may not be research tying your main ideas together yet.
- Try searching for your main ideas separately and linking their findings together
- If you've found one article that's relevant for your topic, look through the sources in its References list to see if any of them are also relevant to your research
