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PSYC / CRJ 440: Abnormal Psychology

Research Guide for PSYC/CRJ 440/540

Access Library Resources Online

Trying to access library resources online? Follow the instructions on the Online Access to Library Resources page to access library databases, articles, and ebooks, both on-campus and off-campus.

PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES

Use the Search FAQs below to help you find relevant articles in this PsycINFO & PsycARTICLES search box:

Search PsycINFO & PsycARTICLES

Search FAQs

1. How do I search for articles about the disorders I diagnosed?

  • 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, factors, effects, effective, or causes are not used as tags
  • Example disorder: conduct disorder
    • Search: "conduct disorder" 
    • Put a phrase in quotation marks to search for its words together, not as separate words
      • "conduct disorder" searches for conduct disorder as a phrase, not separate words

2. I have too many irrelevant search hits. How do I focus them?

  • Use Refine Results on the sidebar of your search hits to focus them to sources more relevant to your assignment needs
  • You can focus your search hits to:
    • Academic Journals to focus to articles from peer-reviewed journals
    • publication date, so you get the most current research 
    • Subject: focus to the specific aspects of the disorder you need for your paper, like diagnosis or risk factors
  • Example: for your research paper, you are supposed to use scientific 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 2000 to present
      • under Subject, click on Show More and select risk factors 

3. How do I focus my search hits to specific risk factors or symptoms depicted in the film? 

  • Add the symptom or risk factor to your search words using AND
    • AND searches for articles tagged with all of the words/phrases that AND combines
  • Example: How does family life impact the conduct disorder?
    • Search: "conduct disorder" AND famil*
      • *famil searches for family and families

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 list of search hits includes articles tagged with Family and articles tagged with Parent. They are used interchangeably.
    • Add Famil* or Parent* to your search to get articles that are tagged with either 
  • 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 articles that cite an article I've chosen?

  • 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

6. I can't find anything on my disorder. What should I do?

  • The search words you're using to describe your disorder 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
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