Subject Guides: Research Psychology: Find Journal Articles

Databases/PsycInfo video tutorial (9:15)

Research Psychology Databases

All Article and Research Databases

Core Resources:

APA PsycInfo
This comprehensive research-based psychology database is produced by the American Psychological Association and indexes journal articles, books, chapters, and dissertations from 1887 to the present. It focuses on peer-reviewed literature in behavior science and mental health.
Google Scholar
This search engine searches for scholarly research across many disciplines and sources. By starting your Google search from the SPU pages, the results will link to SPU-owned full-text.

Additional Resources:

(in alphabetical order)

APA PsycArticles
APA PsycArticles, a subset of APA PsycInfo, offers full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology. It contains articles from nearly 80 journals published by the American Psychological Association and its allied organizations.
APA PsycTests
provides access to psychological tests, measures, scales, surveys, and other assessments as well as descriptive information about the test and its development and administration.
Counseling and Therapy in Video
Counseling and Therapy in Video is an extensive online video collection related to the fields of social work, psychotherapy, psychology, and psychiatric counseling.

DSM-5 Library
Available electronically in person at the University of Washington.
Includes access to DSM-5®, DSM-5® Handbook of Differential Diagnosis, DSM-5® Clinical Cases, and Guía de consulta de los criterios diagnósticos del DSM-5®.
*some DSM-5 related eBooks (e.g. Anxiety Disorders) are available through the SPU Library.

MEDLINE
MEDLINE covers all areas of healthcare, including medicine, dentistry, nursing, psychiatry, and nutrition.
Mental Measurements Yearbook and Tests in Print Internacional
contains full-text information about and reviews of all English-language standardized tests covering educational skills, personality, vocational aptitude, psychology, and related areas.
Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection
focuses on emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry & psychology, mental processes, and anthropology. With full text for nearly 400 journals, its content overlaps significantly with PsycINFO.

Search for Articles

Step 1: Start your search for scholarly articles in an article database such as Academic Search Complete or APA PsycInfo.

Step 2: Search for one or more of the terms from your topic, such as human trafficking.

Step 3: Check the box for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals on the left under Limit To and update dates if desired.

Step 4: On the left under Subject: Thesaurus Term, browse and check boxes for terms related to your topic and Update.

Or browse the results looking for related subject term that can focus your search.

Finding a subject term will help you to quickly locate articles that are all about your topic, rather than ones that just mention it.

Step 5: Click the title of the article to skim the abstract and save/email/print articles you find helpful.

Then search again using new subject terms or keywords you've found.

Search for a specific article

There are two main ways to search for access to a specific article (other than using the "check for full text" link within a database) - searching SPU Primo by journal title or Google Scholar by article title. For other options to access the full-text, see Finding the Full Text.

Search SPU Primo by journal title:

Step 1: Type in the journal title in the SPU Primo search box and click search.

Step 2: Scan the result list for the journal. There may be more than one record if we have access in print or microfilm as well as online.

Step 3: Click Online Access for full text or click Check Holdings or the journal title to verify that the year of the article you need is available through the database options. In this case, the most recent year is not available online.

If there is no online access, click on Get It to view print holdings and access the article on the lower level of the library.

Step 4: Choose a database with access. Then either browse by issue or search within the publication to find the article you need.

Search Google Scholar by article title:

This option can be faster, as long as all the links work correctly. Make sure you are either searching from on-campus or using the link above so that it links to SPU databases.

Step 1: Copy and paste the article title into the Google Scholar search box and click search.

Step 2: If SPU has access, there will be a link on the right side. There may be access to the article in other ways as well.

Step 3: After clicking on Full-Text@SPU Library, select any one of the options listed to access the full article.