When searching for scholarly articles, it's useful to try several different search strategies, such as the ones shown below. Subject terms can focus your search quickly and effectively, but also try using keywords within the Select-a-Field drop-down, especially when searching multiple databases at once.
Step 1: Start your search for scholarly articles in an article database such as APA PsycInfo or Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection.
Step 2: Search for one or more of the terms from your topic (e.g. the effects of divorce on adolescents), such as divorce.
Step 3: When searching for topics related to marriage and family, it can be helpful to limit to a subset of articles on those topics. To do that, type in 2950 or 3313 and change the drop-down menu to Classification. Doing so searches those areas in the PsycInfo Classification Codes (locate additional relevant categories on the Advanced Search page or on the APA website).
2950 Marriage & Family
3313 Group & Family Therapy
Step 4: Check the box for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals on the left under Source Types and click the Update button.
Step 5: On the left under Subject, browse and check boxes for terms related to your topic and Update. Some related terms here are divorce and marital separation. Selecting divorce here narrows your search to articles with divorce as the main concept being discussed.
Step 6: To search for the adolescents part of the topic, use the Age facet on the left to limit to adolescence (13-17 yrs).
Step 7: When you find a helpful article, look at the Cited References and Times Cited in this Database to find more articles on the same topic.
Step 8: Don't see the full text of the article? Click check for full text to link directly to the article or search Google Scholar to see if we have the journal full text in print or in another database. If we do not have full text access, Request via Interlibrary Loan and you'll receive it within about a week.
You can within specific journals two ways:
Step 1: Start a new search by clicking on Indexes at the top of the search screen.
Step 2: Select Source next to Browse an Index.
Step 3: Type in the name of a journal and click Browse.
Step 4: Check the box of the journal you need and select Add.
Step 5: If needed, repeat steps 3 and 4 to add more journals and click Search.
Step 6: Add keywords or subject terms from your topic and search as shown in the box above.
Click here to begin your search in APA PsycInfo with the journals listed below:
Psychotherapy Networker (search separately - not indexed in APA PsycInfo; full text access available through Seattle Public Library)
Search string for APA PsycInfo (for you to copy and paste into a search you've already begun):
(ZJ "journal of marital and family therapy") or (ZJ "journal of marriage and family counseling") or (ZJ "journal of marriage and family") or (ZJ "journal of marriage and the family") or (ZJ "marriage & family living") or (ZJ "living") or (ZJ "family process") or (ZJ "american journal of family therapy") or (ZJ "journal of family counseling") or (ZJ "journal of family law") or (ZJ "family relations: an interdisciplinary journal of applied family studies") or (ZJ "the coordinator") or (ZJ "contemporary family therapy: an international journal") or (ZJ "international journal of family therapy") or (ZJ "journal of family issues") or (ZJ "journal of systemic therapies") or (ZJ "journal of strategic & systemic therapies") or (ZJ "journal of family therapy") or (ZJ "journal of sex & marital therapy") or (ZJ "families, systems, & health") or (ZJ "family systems medicine") or (ZJ "journal of family psychology")