Psychology

This page will help you get more out of your Library resources for your assignments, projects and dissertations in Psychology

Reading Lists

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Independent Research - getting started

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How to identify different sources of information and links to useful books and ebooks.

Creating a search strategy

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Independent Research - beyond the basics

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• Developing advanced search strategies

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How to search systematically for literature. From the initial stages of understanding your vocabulary to using advanced features in databases.

 

• Databases

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• CINAHL 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

What:

  • CINAHL (the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) contain journal article abstracts with links to the full-text where available

Why:

  • Locate articles from the nursing and allied health subjects

How:

  • Keyword and Thesaurus searching with ability to refine results by date, peer reviewed, age, gender, author, language
  • Cited reference search and links
  • Help pages available
  • This database is available to search on its own from the link above, plus you will find Cinahl results when searching Discovery

Using CINAHL/MeSH Subject Headings 

 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

A major criminology abstracting service.

What

  • A variant of Google that searches for academic literature

Why

  • Provides access to articles, books, conference papers and preprints
  • Links to Full-text @ Portsmouth where available when settings are applied

How

  • Simple or advanced searching allowing refinement by date, author etc
  • A Library Guide to this resource is available

• Medline 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

What

  • Medline contain journal article abstracts with links to the full-text where available

Why

  • Subjects covered include veterinary medicine, pharmacy, allied health, and pre-clinical sciences. Plus life sciences, including some aspects of biology, marine biology, plant and animal science as well as biophysics and chemistry.

How

  • Keyword and Thesaurus searching with ability to refine results by date, article type, age, gender, author, language
  • Help pages available
  • This database is available to search on its own from the link above, plus you will find Medline results when searching Discovery.

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

What:

  • PDF Full text access to journal articles from the America Psychological Association
  • Articles dating from 1894-present

Why:

  • Find and access subject related articles for assignments, presentations and dissertations

How:

  • Keyword and Thesaurus searching with ability to refine results by date, document type, age, gender, author, language
  • Help pages available
  • This database is available to search on its own from the link above, plus you will find PsycArticle articles when searching Discovery.

• PsycInfo 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

What:

  • PsycInfo contain journal article abstracts with links to the full-text where available

Why:

  • Locate articles from the psychological, social, behavioural, and health sciences subject areas. Useful for those looking for materials related to psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work

How:

  • Keyword and Thesaurus searching with ability to refine results by date, peer reviewed, age, gender, author, language
  • Cited reference search and links
  • Help pages available
  • This database is available to search on its own from the link above, plus you will find PsycArticle articles when searching Discovery

• PubMed 

PubMed comprises millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher websites

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

ScienceDirect's extensive and unique full text database covers authoritative titles from the core scientific literature, published by Elsevier. More than 2,500 journals and more than nine million full-text articles are available in ScienceDirect providing access to the physical sciences and engineering life sciences. This resource is also available through the Discovery service. A Science Direct Advanced Search guide video is available.

• Scopus 

• SocINDEX 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

A key source for tracking down articles across the social sciences. This database is available on the EBSCO platform allowing you to search this database alongside others within Discovery.

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

Additional access instructions:

For off campus access use this link

 

To search databases systematically you must first consider the vocabulary you are using and how you combine your search terms. This Applying a search strategy library guide will help you in this process, or if you prefer to use mind mapping techniques this Choosing keywords guide may also help you.

Having decided upon your search terms you will need to use the advanced search screens of Discovery or your preferred databases to conduct your search. In some cases you may wish to use the search history function to develop a systematic search strategy. Advanced search strategies require you to utilize boolean operators. 

The University Library also provides access to a large range of resources to help you to develop your research skills. This includes the Sage Research Methods package.

• Websites and professional organisations

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• Statistics

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Links to databases and online sources of statistics

• Newspapers

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• Audio visual resources

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• Learning Resources

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• Research Methods

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Referencing

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Guidance and support for referencing in APA7 and links to information on reference management software

Your Subject Team

 Hannah Britcher

Faculty Librarian

email hannah.britcher@port.ac.uk

 Marie Smith

Assistant Faculty Librarian

email Marie.smith@port.ac.uk