PY 326: Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Research Literature

Publisher packages are content platforms for finding research articles in academic journals.

Advantages

• Quicker process for finding full-text articles
• Contains subset of literature covered in library databases

Disadvantages

• Cover one publisher so not as comprehensive as library databases
• Search interface is not as sophisticated as library databases

When to Use

• Unable to find full-text for articles in library databases
• Information overload from too many results in library databases

Search engines are computerized tools for finding research articles in academic journals available on the web.

Advantages

• Federated search for publisher packages
• Sophisticated search algorithm making it easier to find results
• Broader search than library databases

Disadvantages

• Requires sources to be evaluated since anyone can post information on the web
• Includes sources not appropriate for academic research
• Retrieves many results in all subject areas with only a few limiters
• Not comprehensive since it only retrieves articles available on the web

When to Use

• Preliminary step to research topic and identify keywords to use in library databases
• Second opinion when library databases are not producing results
• Final check for relevant sources not retrieved using library databases

Below are recommended resources for finding psychology research literature in related disciplines.

• ABI/INFORM Collection

Database covering research articles in business journals

• Business Source Premier

Database covering research articles in business journals

• CINAHL

Database covering research articles in nursing and allied health journals

• Communication & Mass Media Complete

Database covering research articles in communication studies journals

• Criminal Justice Database

Database covering research articles in criminology and criminal justice journals

• Education Full Text

Database covering research articles in education journals

• ERIC

Database covering research articles in education journals

• PubMed

Database covering research articles in biomedicine journals

• Science Direct

Platform for research articles in social, health, life, and physical science journals published by Elsevier

• Scopus

Database covering research articles in science and technology journals

• SPORTDiscus

Database covering research articles in sports medicine and physical education journals

• Wiley Online Library

Platform for research articles in social, health, life, and physical science journals published by Wiley

Google Scholar may be used to find psychology research literature.  It should be used with caution since it includes sources not appropriate for academic research.

Tips for Identifying Articles in Academic Journals

• Look for results from academic publishers

American Psychological Association (APA), Elsevier, Emerald, Oxford University Press (OUP), Sage, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, and Wolters Kluwer (LWW)

• Customize results to find full-text through UAB Libraries (see Google Scholar tab)