Skip to Main Content

PY 326: Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Search Research Literature

This guide provides an introduction to the psychology research literature.

Tutorials

View video tutorial for help finding research articles by topic.

Follow interactive tutorial for help finding research articles by topic.

Use screenshot tutorial (in right box) for help finding research articles by topic.

Find Research Articles by Topic

Starting with a topic and need help finding articles in academic journals?


Below are steps for searching the psychology literature by topic.

  • Pick topic to research
  • Think of search terms for topic
  • Go to library databases
  • Plug in search terms
  • Filter and look through results
  • Identify additional terms or ways to search
  • Save relevant and/or interesting results
  • Find articles and read them

STEPS 1 & 2:  Pick topic to research and think of search terms


By Melvin Vitug Moraga

  • Topic – work motivation
  • Search terms – motivation, work, employee, internal (intrinsic), external (extrinsic), behavior

STEPS 3 & 4:  Go to library databases and plug in search terms

  • Plug terms into box using strategies then click on search button

Basic Search – search for terms in all fields

 

Search Strategies

Boolean Operators – AND (find all terms to get fewer results [default]), OR (find any of terms to get more results), NOT (find first term but not second term)

Truncation & Wildcard Symbols – * (replace multiple characters anywhere in term), ? (replace one character inside or to right of term)

Proximity Operators – " " (find terms next to each other in order given [phrase]), NEAR/n (find terms in any order within specified number of words [default is 4]), PRE/n (find terms in order given within specified number of words [default is 4])

STEP 5:  Filter and look through results

  • Filter results using options on left side

Filters are available for full text, peer reviewed, source type, publication date, publication title, record type, subject, classification, age group, population, methodology, language, impact statements, location, test & measure, supplemental data, and target audience.

Source type and language should be used to filter results to articles in academic (or scholarly) journals written in English.

  • Look through results to find articles of interest

STEP 6:  Identify additional terms or ways to search

  • Click on title to view record for article of interest

  • Review title, abstract, and details to identify additional terms or ways to search

  • Plug terms into box using strategies then click on search button

Basic Search – search for terms in all fields

Advanced Search – enter terms into different boxes and/or search for terms in specific fields

STEP 7:  Save relevant and/or interesting results

  • Check select box in results

OR

Check add to selected items box in record

  • Click on folder icon to view selected items

STEP 8:  Find articles and read them

Determine if full-text of article is available in database.

  • Click on full-text PDF link in results

OR

Click on full-text PDF tab in record

 

Determine if full-text of article is available in other resources subscribed to by UAB Libraries using linker.

  • Click on article linker in results

OR

Click on article linker in record

  • Click on links under view it if full-text is available

  • Click on PDF icon to view full-text of article

 

Request full-text of article from another library using interlibrary loan.

  • Click on request article from Sterne Library link in get it box

  • Create ILL account by logging in with BlazerID and password

  • Complete and submit request journal article form