LibGuides: Psychology: PSY 2010

Top Tips for PSY 2010

Select a topic you're interested in.
Be flexible with search terms- look in textbooks, Wikipedia, subject headings, or articles you already have to find the language researchers are using to describe your topic.
Be persistent with your searching- keep trying, but also...
Ask for help if you're getting stuck! Reach out to a librarian, your instructor, or your classmates.
Read the abstract before committing to reading an entire research article.
Take lots of notes!
APA Style takes practice. Use database "draft" citations as a guide, but ensure you know how to locate errors.
Have fun! You're exploring something new and will get to "connect the dots" between existing research for your readers!

Key takeaways from the Psi Chi webinar "So You Need to Write a Literature Review"
Review 15 takeaways from a webinar on writing literature review. Includes helpful search ideas, like how to turn a geographical location into a search term.

Search tips from the "Key takeaways from the Psi Chi webinar How to write a literature review" blog post linked above:

Idea	Keywords
Personal characteristics	Age, disability status, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status
Setting	School, work, home, hospital, online
Location	Rural, urban, suburban region, nation
Variable studied	Mental or physical health diagnosis

PSY 2010 Library Research Videos
Some are OUTDATED- NEW VERSIONS COMING SOON (August 2024). This playlist of videos walks viewers through a library research presentation from Spring 2021.
APA Student Paper Guide
This document walks you through "student paper" considerations, directly from APA.
APA Style and Grammar Guidelines
APA Style now offers a large amount of content on their website, including in-text citation guidelines, Reference examples, sample papers, and more. It's a great option to supplement the APA Style Guide 7th Edition.

Use this handout as a way to take notes while reading a scholarly article!

What to look for in each section of an article
This worksheet walks you through what to look for in each section of a scholarly article.

APA Style Research Article Activity
Similar to the other article worksheet, this one comes from the APA.

Stuck on writing a research question? Try to answer some of the following questions, which may give you a stronger focus or direction.

Is there a specific group of people who are affected by this topic? (Does the group of people most affected have a voice in policy, research, or other changes that could be made? Who does have the power?)
Who might be invested in researching this topic? Are there other disciplines or majors that would also be interested in this topic/question (political science, criminal justice, psychology, etc.)?

Are you familiar with the basic concepts and background of your topic/question?
Are there different positions or perspectives on this topic? What proof do the different sides offer?

How long has this been an issue/ problem/ concern/ occurrence?
When will information need to be published to be of value to your topic/question? When has it been studied in the past?

Is there a specific geography or location that applies to this topic/question?
Where can you look (Google, library sources, professional organizations, local government or groups, etc.) for more information?

What makes this topic/question worth exploring? What are the implications of finding an explanation/answer/ solution?
Why are you personally interested in this topic/question?
Why have others researched this topic/question?

How do you know what you already know about the topic? Personal experience, books, classes, magazines, social media, etc.?
How does this topic/question fit in to a larger context?
How might others have researched this topic before?