Research Guides: Psychology Research Guide: Getting Started

Starting out: search terms

Below are examples of how you can combine search terms and narrow your query. Your search terms can be broad to gain an overview of a topic or narrow for more specific results. A broad term would be mood disorder, which would return a large number of hits for disorders that fall under this general umbrella. A more narrow term would be bipolar disorder, which is a specific mood disorder. Such terms can be used on their own or combined with others to discover topics that may interest you. For example, use two phrases in an advanced search to narrow your results: mood disorder AND cognitive behavioral therapy will provide a list of articles discussing the various issues surrounding the treatment of mood disorders using cognitive behavioral therapy.

If you find far too many search results even after combining search terms, try altering and/or adding some terms. In the example above, I found over 74,187 results- but when I changed my search and added a third phrase (mood disorder AND cognitive behavioral therapy AND recovery), I narrowed my results to 20,458.

Picking a Topic

Picking Your Topic IS Research
For an illustration of what this all means, watch this short (3 min) video about how choosing a topic is part of the research process. [Created by NCSU]

Journals in Your Subject

If you aren't sure about what you would like to research or where you should be looking for research that is relevant to your field, browsing journals is a great way to start narrowing down what you are interested in and finding valuable research. Below is a list of selected journals that we have at HSU. Part of developing and expanding your knowledge about your field is reading the scholarly literature. Try finding a few journals that are relevant to your interests and read them to keep up with new scholarship! You can search for a specific journal title using the Journal Finder here. Enter the journal name and select the "Contains" radio button.

American Psychologist

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology

Developmental Psychology

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Journal of Counseling Psychology

Journal of Rural Mental Health

School Psychology Quarterly

Psychology Journals at Cal Poly Humboldt
Here is a listing of journals on the subject of Psychology available at Cal Poly Humboldt.
American Psychological Association Journals
Here is list of journals published by the APA that you might find interesting and useful. Try searching for some of these journals in the journal finder.
Open Access Psychology Journals
This is a list of peer-reviewed journals that are free and accessible to all on the subject of Psychology.
Journals in Behavioral Science and Counselling
Here is a listing of journals on the subject of Behavioral Science and Counselling available at HSU.