Articles
Locating journal articles in Psychology

  INFOTRAC
·          From the library home page http://www.tridenttech.edu/library.htm or the menu bar above 
      select the online databases link. To access the online databases  while off 
      campus click here. 

·          Select the Database best suitable for your search.  Most Databases work similarly.  For 
       journal articles in Psychology a good one to start with is Infotrac - Expanded Academic
       ASAP.  To view an online tutorial (powerpoint presentation) on "Using Infotrac to find 
       articles in Psychology" click here.

·          Use Subject Guide Search for broad topics (ex: 1 or 2 word searches).  You will be
       able to narrow down by subdivision the results within indexed categories.

·          Use Keyword Search to specify words you want the resulting articles to obtain.  
      Select one of the buttons to search for keywords either in title, citation, abstract or in
      entire article content. 

 LIMITING THE SEARCH (OPTIONAL BUT VERY GOOD FEATURE TO USE)

Full Text - Check the box if you only want to retrieve articles that contain the entire full text within the database available immediately on the computer. (Remember, articles that aren't full text may still be available in hard copy at Trident or a surrounding library in the Charleston Area (i.e. MUSC).  If at another library, the article can be obtained for you by Trident's library through our Interlibrary Loan Agreement with other libraries. 

By Date - If needed, Specify a date or date range.  (ex: 1999-2002, since 9/11/2001, 2/1/2002 on)

By Journal - You can  select up to 10 journals to be searched at one time by using the browse key, selecting the journals, and clicking the submit selections button. This feature would allow you to tell Infotrac to only search certain journals.  There are several scholarly journals available dealing with issues in Psychology (i.e. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, The American Psychologist) Remember, magazines like: Time, Newsweek, Psychology Today, etc. are NOT scholarly journals.

Refereed publications -  Refereed journals are those in which articles, before they are published, must be reviewed by a body of peers or experts in the same field as the writer.  You may consider refereed articles more reliable or credible. 

 Citing Articles in Infotrac

When citing material obtained by searching a database, follow the format appropriate to the work retrieved and add a retrieval statement that gives the date of retrieval and the proper name of the database.

Example using APA style format.

Hinshaw, Stephen. (2002). Process, mechanism, and explanation related to externalizing behavior in developmental psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 431-446. Retrieved May 6, 2003, from Expanded Academic ASAP database. 

For additional information on APA citations see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition located in the Reference section of the library( REF) or visit the Association's online assistance at http://www.apastyle.org/

More Resources

The Research link from the library’s web page provides resources such as an APA citation guide, web site evaluation guide, and statistical information.  You will also find specific course resource pages and subject guides.