PSYC 348 - Abnormal Psychology

Tutorial Assignment

Take this tutorial to learn some features of APA PsycINFO to make your searching more effective and efficient.

Psychology Databases

Citation Mining

Citation mining or searching is important because it allows you to trace research on a topic over time.  It allows you to enter into the "scholarly conversation" about a topic.   In the sciences and social sciences, science builds on the science of others.  

• Use the references in the back of an article to look at research that informs the research of an article in-hand.
• Use a citation database such as the Web of Science or the "cited by" link in Google Scholar to find research that was informed by the research of an article in-hand.

In Web of Science:

1. use the times cited to trace research forward. Who has used this research to build their own research?
2. look at the cited references to trace research backwards. What research did this researcher think was important?
3. select related records to find related research based on shared citations. Who is doing similar research?

How to Read a Scholarly Article

Other Resources

Reference Management

Free software programs are available to help you cite your sources as well as organize your research and citations.  Many of these programs provide the ability to cite while you write and generate your bibliography in any number of citation formats.

Zotero is frequently used by PsyD students for organizing their citations and research when writing their dissertation.