Find Databases
As a student in Psychology, you have access to specialized databases which include respected journals and search tools specifically for your field. You can access these databases from anywhere!
- To access the databases, go to the University Libraries Homepage
- Select Databases under 'Popular Services and Resources'
- To find a databases specific to psychology, choose Psychology in the All Subjects drop-down menu
- Or, click on one of the letters to find a database by name
Search Tips for Databases
As a psychology student, you have two highly specialized databases that will be important for your research: APA PsycInfo and PsycArticles. Watch the two videos below to see examples of how to use these databases to find research articles.
Step 1: Find an Empirical Research Article: Psychology (Video)
Step 2: Advanced Search Skills: Psychology (Video)
Quick search tips:
- You may have to run several searches using different keywords before finding the results you need. This is totally normal!
- Narrow your results - most database results page will have limiters like 'publication date' and 'item type' on the left hand side of the page
- If your search results include subjects listed under the item title and publication information, use those subjects! Sometimes you will find a new term that you can use as a keyword in your search.
MultiLink
Have you seen this button?
If so, hopefully you have clicked on it! The Find It @ BALL STATE button will appear when the database you are searching does not have the full text of an article, but another BSU database may hold the full text. Find It @ BALL STATE searches all BSU databases for the material you need. It's always worth clicking!
Find and Browse Journals
Journal Search
This library resource allows you to:
- Search for a particular journal by title
- Browse journals by title or subject
Use the link above, or find Journal Search on the Libraries homepage or on the OneSearch results page.
Search Google Scholar
Do you like Google Scholar? Make sure to include BSU Libraries' resources in your search so that you get access to as many full text options as possible.
Here's how:
- Go to Google Scholar
- Click on Scholar Settings
- Select Library Links and enter Ball State University
- Check the box for "Ball State University - Find It @ BALL STATE @ Ball State."
- After doing your search in Google Scholar, click on Find It @ BALL STATE for articles to see if they are available in full text through BSU subscriptions
Top picks in Psychology Databases
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Good database for most research topics and contains lots of full text, peer reviewed articles. More than 18,000 of the journal titles indexed are peer reviewed and almost all of the full text is. Provides searchable cited references for more than 1,000 journal titles so you can easily see what sources a given article cites.
- APA PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new window Full-text database of journals published by the American Psychological Association and selected other publishers.Full-text database of journals published by the American Psychological Association and selected other publishers. Users may also want to try PsycInfo (available on the Databases page).
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window Key database in the field of psychology. Includes information of use to psychologists, students, and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, and education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.
- Counseling and Therapy in Video: Volume 2 This link opens in a new window An online collection of video for the study of counseling, social work, psychotherapy, psychology, and psychiatric counseling. Browse by therapy types and search by client and therapist details such as patient ethnicity or therapist name. The database also has searchable video transcripts.
- Dissertations and Theses Global This link opens in a new window Description: A key source for discovering doctoral dissertations and master's theses in all fields from around the world. Some 250,000 new dissertations from leading academic institutions are added to the database each year, many with full text and/ or a free 24 page preview. This includes some from Ball State University, others can be found in Cardinal Scholar. The full text may be purchased for most dissertations added since 1997. Note: Dissertations and theses from other institutions can be obtained at a discount through our Interlibrary Loan department. Contact them for details at (765) 285-1324.
- ERIC (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window ERIC EBSCOhost is a key database in the field of education, providing access to bibliographic records of journal and non-journal literature. About one third of the content is accessible in full text from within the database.
- ETS Test Collection This link opens in a new window ETS Test Collection is a database providing information about educational and psychological testing instruments. Although it does not contain the full text of tests, brief summaries, bibliographic information, and information about the where tests can be obtained is included. According to the ETS website this is the largest collection of its type.
- Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print This link opens in a new window Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print contains reviews of testing instruments and is designed for a wide range of users including novices and experienced professionals. It also contains information essential for completing evaluation of tests within the areas of psychology, education, business, and leadership. Entries also include the test purpose, publisher, pricing, population and scores. The tests are not included.
- PsychiatryOnline This link opens in a new window PsychiatryOnline contains the six journals published by American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. (APPI) as well as the current DSM. The six journal titles are The American Journal of Psychiatry, American Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services, The Journal of Neuropsychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences, Academic Psychiatry, and Psychiatric News.
- Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) This link opens in a new window Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) allows you to see who has cited who/ what in any of the most cited 3,000 journals in the social sciences. It also allows you to search for articles on topics.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window Cross searching of Science Citation Index Expanded back to 1973, Social Sciences Citation Index back to 1981/82, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index back to 1976.