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For instructions on how to access articles and book chapters on course reserve via OneSearch, check out this link.
About this guide
This guide is meant to accompany SPCE 609 assignments where you need to find journal articles on a topic in applied behavior analysis.
While searching the Internet may prove somewhat useful to you, you'll be better served using library databases to find reliable, authoritative research in your field. As a Ball State student, you are entitled to use the University Libraries, whether in the building or from afar. This guide should give you some tools you can use for finding the research you need.
APA PsycInfo and ERIC have a new look
If you've used APA PsycInfo and ERIC in the past, you'll notice that they have a new user interface. Don't worry! Most of the changes are intuitive, and there are some new features you'll love.
This brief video from EBSOhost (the database provider of APA PsycInfo and ERIC) highlights the use of the new interface.
Choosing a database
When you're doing academic research:
- Start on the Ball State University Libraries' homepage.
- Look for the Databases link.
- Use the drop-down "Subjects" menu to explore the databases.
- OR go directly to a database title, alphabetically.
There are two principle research databases in the field of applied behavior analysis:
- 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.
- 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.
OneSearch is our discovery layer, helping you to discover titles in a wide variety of formats and topics. It will also be a useful tool for you, especially when you're searching for a title you know.
- OneSearch This link opens in a new window
OneSearch is a tool that cross searches much of the content our databases and other online sources. You can search across many collections in one search box simplifying the resource discovery process.
Constructing and revising database searches: An example
Try using the CHOP, DROP, and OR method for constructing your search. It allows you to cast your net wide, so you bring up literature which might be related to your topic -- closely or tangentially -- so that you can consider it.
Here is an example of how that might work:
If my topic is "What are some ABA interventions for dealing with rumination?" APA PsycInfo will be a good database to use.
- I'd first chop my topic up into these three areas:
- ABA
- intervention
- rumination
- Then I'd drop each into a search box, like this:
- And then I'd use or between synonyms and related words. So my search would look like this:
- I could improve my results further by looking at the records of articles I pull up which seem on-topic, such as this one:
- The highlighted terms above can be worked into a revised search like this below, putting related terms in the same box with OR in between:
- Evaluate your results and adjust your search based on what you note. Be patient, too, as research takes time!