Searching PsycInfo

PsycInfo is a database focused on psychology, behavioral sciences, and social sciences. Maintained by the American Psychological Association (APA), it contains nearly 4 million records, most of which are peer-reviewed journal articles.

This guide will walk you through basic and advanced search techniques to help you navigate PsycInfo effectively. You can access PsycInfo using this link or by following the Databases button on the library's homepage.

PsycInfo defaults to a simple search bar when first entering the database. There are a couple of ways to refine your search: 

1. Enter your keywords. Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase. 
2. Click the Peer Reviewed button to narrow your results to articles that have undergone a review process. 
3. Make your search include only recently published materials by clicking the All time drop-down and selecting one of the time frames provided.

You may notice the option to turn on Natural Language Search under the search bar. This feature utilizes AI to parse apart your question into what keywords it believes are within your question. This is best used for simple searches, and advanced search remains the best way to complete more advanced searching. 

You can refine your search further by clicking the Advanced Search located above the search bar. 

By default, PsycInfo searches for all terms appearing anywhere in the article. Use the drop down labeled All fields to search within a specific field, such as author, article title, or journal title. 

As you scroll down the page, you'll find one of the most popular filtering options: Methodology. This allows you to refind your search based on research methods, including the option to limit results to Empirical Studies. 

Many of these additional filters are also available on the search results screen. It may be helpful to start with a broad search and then apply limiters as needed based on your results.