Category: For Faculty

APA PsycInfo & APA PsycTests: Fall 2024 Webinars

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

Interested in strengthening your APA database skills? Join an APA trainer for the next round of  webinars designed for students, faculty, and anyone else who wants to learn more about how to search APA PsycInfo or APA PsycTests more effectively!

Details and registration links are below; all times shown are U.S. Eastern.

APA PsycInfo: Beginner Search

This 45-minute session will help anyone who is new to searching the behavioral sciences literature using APA PsycInfo.

We’ll demonstrate simple yet powerful techniques that can increase your proficiency in short order, including how to quickly identify the best search terms; apply filters to narrow the range of results; and pinpoint empirical studies.

Highlights include the use of APA Thesaurus terms and other database fields to target your search, Boolean operators to accurately include or exclude concepts, and cited references to find related research. 

Techniques covered can also be used with APA PsycArticles® and APA PsycBooks®.

Wednesday, September 11, 11:00 am

Thursday, October 10, 2:00 pm 

APA PsycInfo: Advanced Search

This 60-minute session highlights some of APA PsycInfo’s advanced functionality that’s designed to increase your efficiency by retrieving better search results faster.

After an overview of the three main vocabularies [keywords, Thesaurus subjects, and Classifications] you can use to search APA PsycInfo, we’ll share some easy ways to quickly expand or narrow your list of search results.

You’ll also learn about syntax for proximity search and truncation; using citations to explore related research; applying search limits and results filters; using the Author Affiliation field to discover where research of interest is happening; searching the Test and Measures field for information about tests used in the scholarly literature; and using the Grant/Sponsorship field to discover potential funding sources.

Techniques covered can also be used with APA PsycArticles® and APA PsycBooks®.

Wednesday, September 18, 11:00 am

Thursday, October 17, 2:00 pm

 

Semester Special: APA PsycTests

APA PsycTests is a collection of psychological tests and measures for the social and behavioral sciences.

This live demonstration includes:

  • Basic Setup and Layout of the APA PsycTests record
  • Advanced Search for APA PsycTests
  • Learning more from APA PsycTests about a measure found in APA PsycInfo
  • Browsing APA PsycTests

While test content is equivalent on all versions of APA PsycTests, the design of search pages differs between platforms. Please register for the training that matches the platform where you use APA PsycTests. 

APA PsycTests on APA PsycNet & Ovid

Thursday, September 10, 2:00 pm

Monday, October 7, 11:00 am 

APA PsycTests on EBSCOhost & ProQuest 

Wednesday, September 25, 11:00 am

Thursday, October 24, 2:00 pm 

 

Can’t attend a scheduled session?

Now Available: New scholarly and clinical ebook titles from APA PsycBooks – Summer/Fall 2024

Posted on by Katherine Stevens in For Faculty, For Librarians

 

New scholarly and professional titles covering the most current topics in psychology are now available in APA PsycBooks®, our database of over 4,600 DRM-free, full-text ebooks. Explore the newest titles in the collection on topics including posttraumatic stress disorder, clinical hypnosis, and more.

Read on to preview the newest releases:

 

Continue reading →

APA PsycInfo Research Services: Your AI-Powered Research Assistant

Posted on by Cambria Sawyer in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

APA PsycInfo research services are fully responsive on any device.

Think of APA PsycInfo research services as your personal psychology research assistant.

Your institution’s subscription to APA PsycInfo provides courtesy access to a suite of complimentary, premium features to aid the search process. Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, these services support students, researchers, and faculty as they monitor the latest research trends, explore analytics, and personalize content discovery—all within the most trusted index of psychological science in the world.

Read on for an overview of the main features within APA PsycInfo research services, and tips on using its many discovery tools.

Continue reading →

New Thesaurus Terms for Searching APA PsycInfo (Summer 2024)

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

 

In June, APA added 96 new terms to its Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms® to provide more effective searching on current topics, including employment, education, and diversity. This Thesaurus update also includes 61 new cross-referenced terms, and 122 revised scope notes.

New terms from this Summer update will initially be applied to current content only; following the Fall 2024 release, the majority of 2024’s new postable terms will be back-mapped to older records.

NEW POSTABLE TERMS

Use this link to access the list of postable terms on our website.

 

Using the controlled vocabulary of the Thesaurus means a database search will quickly and accurately retrieve all publications related to a specific concept, regardless of the keywords the authors may have used.

The Thesaurus tool is found on all platforms as part of APA PsycInfo® and redirects synonyms to the preferred “Use” term to include in your search. Each Thesaurus record includes links to broader terms, narrower terms, and related terms, the year the term was introduced, an historical note if applicable, and a scope note providing definition and application.

You can see the full list of Thesaurus changes on our website or view the PDF for more details. 

Related Resource: 
YouTube playlist – Using the APA Thesaurus to Find Relevant Articles on a Topic 

Redefined: The APA Dictionary of Psychology

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

We’re excited to announce a recent major update to the APA Dictionary of Psychology! Notable as the first content update since the final publication of the print version in 2015, this release features a number of benefits, including

  • revisions of 1,500+ terms related to gender and sexuality; race, ethnicity, and culture; aging and older adulthood; and disabilities and disorders
  • alignment with the APA Inclusive Language Guide and additional APA resources, including removal of binary wording to promote gender inclusivity
  • updated DSM-5-TR diagnostic terminology, and
  • date information for each entry’s most recent update.

With more than 25,000 authoritative entries spanning 90 psychology subfields, this web-based tool is freely available at https://dictionary.apa.org.

Users who access APA PsycArticles on APA PsycNet have integrated access to the dictionary when viewing the HTML version of full-text APA journal articles. Look for the dotted blue underline that links to the dictionary entry.

Definitions are also accessible and highlighted in search engine results. Quickly look up a term from anywhere by typing the word/phrase you want to look up into your browser’s search bar and look for the APA Dictionary in the results.

Screenshot of APA Dictionary of Psychology entry gate-control theory

TIP: Typing dictionary.apa.org or APA Dictionary followed by your desired term into your browser’s search bar may return the APA Dictionary entry as one of the top search results, depending on your search engine (e.g., Googling dictionary.apa.org gate control hypothesis or searching DuckDuckGo for APA dictionary gate control hypothesis returns the APA Dictionary entry for gate-control theory).


The APA Dictionary in Psychology is a landmark reference for terminology in psychology and the behavioral sciences, beginning with its print publication in 2007 and transitioning into an online resource in 2018. To learn more, check out the companion blog post Look up Psychology Terms in the APA Dictionary of Psychology or visit the APA Dictionary to explore on your own!