In Case You Missed It: New Terms Added to the PsycINFO Thesaurus

Posted on August 3, 2016July 29, 2016 by Customer Relations Staff in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

In November 2015, we released an update to The Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, the source of the controlled vocabulary used in indexing PsycINFO® and the other APA databases. This particular update was significantly larger than previous vocabulary updates, containing 227 new Index Terms.

In December, we shared the details of the update, highlighting some of the new terms and other changes that were incorporated. We also provided a document with the full list of Index Terms included in the update.

Did you miss that post? Take a look! It explains several important points about the new terminology, including a change to the language used to tag research on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Related Resources

Changes to the Thesaurus sometimes impact search alerts and saved searches. For example, when a new term replaces an older term, saved searches and search alerts created with the older term will no longer generate updates. In this update, 5 terms were changed such that any saved searches or search alerts that use them will no longer retrieve the desired results.

Here are the terms that were changed, along with the new Index Terms that have taken their places:

*Terms that are now Use* references**	New Index Terms to search
Aspergers Syndrome Autism Pervasive Developmental Disorders	Autism Spectrum Disorders
Complications (Disorders)	Sequelae
Q Sort Testing Technique	Q-Sort

For assistance in updating your search alerts, please see our post PsycINFO Expert Tip: Updating Search Alerts When a Thesaurus Term Changes.

Exhibits Update: American Psychological Association Annual Convention

Posted on July 26, 2016August 5, 2016 by Customer Relations Staff in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

The American Psychological Association Annual Convention will be held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO, from August 4-7, 2016. Look for representatives from the American Psychological Association’s Databases and Electronic Resources group in the exhibit hall, at booth 438. Stop by to learn more about APA Style CENTRAL®, an exciting new electronic resource for APA Style®, and get the latest updates about APA Journals, Books, and Databases.

Throughout the conference, stop by for a demo of APA Style CENTRAL. You’ll receive a voucher for a free t-shirt, and will be eligible to enter a raffle to win an executive duffle or backpack. We also hope you’ll join us for a reception to celebrate the launch of APA Style CENTRAL. The reception will be held in booth 438 on Friday, from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Exhibit Hours:

Thursday, August 4: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Unopposed exhibits-only hour: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.)
Friday, August 5: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Unopposed exhibits-only hour: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.)
Saturday, August 6: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Coffee with the Exhibitors: 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.)
Sunday, August 7: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

This post has been edited to correct the date of the APA Style CENTRAL reception.

PsycINFO Expert Tip: Classification Codes

Posted on July 22, 2016July 18, 2016 by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

Have you ever noticed the Classification Codes in PsycINFO® and wondered what they’re for?

The Classification Codes limiter on APA PsycNET.

Our indexers tag and categorize each item in PsycINFO so searchers can more easily locate exactly what they need. Classification Codes categorize an item, such as a journal article, by its main theme. Each item receives one, sometimes two, Classification Codes. Continue reading →

From the Deck of . . . The ALA Annual 2016 Lunch & Learn

Posted on July 20, 2016July 18, 2016 by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

Welcome to “From the Deck of . . .” an irregular series in which we highlight search demos and other information from the slide decks we create for our live training sessions. You can view and download these materials from our SlideShare account.

We recently presented our Lunch & Learn training session at the American Library Association Annual Conference & Exhibition. One of the items we covered in this session was a review of working with cited references in PsycINFO® on all of the major vendor platforms: APA PsycNET®, EBSCOhost, Ovid, and ProQuest.

Being able to successfully navigate cited references data allows you to identify where a particular piece of research fits into the larger research continuum. You can see what led to that research, and how it influenced the research that followed. It’s also a great way to help a student who’s brainstorming dissertation topics, or a researcher looking for a new area to explore. Continue reading →

American Psychologist: Special Issue on Undergraduate Education

Posted on June 22, 2016June 16, 2016 by Customer Relations Staff in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

The official peer-reviewed scholarly journal of the American Psychological Association, American Psychologist publishes current and timely high-impact papers of broad interest, including empirical reports, meta-analyses, and scholarly reviews covering science, practice, education, and policy. Contributions often address national and international policy issues.

Earlier this year, APA published a special issue of American Psychologist: “Undergraduate Education in Psychology: Current Status and Future Directions.” The issue, edited by guest editors John C. Norcross, PhD, ABPP, and Robin Hailstorks, PhD, takes an in-depth look at emergent trends in psychology undergraduate education and offers new guidelines for educators and students. The articles featured in this special issue are:

Undergraduate Study in Psychology: Curriculum and Assessment
Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major: Version 2.0
Strengthening Introductory Psychology: A New Model for Teaching the Introductory Course
The New Medical College Admission Test: Implications for Teaching Psychology
Internationalizing Undergraduate Psychology Education: Trends, Techniques, and Technologies

Special issues of American Psychologist and those of other APA journals are included with print and electronic subscriptions. Journal special issues can also be purchased separately on the APA website. PsycARTICLES® users on APA PsycNET® (including individual subscribers to the APA PsycNET Gold, Gold Plus, and Platinum access packages), EBSCOhost, Ovid and ProQuest can review special issues by browsing PsycARTICLES or by performing a title search for the journal.

Related Resources:

Learn more about American Psychologist, including manuscript submission policies and information about subscribing in print.