PsycTESTS is APA’s research database that provides access to psychological tests, measures, scales, surveys, and other assessments as well as descriptive information about each test and its development and administration. In May 2019, APA released a major update known as a database reload for PsycTESTS.

What’s a Reload?

PsycTESTS is updated once every month, as new records are added and descriptive information is corrected, if needed.
A reload is a longer process of planning and testing that makes bigger changes to PsycTESTS, such as adding new searchable and descriptive fields, and restructuring how records display. Database reloads have long been an integral part of APA’s efforts to provide researchers and users in the behavioral sciences and related disciplines with improved usability and new tools and to retrieve content and conduct their research.

What’s new with this Reload?

The reload improved usability for PsycTESTS. Previously, each test in PsycTESTS was represented by a combination of Master Test Records and Child Test Records.   Now, each test is represented by a single Test Record.
In addition to this structure change, some new fields were added to PsycTESTS.  

Factors/Subscales  
This new field indicates the different factors and/or subscales of an instrument, enhancing search efficiency.

Test Methodology
Have you ever wanted to search using the psychometric analyses or methodologies a test uses? The new methodology field allows you to search for tests with specific psychometric analyses or methodologies. You can also filter tests using this field, so you can view only those tests which have the psychometric analyses or methodologies you need.

Test Type
Ever wonder how a record relates to other records in the database? This field indicates whether a Test Record describes an original, revision, translation, or subtest in relation to records listed in the Other Versions field.

When will I see these changes?

On May 30, the new version of PsycTESTS was released to all platforms that host this database. If you use APA PsycNET, you’ll already see these changes to PsycTESTS.

If you use EBSCOhost, Ovid, or ProQuest, keep an eye on our Vendor Reload Status page or ask your vendor to find out when these changes will go live on your institution’s version of PsycTESTS.  

How can I learn more?

• See our PsycTESTS field guide for definitions
• View more details on our web page
• Register for a webinar to learn more about the New Features of PsycTESTS

New features are often generated from suggestions that we receive directly from our customers, so tell us what you think of the new PsycTESTS at psycinfo@apa.org.

Interested in a trial of PsycTESTS? Let us know at quotes@apa.org.

It’s Tutorial Thursday! In this series, we explore APA’s library of video tutorials available on the APA Publishing Training YouTube channel. Please feel free to link to or embed our videos in your library websites or LibGuides, course management systems, or other locations where students, faculty, and researchers will find them.

A new version of the tutorial Using the APA PsycInfo Index Terms and Keywords Effectively on APA PsycNet is available.

This short video shows how to create an effective search in APA PsycInfo using a combination of index terms and keywords. We’ll discuss what index terms are and their value. We’ll also talk about the difference between keywords and index terms and situations in which you would want to include keywords in your search.

https://youtu.be/2BN8ij-oVPM

By the end of this video you will be able to:

• Explain the value of using index terms in a search.
• Describe situations where it is necessary to use keywords instead of index terms.
• Use quotes and ORs when searching with keywords.
• Conduct a search in APA PsycInfo that uses a combination of index terms and keywords.

Related Resource:
Tutorial – Finding Relevant Articles to Answer Your Research Question
APA PsycInfo Expert Tip: Searching by Keyword, Index Term and More

Will you be at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Washington, DC this June? We hope to see you at our Lunch & Learn!

American Psychological Association Lunch & Learn @ ALA 
Monday, June 24, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
https://apa-lunch.eventbrite.com?aff=blog

Join APA Publishing for an update on our scholarly resources for research in psychology and related fields. We’ll cover the May 2019 update to our PsycTESTS database, including new data fields, changes to the database record structure, and sample searches. Other highlights include several recently released handbook titles and newly added APA Thesaurus terms.

This session is open to all, and lunch will be served. Please RSVP if you plan to attend. 

If you can’t attend the session, please stop by Booth #933 for a demo and updates from Saturday, June 22 – Monday, June 24, 2019.

It’s Tutorial Thursday! In this series, we explore APA’s library of video tutorials available on the APA Publishing Training YouTube channel. Please feel free to link to or embed our videos in your library websites or LibGuides, course management systems, or other locations where students, faculty, and researchers will find them.

A new version of the tutorial Peer-Reviewed Empirical Articles is available.

The first short video will prepare you to find empirical studies from peer-reviewed journals. We’ll start with explaining what an empirical study is what it means for a study to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

https://youtu.be/LOClPnPPmOU

The second short video demonstrates how to quickly and easily find these types of journal articles using the filters in PsycINFO.

https://youtu.be/r3toIJoFBHE

By the end of this 2-part tutorial you will be able to:

• Explain what it means for an article to be considered an empirical study.
• Describe the process that an article goes through to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Use the filters in PsycInfo to access empirical studies from peer-reviewed journals.
• Determine if an article found in PsycInfo is an empirical study from a peer-reviewed journal.

The APA Handbooks in Psychology series was launched in 2011 to provide comprehensive overviews and in-depth study of specific subfields within psychology. All of the Handbooks are included in the PsycBOOKS® database, and titles are also available individually.

The series currently contains 30 authoritative titles, including the 2014 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, APA Handbook of Sexuality and Psychology.

A recent addition to the series is the APA Handbook of Sport and Exercise Psychology edited by Mark H. Anshel and published in February 2019.

This 2-volume handbook presents new areas of research and links theory with emerging practice to reflect the latest developments in this constantly changing field.

Visit the APA Handbook of Sport and Exercise Psychology web page for more information, including the full table of contents and editor biographies.

PsycBOOKS users on APA PsycNET® (including subscribers to APA PsycNET Gold, Gold Plus, and Platinum), EBSCOhost, Ovid and ProQuest can access the entire series by browsing PsycBOOKS or by performing a title search for a particular handbook.

Institutions also have the option of purchasing handbooks individually. Print only, Electronic only, or Electronic + Print options are available through APA, with electronic access provided via the APA PsycNET® platform. For more information on pricing and availability, please see the APA Handbooks in Psychology institutional purchase page or contact us at quotes@apa.org.