Webinar Alert: Introducing New Features in PsycINFO®

Posted on October 31, 2016November 1, 2016 by Marta Soto in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

Training sessions that discuss new features and enhancements added to PsycINFO this August are now available. These 45-minute webinars explain how and why we updated PsycINFO, define the new fields you will see, and demonstrate how they impact search and discovery.

Recent updates to PsycINFO include powerful new search limits, like open access and impact statements, new fields that connect content across research platforms, like PubMed’s MeSH terms and NIH clinical trial numbers, and additional information added to the Dissertation field. Also, because of the interlinking of APA’s databases, the PsycINFO refresh means that PsycARTICLES®, PsycBOOKS®, and PsycCRITIQUES® records will now include these new features as well.

The upcoming schedule for platform-specific PsycINFO webinars is:

PsycINFO New Features – APA PsycNET® Friday, November 4, 2016 10:00-11:00 a.m.

PsycINFO New Features – EBSCOhost Wednesday, November 9, 2016 1:30-2:30 p.m.

PsycINFO New Features – Ovid Monday, November 14, 2016 3:00-4:00 p.m.

All times are Eastern Time.

Can’t make the time scheduled for your platform above? Please email PsycINFO, and if there is enough interest, we will schedule additional sessions.

These new fields & features are currently live on APA PsycNET, EBSCOhost, and Ovid, and are scheduled to be available on ProQuest in December. Check for status updates on our website.

For more information on these enhancements, please view our blog post New Features Added to PsycINFO. Major changes include:

Impact Statements – Impact statements, which describe the relevance of the research to the general public, are included in PsycINFO records when provided by the publisher. These Impact Statements are in addition to the abstract in the standard scientific format, which will always be included. If you are searching for impact statements using APA PsycNET, limit the search using the “Impact Statement” checkbox.

Open Access – This new field makes it clear at a glance if an article or journal indexed in PsycINFO is available through open access. Since PsycINFO is primarily an abstracting and indexing database, this lets you know that the full-text is available from another publisher just a click away. If you are looking for open access research on APA PsycNET, limit the search using the “Open Access” checkbox.

MeSH – To promote interconnectivity between platforms, the PsycINFO records for items also covered in PubMed will include the Medical Subject Headings used in PubMed’s indexing. This allows users to search PsycINFO using the terms they prefer, or that may be better suited for their research area. On APA PsycNET, the MeSH terms are linked to run a search on PubMed for additional research on the topic.

See all available trainings from APA Databases and Electronic Resources.

Introducing New Features in PsycINFO: Starting Your Research on APA PsycNET

Posted on October 11, 2016October 18, 2016 by Marta Soto in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

In August, PsycINFO added new fields and features to help researchers like you search with greater precision and to include more information right in the record.
Because of the interlinking of APA’s products, PsycARTICLES, PsycBOOKS, and PsycCRITIQUES also include these updates.

Four of the new fields are particularly useful as you begin a research project or assignment. They can help you quickly narrow down search results and spot more information about the topic and why it is important.

Impact Statement – A summary like an abstract, but instead of describing the technical process, it explains the relevance of the research to the general public. This can help to justify a research project, especially if you are applying for a grant.
Open Access – A flag on the record indicates that the fulltext is available through open access. This provides access to resources beyond PsycINFO.
Data Sets – A description of the data set is provided, as well as links for access or download when available. Looking at the data yourself enables you to better understand the research conducted in the published study, and to identify your own project that builds on this previous work.
Dissertation Details – Advisor(s), Degree, Institution and Department are included in the PsycINFO record. This helps you to find leaders in evolving areas of research, or note other disciplines that are working on similar topics.

Check out our SlideShare presentation for a guide on using these new fields on APA PsycNET.

If you access PsycINFO through a different database platform, you can check the Vendor Status page to see when these new features will go live.

Tutorial Thursday: Finding Empirical Articles

Posted on September 1, 2016August 30, 2016 by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Students

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

The start of any semester brings new students to campus, but fall semester in particular brings with it a wave of students who may find themselves working with new and unfamiliar research tools and terminology.

How to identify and locate peer-reviewed articles is a common question at most academic library reference desks. For some social science classes, students must empirical studies that have been peer-reviewed. To aid students and others who need assistance with – or a refresher on – using PsycINFO® to locate this type of information, we have a brief tutorial on finding peer-reviewed, empirical articles. Continue reading →

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 →

Tutorial Thursday & Translated Topic Guides

Posted on June 23, 2016June 16, 2016 by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Librarians

Are you familiar with our Topic Guides?

Sample searches from the Management Topic Guide.

These brief interdisciplinary handouts are designed to demonstrate how PsycINFO can be used to search for resources in a variety of topic areas. They contain three sample search scenarios, and a list of selected Index Terms.

We’ve created video tutorials based on the Feminism, Management, and Nursing Topic Guides. The videos walk through each of the three sample searches from the guide, demonstrating how to create the searches using the Thesaurus. For each tutorial, you’ll find a version for the APA PsycNET, EBSCOhost, Ovid, and ProQuest platforms. We’ve gathered them all together into a playlist on our YouTube channel.

A screenshot from the APA PsycNET version of the video tutorial for the Management Topic Guide.

In addition to creating these tutorials, we recently translated all 20 Topic Guides into 8 languages: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish..

The Spanish version of the Grief & Trauma Topic Guide.

You’ll find the translations linked at the bottom of the Topic Guides webpage.

Related Resources:

Topic Guides pair well with our PsycINFO Quick Reference Guides, which walk the user through searching some of the fundamental fields in PsycINFO, such as Index Term/Subject Heading, Title, Author Name, and more.

• Quick Reference Guide for PsycINFO on APA PsycNET
• Quick Reference Guide for PsycINFO on EBSCOhost
• Quick Reference Guide for PsycINFO on ProQuest
• Quick Reference Guide for PsycINFO on Ovid

Please note that print copies of Quick Reference Guides are available to libraries upon request, free of charge. Send a message to psycinfo@apa.org and let us know which guide you’d like, how many, and where to send them.