APA PsycInfo & APA PsycTests: Fall 2024 Webinars

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?

APA PsycInfo Research Services: Your AI-Powered Research Assistant

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)

 

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 

New Thesaurus Terms for Searching APA PsycInfo (Winter 2024)

In February, APA added 70 new terms to its Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms® to provide more effective searching on current topics, including military psychology; population health; and racial, ethnic and cultural groups and issues. This Thesaurus update also includes 55 new cross-referenced terms, and 75 revised scope notes.

New terms from this winter 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.

a list of new thesaurus terms
 
screenreaders can view the PDF version of this list 
https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/training/thesaurus-update-winter-2024.pdf

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 

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

APA PsycInfo® Webinars for Fall 2023

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

APA’s expert trainers will lead three different webinars this fall, so you can choose the one that best matches your interest.

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

APA PsycInfo: Beginner Search

This 45 minute session is for anyone who is new to searching the behavioral sciences literature.

APA trainers demonstrate simple yet powerful techniques including how to quickly identify the best search terms, apply filters to narrow the range of results, and pinpoint empirical studies.

Highlights include using 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.

APA PsycInfo: Advanced Search

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

We provide an overview of the three main vocabularies [keywords, Thesaurus subjects, and Classifications] you can use to search APA PsycInfo, and show easy effective 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.

Semester Special: APA PsycTherapy

Every spring and every fall, APA trainers offer a deeper dive into one area of our tools and databases. These hour-long trainings are designed for researchers and librarians who use APA PsycInfo frequently.

The topic for Fall 2023 is APA PsycTherapy.

A live platform demo will focus on: the extensive content update of June 2023; The APA PsycTherapy Teaching Guide & corresponding APA PsycTherapy playlists; and individual account tools.

Can’t attend a scheduled session?