Tag: APA PsycInfo

New Thesaurus Terms for Searching APA PsycInfo

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Librarians

In July 2021, APA added 50 new terms to the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms® to provide more effective searching on current topics including vaccination attitudes, racial trauma, and gender expression.  

Most of these new terms were mapped back and added to records published in APA’s databases in the last 5 years. This Thesaurus update also included 32 new cross-referenced terms, and new and revised scope notes. 

The 9,900+ index terms found in the Thesaurus provide precise and consistent terminology for searching all APA research databases. Using the controlled vocabulary of the Thesaurus means a database search will quickly retrieve all items about a specific concept no matter what keywords the authors 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 Tutorial – Using the APA Thesaurus to Find Relevant Articles on a Topic 

Finding Journal Articles in APA PsycInfo

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Librarians

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 Finding Journal Articles in APA PsycInfo to Answer Your Research Question is available.

This short video shows the steps to take in APA PsycInfo to find a selection of journal articles that will answer your research question.

By the end of this video, you should be able to:

  • Identify key concepts from your research question
  • Conduct a search in APA PsycInfo using keywords, truncation, and quotes
  • Apply filters to refine your results
  • Locate valuable information from the articles in your results
  • Save results and create an email alert to stay current on your topic

See other recent tutorials from APA Publishing:
Using the APA Thesaurus to Find Relevant Articles on a Topic
Peer-Reviewed Empirical Articles

Webinar Alert: APA PsycInfo® Basic and Advanced Search for Students & Faculty (3/26, 4/2)

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students
Research APA PsycInfo like a pro!

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!

The 30-minute APA PsycInfo – Basic Search session includes live search demos and provides search tips and strategies to help you locate more relevant results in less time.

The 30-minute APA PsycInfo – Advanced Search session explores a few of the added-value fields in APA PsycInfo and using them to uncover much more than journal articles. Search demos will demonstrate how to identify what research is happening at which institutions; finding new journals in which to publish your work; information about tests used in related research; and potential funding opportunities for your project.

Search tips and strategies covered in both sessions are relevant to all search platforms — APA PsycNet®, EBSCOhost, Ovid, and ProQuest.

The sessions may be attended separately, but we encourage you to take both if you are interested!

You can register with GoTo Webinar for one of the following times:

These webinars are an ideal way for students to get a refresher on APA PsycInfo if they have had a previous training session. Please help us spread the word to interested students and faculty!

Can’t attend a scheduled session?

Webinar Alert: Spring APA PsycInfo® Sessions for Librarians (2/26, 3/27, 4/28)

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians
Research APA PsycInfo like a pro!

Join us this spring for a Beyond Subject Searching webinar – designed for librarians and other expert users of APA PsycInfo. Whether you’re looking to expand your search skills or just need a refresher, we hope you’ll join us!

This 45-minute session includes a behind the scenes look at the APA PsycInfo record structure and live search demos.

Learn how to use APA PsycInfo for more than just locating articles, such as identifying the types of research being done at a particular institution and finding journals in which to publish new work.

We’ll also search for information on grants and sponsorships, on tests and measures, and we’ll highlight our Record Structure and Field Guide — tools that can help you become your library’s APA PsycInfo expert.

You can register with GoTo Webinar for one of the following times.

  • Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 2:00 PM EDT
  • Friday, March 27, 2020 at 11:00 AM EDT
  • Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 2:00 PM EST

Can’t join us at the times listed?

Webinar Alert: Fall Sessions for PsycINFO & PsycTESTS

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Faculty, For Librarians

Beyond Subject Searching

Join us this fall for a Beyond Subject Searching webinar – designed for librarians and other expert users of PsycINFO. If you’re looking to expand your search skills, or just need a PsycINFO refresher, we hope you’ll join us!

This 45 minute session includes a behind the scenes look at the PsycINFO record structure and live search demos.

Learn how to use PsycINFO for more than just locating articles, such as identifying the types of research being done at a particular institution and finding journals in which to publish new work.

We’ll also search for information on grants and sponsorships, and on tests and measures and will highlight our Record Structure and Field Guide — tools that can help you become your library’s PsycINFO expert.

You can register with GoTo Webinar for one of the following times.

  • Thursday, Sep 12, 2019 2:00 PM EDT
  • Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019 1:00 PM EDT
  • Wednesday, Nov 13, 2019 2:00 PM EST

Can’t join us at the times listed?

New Features on PsycTESTS

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 for PsycTESTS, which restructured how records display and added new searchable and descriptive fields.

If you use PsycTESTS on EBSCOhost, you can register for a webinar scheduled for Wednesday, September 25, to learn more about the new features.

If you use PsycTESTS on ProQuest, keep an eye on our Vendor Reload Status page or ask your vendor when these changes will go live. A training from APA will be coming soon!

If you use PsycTESTS on APA PsycNET or on Ovid, please see the recordings of these trainings on our YouTube channel.

Want to learn more? Read our blog post New Features Added to PsycTESTS.