Research Guides: PSYC 1215: Introduction to Social, Personality and Abnormal Psychology (Lloyd): Getting Started

This is an introductory guide to assist you in gathering resources required for the Research Essay component of PSYC 1215.

The assignment requires you to find resources in the PsycINFO database.

PsycINFO (Langara Library search)
Comprehensive index to journal articles, books, book chapters, technical reports, and dissertations in the field of psychology.

Before beginning your paper, you must first read Chapter 10, "Traditional (Nonexperimental) Psychology Research Papers," of the The Psychology Student Writer's Manual, available at in the course reserves section of the Library.

The Psychology Student Writer's Manual by Russell Koch; Stephen M. Garrison; Gregory M. Scott; Jill M. Scott
Call Number: BF 76.8 P76 2002

Quick Links to Popular Resources

APA PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive index to journal articles, books, book chapters, technical reports, and dissertations in the field of psychology, including family psychology. Citations and abstracts, with links to some full text

Langara Library PsycINFO Guide This document provides a brief overview of using PsycINFO as a Langara Library student or employee.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM-5 by American Psychiatric Association Staff; Kernberg
Call Number: RC 455.2 C4 D54 2013
Published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the DSM-5 is the current classification system of psychiatric illnesses. This handbook serves "as a template to estimate the incidence (new cases) and prevalence (existing cases) of mental disorders in the general population."
Encyclopedia of Psychological Assessment (SAGE Knowledge) by Edited by: Rocío Fernández-Ballesteros
235 entries, organized alphabetically, which include a general conceptual and methodological overview, a section on relevant assessment devices, and covering issues pertaining to methodology (validity, reliability, item response theory) and modes of assessment (tests, instruments and equipment for measuring behavioral operations).

Peer Review

The majority of articles in the PsycINFO database come from scholarly peer-reviewed journals, but you should still critically assess your sources to ensure that they have been peer-reviewed.

Peer Review in 3 Minutes Transcript
A quick guide from NCSU libraries that explains the peer review process.
Scholarly journals vs popular magazines (Langara Library)
How to spot the differences.