Guide to Psychology Resources

The following is a selected list of resources for starting research in Psychology. For further assistance, contact Yvonne Nalani Meulemans, Human Services and Psychology Librarian.

• Getting started
• Books
• Journal articles
• Tests and measures
• APA style

Getting started

Reference materials can help you figure out what to research, define a term or concept, familiarize you with research trends, and direct you to further information sources.

Encyclopedia of psychology
 BF31 .E52 2000 REFERENCE

Handbook of psychology
BF121 .H1955 2003 REFERENCE
The comprehensive reference source in Psychology.
Table of Contents

Steven's handbook of experimental psychology
BF181 .H336 2002 REFERENCE
Table of Contents

The Dictionary of psychology
BF31 .C72 1999 REFERENCE

The Gale encyclopedia of psychology

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-IV-TR
RC455.2.C4 D536 2000 REFERENCE

Books

Books will give you background information and an overview on what you are researching. You need this information in order to provide context for what you may be researching.

Books at Cal State San Marcos

Library Catalog  [ Search Tips ]
Search our local collection of about 250,000 books.

Other Options

Circuit (1-3 day delivery)
Search the collections of other San Diego area libraries -- about 3,000,000 books. Find and request books directly online; pick them up at our Library in 1-3 days.

WorldCat (5-10 day delivery)
Search the collections of libraries world-wide -- about 52,000,000 books. Find a book in this database, and fill-out an Interlibrary Loan delivery request. Book will be delivered to Library for pickup.

Journal articles

Journal articles are where you will find empirical studies, literature reviews, meta-analysis, and other types of scholarly communication. Use databases to find journal articles.

The main research tool in Psychology is PsycINFO. [Search Tips]

 

Most Useful PsycINFO Available via EbscoHost: A comprehensive international database of psychology, covering the academic, research, and practice literature in psychology from over 45 countries in more than 30 languages. Coverage: 1887→current Biological Abstracts A complete collection of bibliographic references covering life science and biomedical research literature published from more than 4,000 journals internationally. Coverage: 1969→current Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) Provides abstracts of articles from about 2,000 journals (published worldwide), coverage of recent books, book review citations and dissertation listings. Coverage: 1973→current Also Useful Sociological Abstracts Provides access to the latest international findings in theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and political science. Coverage: 1963→current Social Services Abstracts Abstracts of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. Coverage: 1980→current CINAHL Plus with Full Text Provides abstracts for articles from 1,700 journals in the fields of nursing and allied health. Coverage: 1982→current PubMed @ CSUSM The premier database of world biomedical literature on clinical medicine and preclinical research. Medline provides a more user-friendly interface, but less updated content. Coverage: 1966→current MedlinePlus A large, encyclopedia-like database with excellent patient information on diseases, conditions, clinical trials, hospitals, and other areas of medicine and dentistry. Coverage: current