Psychology Research Guide

The list below is a small subset of the databases on the Articles and Databases page on the library's website. For a full list of databases relevant to your research, see the Psychology Subject List.

Boolean Operators

Many catalogs and databases allow the user to put a search string together using the boolean operators AND, OR, or NOT.

• AND - combines search terms so that each search result contains all of the terms. For example, stereotyping AND prejudice finds articles that contain both terms.
• OR - combines search terms so that each search result contains at least one of the terms. For example, stereotyping OR prejudice finds results that contain either term.
• NOT - excludes terms so that each search result does not contain any of the terms that follow it. For example, stereotyping NOT prejudice finds results that contain the term stereotyping but not the term prejudice.

Truncation

In many catalogs and databases, truncation is represented by an asterisk (*). To use truncation, enter the root of a search term and replace the ending with an *.  

For example, type behav* to find the words behave, behavior, behaviour, behavioral, behaviorism, etc..

PsycINFO has included cited references appearing in journal articles, books, and book chapters. Although comprehensive coverage of cited references began in 2001, references appear in some records for earlier years, and APA will continue to add retrospective coverage. This cited reference data enables the "Find Similar" and "Find Citing Articles" functions.

Web of Science is the most complete and comprehensive citation tracking database with coverage from 1900 to the present. It provides thorough coverage of ~5900 major journals. Includes cited author searching. Abstracts, keywords, and additional subject categories are included and searchable from 1991+. Video Tutorial

Scopus Provides International coverage of journal articles, selected web sites, and patents in the sciences and social sciences; provides citation tracking from 1996 to the present. Interactive Tutorial

Google Scholar provides access to peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Although it is not as standardized, thorough, or reliable as BIOSIS, Web of Science and other literature databases, Google Scholar has a simple interface that many find convenient and easy to use.

• Google Scholar Help
• Google Scholar Advanced Search
• Advanced Search Tips

To locate the full text of an article, click the FULL-TEXT button in the database. 

If Princeton does not have access to the full text you can use either Article Express, Borrow Direct, or Interlibrary Loan (ILL) to request the article or book from one of our partner institutions: 

Article Express: ArticleExpress is the Library’s electronic document delivery service available to current members of the Princeton University community. Journal articles, book chapters or selections, conference proceedings papers, and newspaper articles are available through ArticleExpress. The service offers electronic delivery of these materials in the shortest possible time.

Borrow Direct: is a rapid, patron-initiated borrowing and lending service offered by Princeton University Library and twelve partner libraries--Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, and Yale.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL): Interlibrary Loan (ILL) provides academic materials not available at the University. Service is available to any member of the University community who needs material for an academic research project or course-related assignment.