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University of Portland Clark Library

PSY 101: General Psychology (Balbag): Scholarly Sources

Finding and Reading Articles

More Resources for Finding Articles

What is Peer Review?

Creating an Effective Search Strategy

  1. Start by writing a short description of your topic, such as:

    How can people use psychology to address racism?

  2. Next, identify the key concepts of your topic, and brainstorm alternate terms. Search APA PsycINFO for each concept individually to see the Subject Heading terms that are associated with articles.

    For example: Psychology, racism

  3. Use OR to indicate alternative terms and synonyms. This is one example of a starting search strategy:
  4. Use the asterisk (*) to find different variations of search terms:

    Psycholog* will find: Psychology, Psychological, Psychologists...

    Note: You don't necessarily need to include Psycholog* in a search of APA PsycInfo, but this search term could be a useful addition to searches in non-psychology databases

    Raci* will find: Racial, Racist, Racists, Racism

  5. Break up phrases with AND:

    Raci* AND Bias (instead of racial bias)

Relevant APA PsycINFO Subject Headings

Racism
Racial Bias
Racial Disparities
Racial Microaggression
Race and Ethnic Discrimination
Systemic Racism

Intervention
Psychological Theories
Psychosocial Interventions
Social Psychology

Educational Access
Equal Education
Socioeconomic Disparities

Mental Health
Quality of Life
Sense of Purpose
Well Being

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