Database Searching Tips
General Tips
There is no standardized format for a database’s appearance or user interface. However, most databases offer similar search functionality.
- Keyword searching is default on many databases.
- Use important nouns as search words.
- Try using synonyms of your search words: college, university, "higher education".
- Avoid using common words: "a", "an","the","to","by", "of", etc.
- Use double quotations marks to search for an exact phrase.
Example: “embryonic stem cell”
Use Boolean to Build Better Searches
Boolean Search Commands
- OR
- AND
- NOT
Boolean Searching Helps Build Better Searches
- Expand the search and increase the number of hits (OR = MORE)
- Narrow the search and decrease the number of hits (I NEED THIS AND THAT)
- Exclude unwanted results (I WANT THIS NOT THAT)
Psychology Databases
- APA PsycArticles This link opens in a new windowPsycArticles from the American Psychological Association (APA), is a source of full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology. It contains more than 163,000 articles from more than 80 journals published by the APA. Coverage spans 1894 to present.
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new windowPsycInfo is the American Psychological Association's resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations. It is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. Ninety-nine percent of its content is peer-reviewed. Included is information on the psychological aspects of related fields such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, technology, linguistics, anthropology, business, law and others. Journal coverage, which spans from the 1800s to the present, includes international material selected from around 2,500 periodicals.
- APA PsycTests This link opens in a new windowPsycTests, produced by the American Psychological Association (APA), is a database providing descriptive summaries, full text (when available), and relevant citations on the development and assessment of tests and measures that can be used in research and teaching. Coverage dates from 1910 to the present. Updated monthly.
- Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print This link opens in a new windowMental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) with Tests in Print provides users with a comprehensive guide to over 2,700 contemporary testing instruments. All MMY entries contain descriptive information (e.g., test purpose, publisher, pricing) and edited review(s) written by leading content area experts. Tests in Print (TIP) serves as a comprehensive bibliography to all known commercially available tests that are currently in print in the English language.
- PEP Archive This link opens in a new windowPEP Archive contains peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles from the field of psychoanalysis. PEP Archive offers the full text for 47 principal psychoanalytic journals and more than 80 classic psychoanalytic books dating as far back as 1871.
- PsychiatryOnline This link opens in a new windowPsychiatryOnline is a resource for information on diagnosis, treatment, guidelines, the latest research, and breaking news from the field of psychiatry. Provides access to all American Psychiatric Association journals, Psychiatric News, the DSM Library, and textbooks, as well as APA Practice Guidelines, and continuing medical education.
- Psychology This link opens in a new windowPsychology Collection from Gale Onefile brings together information found in 4.1 million articles from nearly 300 journals and covering all fields of psychology—abnormal, biological, cognitive, comparative, developmental, personality, quantitative, social and all areas of applied psychology.
- Psychology Database This link opens in a new windowPsychology Database provides abstracts and indexing for more than 650 titles, with over 540 titles available in full text. ProQuest Psychology Journals encompasses topics from leading psychology and psychosomatic publications. In addition to clinical and social psychology, it also provides coverage of related disciplines including genetics, psychology of business and economics, communication, criminology, addiction, neurology, social welfare, and more.
- PsycTHERAPY This link opens in a new windowPsycTHERAPY features streaming video recordings of leading therapists demonstrating the approaches for which they are known in unscripted, spontaneous sessions with participants who have agreed to have their demonstration sessions taped for educational purposes.
- PTSDpubs Database This link opens in a new windowThe PTSDpubs Database (formerly PILOTS) is an extensive PTSD resource produced by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
- ScienceDirect Journals This link opens in a new windowScienceDirect Journals is a full-text scientific database offering journal articles from Elsevier, a leading international science publisher. Full text access is provided to LIU students, faculty, and staff through LIU Libraries subscriptions.
Keyword Searching
It Matters!
The terms you enter in the Search Box matter!
They will impact the results you receive and ultimately the resources that will help you to write your research paper.
Keywords are important words and concepts drawn from your research question. One way to quickly identify keywords is to eliminate all words (other than nouns) from your research question. Once you have identified all of the keywords from your research question then you will need to start thinking about amplifying your search terms by using synonyms for your keywords and integrating these terms into your searches.
Truncation and WILDcards
Truncation and Wildcards Can Help You Build Better Searches
The most common wildcard and truncation symbols are:
- Question mark (?) - Used in the middle of a word. Must replace one letter and only one letter.
- Example: wom?n would return both woman and women.
- Example: colo#r would return both color and colour.
- Example: wom?n would return both woman and women.
- Asterisk (*) - Used at the end of a word (truncation). Will bring back various endings for a root word.
- Example: comput* would return computer, compute, computerize, computing, computation, etc.
There are many other truncation and wildcard symbols. Each database is different and will sometimes use a symbol in a different way than another database. Be sure to check the advanced searching tips and help guides located in each individual database to learn which symbols you can use in that database.