Psychology: Databases

Recommended databases

One of the key databases for Psychology is APA PsycInfo. It searches a large range of psychology sources, particularly academic journals. This means you are focusing your searching within literature ascertaining to your discipline, making the results more likely to be relevant. 

Depending on your area of research, Ebsco, the host of this database, also provide access to a number of other databases that you can search together at the same time. Simply select 'Choose Databases' at the top of Psycinfo to have the choice of Academic Search Complete (useful for social sciences and education related subjects) and PsycArticles (full-text psychology database).

Database search tips

Word cloud of search-related terms

Split your topic into keywords: To find better and fewer results, think about your keywords. Make sure they accurately describe what you are looking for, and add more keywords to make your search more specific.

Think of alternative keywords: For example, 'elderly' could also be referred to as 'aging' or 'mature'. Or, think of the bigger picture. For example, instead of searching for 'boys' or 'girls', try searching for 'gender'.

Search for phrases in "double quotation marks": For example, "cognitive behavioural therapy". This will search for the phrase as a whole, instead of the individual words.

Select a data range: For example, you may only want literature published since 2010. Most databases have the option to select dates.

For more help see our Finding resources guide, or contact your Librarian.

Library service status

Current status of Library services

You can check the current status of services managed by Brunel Library below. To view the status of services managed by the Computer Centre, please visit their service status page.