Psychology: Library Research

Peer-review is a sort of quality assurance process in the publication of academic and scholarly articles. This graphic diagrams the process: 

(Attribution: Anup Kumar Das, https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Peer-Review-Process_fig1_274007791)

Research can be complicated, but it is easier if you follow a plan. Every single resource in the library plays a different role in your research, and good papers make use of each of the different types of resources.

1. Define your ideas in the broadest terms possible.
2. Use general sources, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and biographical dictionaries to get background information and start to narrow your topic.
3. Search secondary sources such as books and reviews of research for your topic. Books give an overview and/or indepth explanations, historical background, and perspectives on issues.
4. Search primary sources (original reports of the research or experience) for your topic. Journal articles present the latest researchand assume that you have a background in the topic. They are an excellent tool to trace the development of concepts and issues.
5. Organize your notes and start to write.
6. Refine your ideas, do more research, and write some more.

Some good sources to help you generate research or topic ideas:

• APA - Research in Psychology. Research in Action section is a compendium of psychological research that demonstrates the application and value of psychological science in our everyday lives. It's a sampling of the many successful and promising research areas in psychology.
• National Institute of Mental Health. Topics and publications from the federal government.
• Psychology Today - Topics. Links to blogs and articles from "Psychology Today" magazine.

Primary sources are "materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the event or topic under consideration, either as participants or as witnesses...Some primary sources are written documents, such as letters; diaries; newspapers and magazine articles; speeches; autobiographies; treatises; census data; and marriage, birth, and death registers" (Rampolla, 2012). 

Secondary sources, then, are  "texts - such as books, articles, or documentary films - that are written or created by people who were not eyewitnesses to the events or period in question; instead, the authors of secondary sources synthesize, analyze, and interpret primary sources..."(Rampolla, 2012).

A library catalog lists the resources in the library's collections--including interlibrary loan holdings. You can search for information by author, title, subject, and keyword.

Bibliographies and indexes are essentially specialized catalogs that helps searchers find specialized material, e.g. from a specific field (MLA International Bibliography), format (US Newsstream for newspapers), or particular publication (e.g. Wall Street Journal Index).