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Have a research question? Chat with a librarian!
Menifee Valley Campus Library
800 Building - 2nd Floor
San Jacinto Campus Library
300 Building
Temecula Valley Campus Library
1st Floor - Room TA-107
Chat with a Peer Research Assistant to get one-on-one research help from one of your peers. If PRAs are offline, you can make an appointment!
Google Scholar indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. It does not always give you full access to an article, but you can use the citation to search for the full article in the library databases.
Articles may offer information on one particular aspect of psychology, one breakthrough in the treatment of a mental disorder, the latest on scholarly research or studies, and news in the field of psychology. Articles appear in popular magazines, newspapers, and scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. Be sure to follow your instructor's requirements for the type of articles you are allowed to use.
Library databases contain millions of articles from popular magazines, scholarly journals, and news sources. The following library databases are good resources for psychology-related articles and journals.
Database Search Tips
Once you select a database, conduct a search using the keywords you identified for your topic.
Tip! E-mail articles to yourself along with their citations so you don’t lose them. Remember to check computer-generated citations carefully to be sure they are correct!
Scholarly journals are publications written by experts—such as researchers, professors, or professionals—for other experts in their field. They are usually published by universities, academic societies, or professional associations. These articles often present the results of original research or offer in-depth analysis on a specialized topic. Most importantly, scholarly articles go through a peer-review process, where other scholars evaluate the quality, accuracy, and credibility of the research before it is published.
In contrast, popular sources—like magazines, newspapers, blogs, or general websites—are written for the general public. They are often created by journalists or freelance writers and may not go through a rigorous review process. While they can be useful for background information or current events, popular sources typically lack the depth, citations, and academic rigor required for college-level research.
Ready to start searching for scholarly journal articles? You will find them in our EBSCO and JSTOR databases. Connect to those through the Popular Databases link on the library homepage.
