Subject and Course Guides: PSYC Canvas Guide 2: Home

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Erica DeFrain

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Subjects: Education, Psychology, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Sociology

Understanding theories, concepts, and methods

Reference materials like dictionaries, encyclopedias, and course textbooks provide important background information for understanding your topics. If you can't clearly define the theories you are researching, you won't be able to understand the scholarly research. Use these materials before you start reading articles, and then revisit them when concepts are unclear.

Sage Research Methods This link opens in a new window
Note: UNL has trial access to all content on the Sage Research Methods platform through April 30, 2025.
Books, articles, and instructional videos covering research methods in the social sciences. UNL's access includes the Sage Research Methods Core and Foundation collections, Cases parts I and II, Datasets parts I and II, Market Research videos, and Practical Research and Academic Skills videos. (Full-Text and Streaming Video)

The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 3rd ed. (2016)
This resource covers the entire spectrum of psychology, including: notable people, theories and terms; landmark case studies and experiments; applications of psychology in advertising, medicine and sports; and career information.
Annual Review of Psychology
In publication since 1950, this journal covers significant developments in the field of psychology. Articles are written by experts and link to additional critical readings and foundational information.
See more foundational sources

Where to find scholarly articles and research publications

Library databases like these make it easy to locate peer-reviewed articles from the field of pscyhology. Select a database that aligns with your discipline or research subject.

APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
This database is essential for anyone conducting research in the social and behavioral sciences. Easily find articles from the top 2,000 psychology journals.
ERIC - Educational Resources Information Center (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Education research and information published in journal articles, books, conference and policy papers, reports, and more. Sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. (Full-Text and Index)
PubMed (MEDLINE) This link opens in a new window
Biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Produced by the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM). (Index)
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Index to scholarly journals, books, conference proceedings, and patent records covering the fields of science, mathematics, engineering, technology, health and medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. (Index)

See more databases
UNL Libraries subscribes to hundreds of databases. Find the ones that are most suited to your discipline or research topic.

Conducting literature reviews

If you're working on a literature review or annotated bibliography, you need to be strategic in your searching, and have a firm understanding of your scope, research questions, inclusion criteria, and which databases or indexes are most appropriate for your topic.

SAGE Project Planner: Reviewing the Literature
The Project Planner simplifies the literature review process, explaining the importance and how to differentiate between the types of literature available.
8 Steps Search Tracking Matrix
A spreadsheet that walks you through the literature review process and helps keep track of your search terms and results.
More about conducting literature reviews

Selecting psychological testing instruments

Finding the right instrument for your research needs is critical. These resources help you locate instruments based on your specific constructs or questions, but commercial instruments will require payment for use.

Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print Internacional This link opens in a new window
Critical reviews of commercial testing instruments produced by the Buros Center for Testing at the University of Nebraska.
ETS Test Link Database This link opens in a new window
Database of over 25,000 tests and other measurement devices from the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Over 1,200 unpublished tests are immediately available for use by students and researchers. Contact information is provided to request permissions for others.

More about finding instruments

Datasets for download and analysis

Finding downloadable datasets of social science research can be difficult as many researchers don't publicly share their data. Here are some places to look.

ICPSR - Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window
International consortium with hundreds of thousands of datasets for download and analysis. Contact ICPSR-help@umich.edu to set up a free account.

Qualitative Data Repository
Downloadable datasets generated or collected through qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences.

Gallup Analytics This link opens in a new window
Gallup survey results from both the U.S. and around the world. (Statistics and Data)

SAGE Research Methods datasets
Over 500 datasets using data from real research, designed to support learning of data analysis techniques.
See more sources of data

Citing your sources

There are hundreds of great resources to help you quickly create citations in the most common formats and more advanced tools to help you manage and organize your research. UNL Libraries supports many citation management tools. Contact us with questions.

APA Style and Grammar Guidelines
information about APA Style as described in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition.
ZoteroBib
Build a bibliography instantly from any computer or device, without creating an account or installing any software.
[VIDEO] 3 Minute Intro to Citation Tools
A quick intro and comparison of EndNote, Mendeley, RefWorks, and Zotero
More about citation management tools

Getting help

UNL Libraries is here to help you throughout all stages of your research. Here are just a few of the ways to get help.

Schedule an appointment with the psychology librarian
I'm happy to support you throughout all stages of your research project, from topic selection to searching the literature to sharing your work.
Contact AskUS for immediate assistance
Chat, call, email, and in-person assistance from library professionals ready to answer your questions.
See more answers to FAQs
Answers to the Libraries most frequently asked questions related to collections, services, policies, and people.