Intro to Searching For

Journal Articles
Imelda R Kartika
Searching Library Database By Journal

• Go to https://search.proquest.com/index
• Username: 0PRW8KXFDP
• Password : pqdikti2011
• Type in the journal you are searching for (i.e., "Journal of
Applied Behavior Analysis ")
• Click "Search”
• Click where it shows a link to the journal you are interested in
(i.e., "Journal Of Applied Behavior Analysis Online") If there is
not a link available or nothing matching the same title you
entered, the library probably does not have access to that journal.
(You can request the material be sent to the library to you, but
that is another lesson for another day.)
Searching Library Database By Journal

• Click where it indicates the most recent articles (usually denoted

with something such as “1994-”), or articles that are are available
during a specific time period that you are searching for. (The
library may not have have access to current articles for every
journal).
• If you are using the wireless internet at CSUN or are at home,
you may be required to use your login information at this point to
gain access to the material.
• Click on whichever term you are specifically interested in that
article's database (e.g., Winter 2010, January 2011)
• …You now have access to research articles, reports, brief
reviews, etc. of the journal you are searching for.
 Things to Keep in Mind...

• The library may have a journal available to you, but not online.
o Example: Repeat steps 1-9, but now try searching for "Journal of
Family and Consumer Sciences.” The webpage shows you where to
physically find the journal in the library, but there will not be any
electronic copy available to you.

• The library may have access to neither electronic copies of the

journal nor physical copies of the journal.
o Example: Repeat steps 1-9, but now try searching for "Marriage and
Family Review." The top of the page indicates that there are not any
matches to your search; this means the library does not have access to
this journal at this time.
o What Now???
 If this occurs before we have a chance to explain any other
alternative methods of obtaining said articles to you and you
REALLY, REALLY need them, please feel free to come to the
Graduate Teaching Associates, PA's, or Dr. Plunkett himself.
Searching By Online Database

• Probably the most used online database for Psychology students

is PsychINFO.

• For our purposes, we will be using PsychINFO to demonstrate

how to search for journal articles online (as kind of a gross
overview of multiple ways to do this)

• We will also show the 3 types of results you will typically

encounter and what they mean.
Searching By Online Database
1. Go to http://library.csun.edu/

2. Click where it says "Databases A-Z"

3. Then click on "P"

4. Scroll down to "PsycINFO (EBSCO)"

• There are also other databases from which you can (and maybe
should) search from if you are looking for articles related to
Psychology. This is just an example from one of them, so that you
can have an introduction to the search process.

5. There are 3 search options at the top. For the sake of demonstrating
this example, in those three search boxes, type in "autonomy, latino,
parent"
• There are also many options for how you can search these terms,
as well (i.e., Author, Title, All Fields, etc.). For this example, leave it
how it is when you first arrive at the page.
Searching By Online Database
6. NOTICE: The very first search result has a 'pdf' document that can
be downloaded (the PDF indicator is located at the very bottom of the
citation)

7. NOTICE: The second search result is a dissertation - which should

NOT be cited.
• Dissertations should only be cited when there is no other research
on your topic, because the review process for publishing
dissertations is limited to their dissertation committee vs. peer-
reviewed
• Try to stick to peer-reviewed journals ONLY for your research, if
possible. If you have questions on this, please contact your GTA,
PA, or Dr. Plunkett.

9. To avoid this otherwise grueling article-by-article search for only

peer-reviewed articles, you can check the "Peer Reviewed" box on the
left side bar and then click "update," and it will eliminate dissertations
(and other things like books, etc.) that are not peer-reviewed.
Searching By Online Database
10. NOTICE: The third article does not have a pdf file, or any other
button indicating full text is immediately available (e.g., HTML Full
Text). However, if you click on the 'Find Text' button at the bottom of
the citation, it will take you to a different database that will tell you if the
library has the pdf file at all somewhere on another database
• When you click on 'Find Text,' it will either
o Give you a selction(s) from which links to the article on another
database (i.e. other than PsychINFO, if that is where you are at),
OR
o Tell you that the text is not available; the library does not have
access to this article through their subscribed databases.
However, you won't know unless you first check, by clicking on
'Find Text.'