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Psychology

Resources for Psychology research, writing, and information at Okanagan College and the broader online community.

What is a scholarly journal?

A scholarly journal (also called academic journals, scientific journals, or peer reviewed journals) is a periodical that publishes articles written by experts in a particular field of study. The articles are written for experts or students of the field, and use academic or technical language. "Peer-reviewed (also called refereed) journals have an editorial board of subject experts who review and evaluate submitted articles before accepting them for publication. A journal may be a scholarly journal but not a peer-reviewed journal." [1]

TIP: When you find a journal article that is relevant to your research/writing, check the reference list to find similar articles.

Accessing Material at OC Library

At Okanagan College Library, we use OCtopus to search for library materials. You can start your search here: okanagan.bc.ca/library

There are a few ways to limit your search results to scholarly/academic journals. Once you have performed your search you can use the limiters in the "Refine Results" column to the left of your search results. There are a couple of limiters that you can use:

  • Limit To: select "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals"
  • Resource Types: select "Academic Journals"

Remember, you can put multiple limiters on your results! You can choose both "Scholarly Journals" and "Academic Journals" and other limiters as well. These will all help to narrow your results to find the most relevant materials for you.

You can also search directly within specific journals. Check out the selection of journals with Indigenous content available through OC Library in the next section of this guide.

Keep in mind:

  • Online resources can often be emailed, printed, or downloaded.
  • Renew your checked out materials online, by phone, or in person at your campus library.
  • Place Request links next to library materials allows you to request to have a book or DVD delivered from one OC Campus Library to another.
  • Restricted access materials in some databases will require you to be logged into your library account in order to see them. If you are having trouble accessing material, make sure you are logged in using your myOkanagan username (e.g. 300xxxxxx@stu.oc or 300xxxxxx.emp.oc) and password.
  • Save items for later by using the "tools" buttons to the right of the item's record. We recommend e-mailing the item to yourself or copying the permalink to the item (TIP: don't copy the web browser URL as it will not take you back to your item later).

E-journals

Find specific electronic journals related to Psychology.

Browse psychology e-journal titles to find articles

Use information from a citation to locate a specific article (such as from a reference list)

Using Databases

Advantages to searching within databases as a research strategy: 

  • Databases are often limited by academic discipline, which may give you fewer, but more relevant, results.
  • Databases are highly structured, which means you can perform complex searches using controlled vocabulary.

Each database may have their own way and limitations of searching within the database. Some may use "And," "Or," quotation marks and other search strategies, but some may not. If you are not getting the results you expected within a database, make sure the search is worded the way the database works. Look for links like "search tips" or a question mark icon next to the search fields to help you determine the best way to search. You can also ask us for help!

TIP: Searching databases with the keywords recommended in this research guide is a good starting strategy. However, be aware that some databases may use different terminology. When you find a relevant article, check the subject headings and article description for terminology that could be useful in a new keyword search.

Google Scholar

Search for journal articles, conference papers, and other scholarly works from a variety of sources. Look for the Where Can I Get This? link to connect directly to the item you want, via the OC Library.

Off-campus OC users must have library links set to "Okanagan College" under Scholar Preferences. Browsers must be set to accept Cookies.

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