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PSY 3520 Research Methods in Psychology

Books

Literature Review

What is a Literature Review?

A literature review is a written summary and analysis of existing knowledge on a particular topic.

This assignment requires you to find primary research articles for your literature review.

Is your article primary research?

Your article is likely primary research if it includes

  • Abstract or Methods section states the specific population being studied
  • The methods section describes how the researchers collected data
  • Authors explaining on a study that they conducted themselves
  • Title or Abstract states a type of original research study
    • Examples: Randomized Controlled Trial, Clinical Study, Clinical Trial, Cross-Sectional Study

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are NOT original research.

More Help

Psychology Databases

Search Tips

Keywords

Identify keywords for your topic and brainstorm narrower, broader, and related terms.

Example: Factors that affect academic performance in first-generation college students.

Academic Performance College First-Generation Students
Student Success Higher Education Children of Immigrants
Student Achievement University Minority Students
Learning Outcomes Community College Nontraditional Students

 

Boolean Operators

Boolean Operators AND, OR, and NOT allow you to broaden or narrow your results in the library catalog and databases. You can easily use these to clarify what you need by choosing the advanced search option.

Peanut butter AND jelly, only results with both terms; Peanut butter OR jelly, results with either or both terms; Peanut butter NOT jelly, results with peanut butter only, excludes results with jelly and with both terms.

 

Found too many results?

Add more keywords.

Adding additional keywords to your search can help to further narrow your topic.

Example: college AND first-generation students AND academic performance

Use a filter

Look on the left side for ways you can filter your materials. Here are a few to consider, depending on your needs.

  • material type - such as a book, newspaper article, or review
  • peer-reviewed - to find scholarly articles
  • date - typically to find the most current materials
  • subject - to find articles about a certain topic

 

Found too few results?

Try different search terms.

What other words could you use to describe this concept? Brainstorm related terms, synonyms, and slightly different forms of your word or phrase. Also brainstorm broader categories or concepts it belongs to, as well as narrower elements or examples. (See the keywords section above for examples.)

It may also be useful to consider the official, academic, or formal way to write that term. This is more likely to be used in academic writing.

Use fewer search terms.

Sometimes less is more! The more words, phrases, or subjects you ask the database to find, the fewer sources will meet the criteria.

Use OR.

Broaden your search by using the boolean operator OR to link your terms.

Example: (college OR higher education OR university) AND first-generation students AND (academic performance OR student success)