PsycINFO® Reload to Streamline Searching for Document Types, Methodologies, Tests

DATE: June 25, 2005
CONTACT: William C. Hayward
(202) 336-5652

CHICAGO – The American Psychological Association (APA) announced today a forthcoming reload of the PsycINFO abstract database that will make it much easier to retrieve specific types of documents, particular research methodologies, and psychometric instruments. Because PsycINFO is integrated tightly with APA's suite of five databases, the reload will also improve searching of PsycARTICLES ®, PsycBOOKS ™, PsycEXTRA ®, and PsycCRITIQUES ™.

"This is a librarian-driven reload that will integrate refinements suggested by customers over several years to further improve the quality of PsycINFO," said Linda Beebe, Senior Director, PsycINFO.

Among enhancements that the reload will bring to PsycINFO are:

• A Publication Type field, which will simplify searching for the documents abstracted in PsycINFO by their "top level" medium—journal, book, dissertation abstract, and so forth
• A Document Type field, a subset of Publication Type that indicates the specific component of the document, such as journal article, book chapter, letter to the editor, editorial, or book review
• A Methodology Type field, which will enable users to search for particular categories of research studies, such as clinical case reports, empirical studies, and literature reviews
• A Test/Survey Appended tag to identify documents that include psychometric instruments
• An Auxiliary Material field that will combine the previous Supplemental Data and Auxiliary Material Included fields and indicate the availability of data sets, videos, CDs, study guides, and more
• The new fields, as well as new descriptors from the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, will be mapped back fully to older PsycINFO records.

About APA Databases

APA Databases are leading information resources in the behavioral sciences. The PsycINFO® abstract database provides access to international professional literature in psychology and such related disciplines as neuroscience, medicine, psychiatry, social work, nursing, sociology, business, education, pharmacology, and physiology, with comprehensiveness and quality unmatched by any A&I database or federated search resource. Providing both a deep backfile and timely access to current research through weekly updates, PsycINFO spans the history of the discipline, from the origins of psychology in the nineteenth century to the cutting-edge findings of today's behavioral sciences. PsycARTICLES®, an essential complement to PsycINFO, is a one-stop source for electronic access to the full text of articles from APA's authoritative, peer-reviewed scholarly journals. PsycBOOKS™ is a full-text collection of chapters from authored and edited scholarly volumes published by APA, as well as a selection of classic works in psychology from other publishers. PsycEXTRA® is a database of the gray literature in psychology and related behavioral fields, providing access to relevant material published outside the traditional peer reviewed journal or scholarly book. PsycCRITIQUES™ is a unique electronic periodical delivering 15-20 reviews weekly of current professional psychology books, as well as reviews from a psychological perspective of films and trade books.

About APA

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 53 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting health, education, and human welfare.

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