This document provides tips for searching PsycINFO and PsycArticles databases. It defines two main types of articles: empirical studies, which are research studies based on facts and observations; and literature reviews, which summarize previous work on a topic. While assignments often require empirical studies, literature reviews can help identify relevant empirical studies discussed within. The document advises skimming literature reviews to find empirical studies cited, and then searching directly for those articles.
4. TYPES OF ARTICLES
• Empirical Study = a study "based on facts, systematic observation, or
experiment, rather than theory or general philosophical principle.” (APA)
• Literature Review = a survey of “previously published literature on a
particular topic to define and clarify a particular problem; summarize
previous investigations; identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and
inconsistencies in the literature; and suggest the next step in solving the
problem.” (APA)
*** While your assignment requires you to use empirical studies, literature reviews
will likely lead you to empirical studies. Simply skim a literature review to identify
empirical studies discussed therein, and then search for those articles by their title
and/or author(s).
