Q. How do I find primary source articles for my Human Development class?

First, a quick comparison of what's a primary source & what's a secondary source (in terms of your assignment - primary source articles for HMDV):

Databases to try:

ProQuest Psychology Journals

Access

• Library home page, Databases A-Z, "P", ProQuest Psychology Journals or use the link below these instructions

Searching

Limits - use with Basic & Advanced searches

• Full text documents only – only see articles with actual text of the article
• Scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed – only see articles from journals; peer reviewed means the article has been reviewed by other experts in the field

Basic Search – one box

Example: athletes and anxiety

(this finds articles about athletes and anxiety)

Note: not all results will be primary studies – some will be book reviews, summaries of studies, literature reviews, reports on studies

When viewing an article on the screen that you think might be a primary source, use the CTRL+ F...press the two keys at once (the CTRL key and the F key) and then type in method - in FireFox browser this will be a small box that appears at the bottom of the screen and in Internet Explorer it's usually a box that appears in the middle of your screen. You're trying to see if there is a "section" of the article called the Methods or Methodology - a primary source article will have this section. If there's no Methods or Methodology, then it's not a primary source article.

Advanced Search – different ideas in different boxes

Example: women

"body image"

diet

(each term goes in a different box - this finds articles about women and body image and diet)

Then use the CTRL + F and then type in method as described above.

Academic OneFile

Access

• Library home page, Databases Quick Links, Academic OneFile or use the link below these instructions
  

Searching

Limits - use with Basic & Advanced searches

• to documents with full text – only see articles with actual text of the article
• to peer-reviewed publications – only see articles from peer reviewed sources; peer reviewed means the article has been reviewed by other experts in the field

Advanced Search – different ideas in different boxes

Example:

children

divorce

depression

(each term goes in a different box - this finds articles about children and divorce and depression )

Then use the CTRL+F method described above. 
 

teenagers

"eating disorders"

(each term goes in a different box - this finds articles about teenagers and eating disorders)

Then use the CTRL + F and then type in method as described above. 
 

Other databases will also contain primary source materials, however these two are a good bet. If you want to try other databases, use the Databases A-Z Guide which lists all databases.