Q. How do I find a primary source research study for my Psychology class?

Primary original research studies are available in many of the Library's databases, but you may want to consider searching:

• Psychology Database (ProQuest Psychology Journals)
• Psychology Collection
• Academic OneFile
• Academic Search Complete

Most databases do not allow you to limit your search to primary original research only - you will need to:

1. search for peer-reviewed or scholarly articles on your topic; and
2. then look through the search results to find articles that describe primary original research.

Search Tips: CTRL+F or Command+F

Control+F (PC) or Command+F (Mac), is a keyboard shortcut for the Find command when using a web browser.

A primary source research study will always contain a method or methodologies section as part of its formal document structure.

Find an article on your topic and then look to see if there is a method section in the article:

• press Control+F (PC) or Command+F (Mac) to bring up a search box;
• type in the word method; and,
• the web page will show where that term first appears on the web page - you may need to use the search box's next arrow to see additional uses of the word method on the web page.

Search Tips: Adding Keywords to Your Search

Adding certain keywords to your search may improve your chances of finding primary original research articles:

• empirical
• research
• experiment
• study
• results and method*

Examples:

• pet therapy and results and method*
• teens and marijuana and experiment
• children and television and study
• domestic violence and empirical
• research and developmental college students