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Psychology: Searching PsycInfo

Library support for the School of Psychology

Introduction - why use PsycInfo?

PsycInfo is the main bibliographic database for Psychology, Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health. It has comprehensive coverage, containing more than 3.4 million records and including references to peer-reviewed journals, books and dissertations. Journal records make up 80% of the database, with nearly 2,500 journals covered. The database is updated weekly, ensuring current research is included. PsycInfo at Queen's University Belfast is provided through the Ovid platform: PsycInfo 1806 to present.

Along with some other databases, PsycInfo uses Subject Headings to index references. It is worth finding out how to search using Subject Headings as this will improve the accuracy of your search results. See further information below on understanding Subject Headings and searching PsycInfo. 

Make sure you have an appropriate search strategy before you start searching the databases.

Understanding Subject Headings

What are subject headings?

  • Subject headings are controlled lists of terms used to describe a topic.
  • Each article indexed in the database will be assigned a number of relevant subject headings.
  • The subject headings are arranged in a thesaurus, allowing you to explore broader, narrower and related terms.

Why should I use subject headings?

  • If you search for the most relevant subject heading, you won’t have to think of all the synonyms, alternative phrases etc; you will be searching for the subject, not just the words the author has used.
  • Searching using subject headings will improve the relevance of your results.

For example

By searching the subject heading cognitive behavioral therapy, you will also retrieve references with the following terms:

  • cbt
  • cognitive behaviour therapy
  • cognitive behavior therapy
  • cognitive behavioural therapy 
  • cognitive behavioral therapy 

Searching PsycInfo using Subject Headings (Ovid video)

Combined Subject Heading and keyword search

Although the Subject Headings are very useful for finding relevant literature, they shouldn't be relied on to find all references for your research question. For a comprehensive literature review, it is recommended that you use a combination of Subject Heading and keyword searching. See video below for a demonstration of a PsycInfo search, using Subject Headings and keywords.