Psychology: Home

Having trouble finding a paper topic?  Here are some suggestions from the American Psychological Association.

Resources for your topic may be found in several places:

A general overview of any topic can be found in a Reference book.  Good places to find Reference books are Credo Reference and the Gale Reference.

An entire book (either on the shelf or on the computer) on a single topic may be found in the catalog.  The primary call number for psychology books is 150.

Articles are found in databases.  One of the best sources for articles in psychology journals is the database PsycInfo.

Databases covering related disciplines may also contain articles of interest:

Communication and Mass Media Complete

Education via ERIC

Family and Society Studies Worldwide

SPORTDiscus

Sociological Abstracts

What do I do if I find a relevant journal article, but it is really old?

Social Sciences Citation Index helps you find similar more recent research that references the older article.

Survey instruments and tests may be found in several sources including:

PsycTests contains some freely available, noncommercial tests and surveys.

Mental Measurements Yearbook (R 016.15 B93) and Tests in Print (R 016.3712 T28) are print sources that list the reliability and validity of many commercial tests.  Test publishers are also listed.  Remember commercial publishers generally charge per answer sheet fo any test ordered.

If using human subjects, remember to consult the guidelines and fill out the forms for the Protection of Human Participants in Research.

You may borrow materials from other universities in Raleigh.

Click here to see the Cooperating Raleigh College agreement.

If a journal article is not at Meredith or a book is not at Meredith or North Carolina State University you may submit an ILL request.

Endnote Web and Zotero are products which allows you to collect all your documentation in one place.

APA (American Psychological Association) publishes its own style manual describing your paper's format

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Carlyle Campbell Library, Reference Desk, R808.02 Am3 2010 
• The Basics of APA Style Tutorial Free tutorial for learning APA style from the American Psychological Association
• APA Formatting and Style Guide From the OWL at Purdue University.

Other student papers are in the library.

Possible careers?

Test preparation for the Graduate Record Exam:

Graduate school:

• Applying to Graduate School in Psychology: Advice from successful students and prominent psychologists 150.711 Ap589
• Getting In: A step-by-step plan for gaining admission to graduate school in psychology  150.71 G33 (2 copies, one on reserve)
• Surviving Graduate School in Psychology:  A pocket mentor 150.711 K96s