Libraries

BML Database Guides: PsycINFO

PsycINFO is a key database for international research literature in psychology, cognitive science and related disciplines.
Years of coverage: 1806 - present. Updated weekly.
Subject coverage Research literature from psychology, psychiatry and related disciplines including education, business, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, law, linguistics and social work.
Types of content: Citations and summaries of journal articles, books, book chapters, reports, theses and dissertations published internationally.  Full-text journal articles are also linked from PsycArticles and Psychology: A Sage Full-Text Collection.
Supplier: Produced by the American Psychological Association. It is the on-line version of Psychological Abstracts. Our vendor is CSA.

Instructional Materials from the UC/UCSD Libraries:

Instructional Materials from the Database Vendor and Other Sources:

Tips and Tricks

  • For better results, use Advanced Search screen and Limits to combine different types of searches.
  • Search the PsycINFO Thesaurus to identify standardized subject headings called descriptors to get better results on your topic. Click on Search Tools, Thesaurus tab.
  • At the bottom of each Advanced Search results screen is the search strategy that created the results. Edit your search here for better results.
  • Use the Search Tools tab to use history, combine searches, alerts, thesaurus, and indexes features.

For EndNote (Desktop) Users

  • In PsycINFO: choose which citations you want to import. Select the Save/Print/Email button, and choose the record format you want. Choose Save or E-mail, and note the location of the file you save. There is no special format for End-Note - records are automatically saved with appropriate tags for End-Note to use.
  • In End-Note: Use the PsycINFO/Cambridge Scientific Abstracts import filter. If you have a very old version of End-Note, you may have to download it from the End-Note Import Filters page. 
  • Connect There is a problem with the Connect file for PsycINFO that comes with EndNote. UCSD libraries have created a new Connect file for UC's PsycINFO.
    Windows users, right-click to save this file to the Connections folder within your EndNote program files.
    Mac users: please contact us for instructions on how to modify the existing connect file.

For RefWorks Users
There are two different ways to get PsycINFO references into RefWorks:

Method 1. Export items directly from the results page of a PsycINFO database search:

refworks button

  • Mark the records to be exported into your RefWorks database.
  • Click the RefWorks button. Note: only records for Published Works will be processed.
  • Your records will appear in the Last Imported Folder.

Method 2.  To Save References to a Text File for Import:

  • Mark the records to be imported into your RefWorks database.
  • Click Save/Print/E-mail link at the top of the results page.
  • Select Full Format.
  • Scroll down to the Save button. Choose file format: PC, MAC, UNIX. Click Save.
  • From the File Download window select Save the file. The file is pre-named and is a text file.
  • Select the “save” location (i.e. desktop), accept or change file name, select Text (.txt) as the file type and Save the file.
  • From the RefWorks toolbar select References/Import.
  • Select Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Direct as the import filter/data source.
  • Choose PsycINFO as the database.
  • Choose folder to import references to.
  • Browse to find the text file you saved on your computer (on desktop).
  • Click Import
  • Your new records should appear in the Last Imported Folder or selected folder.