Psychology Research Guide
Topics in Psychology

Evaluating Information Sources for Psychology

Scholarly and Popular | Primary and Secondary
Databases | Empirical Studies | Contact a Librarian

Scholarly and Popular

Newspapers and popular magazines publish articles about topics in psychology of interest to the general public. These articles may be good sources of information, but they are not scholarly. The authors are often journalists rather than scholars; the presentation of the information is informal, free of the requirements of scholarly publication; and the intended audience is general readers.

Scholarly journal articles are usually published in peer reviewed journals, "which means they have been scrutinised by other researchers in the field and judged worthy of publication for the wider research population." (Heffernan, 2005, p. 49). The authors are scholars and researchers; the information and research is presented in the required formats for scholarly publication; and the intended audience is other scholars and researchers.

See also:
Distinguishing Between Scholarly or Peer Reviewed and Popular Journal Articles (University of North Carolina Libraries)
Locate Scholarly Journal Articles (Georgia State University Library)
Peer Reviewed Journals in Education & Psychology (University of California Berkeley Library)

Primary and Secondary

"Some students find two or three books about a topic and proceed to write a paper based on these sources. This activity is not research; it is book reporting. In general, books (especially textbooks) are secondary sources, summarizing, interpreting, evaluating, and reporting the research and theorizing of others. Secondary sources are valuable as an introduction to a topic but should not be your sole source of information." (Reed & Baxter, 2003, p. 15)

The same caveat applies to using Google to find sources for your paper. Websites can be valuable sources of information, but they do not replace the scholarship published in books and journals. You should also evaluate websites carefully to be sure they are reliable and appropriate.

Articles published in journals, magazines, and newspapers may also be secondary sources, providing secondhand summaries of research published elsewhere. "A journal such as Psychology Today does not present original research but summarizes research and topics for a lay audience." (Reed & Baxter, 2003, p. 53) Types of articles in this category include theoretical papers and literature reviews. "Theoretical papers typically review the published literature on a particular psychological model or theory, and attempt to evaluate and advance our understanding of that theory.... Literature review papers often focus on a particular psychological phenomenon and summarise what is known about that particular phenomenon. In such a paper, previously published research will be summarised and presented (usually) in chronological order." (Heffernan, 2005, p. 42)

Primary sources include original works of an author--novels, poems, short stories, autobiographies, diaries, and firsthand reports of observations or research. Scholars present the results of their research at conferences, or publish them in dissertations, books, and journals. "Most published psychological research appears in the form of journal articles." (Reed & Baxter, 2003, p. 53)

Scholarly articles that publish original research are primary sources. These articles may present the results of various kinds of research, including clinical case studies, empirical studies, longitudinal studies, qualitative studies, quantitative studies, and treatment outcomes/clinical trials.

See also:
Primary & Secondary Sources in Education & Psychology (University of California Berkeley Library)
Types of Scholarly Literature (Five Colleges of Ohio Libraries)

Databases
*Databases available on Library computers to all and off campus to UMass students, faculty, staff, and affiliates with an OIT account; enter your OIT username and password when prompted.

Search the library's databases to find scholarly articles, including primary and secondary sources.