Searching many terms at once on PsycINFO

Searching Many Terms at Once in PsycINFO®

November 2016

Examples on APA PsycNET®, EBSCOhost, Ovid, and ProQuest

Searching Many Terms in PsycINFO®

These slides contain supporting material for a post on the APA

Databases & Electronic Resources Blog

Searching Many Terms at Once on PsycINFO

• When you begin a review of the literature, it’s important to construct a

successful search query that harnesses all the research on the topic.

• One way to do this is to search for synonyms and related concepts at

the same time.

• Here is a step by step guide to searching many terms at once on

PsycINFO.

Searching Many Terms in PsycINFO®

• List the concepts you are researching.

• Brainstorm alternate terms for each of your concepts.

• Synonyms and interchangeable terms will be joined using OR. After we run each

OR search, we’ll join the concepts using AND.

Searching Many Terms in PsycINFO®

APA PsycNET® Search

Before you begin the search, log in to (or create) your personal account on APA

PsycNET®. This allows you to edit your search, and to save the search to run again

later.

Log in to your personal account

APA PsycNET®

Customize the search by adding more rows for search terms, and changing the

conjunction from AND to OR.

You can search using the default Any Field.

PsycINFO® Advanced Search

APA PsycNET®

Save Your Search

APA PsycNET®

Give your search a name, and view it in Saved Searches.

Repeat previous steps to search and save all your concepts.

Run the rest of the OR searches

APA PsycNET®

Within the Recent Searches tab on the

Search page, you can select your saved

searches.

At the bottom of the page, you can

Combine Checked Searches with AND.

Combine searches with AND

APA PsycNET®

Once the combined search is saved to

My PsycNET, you can edit or run it at

any time.

You can also set up an RSS feed or an

email alert to be notified whenever

PsycINFO® adds a new record on your

topic.

Save and refine your combined Search

APA PsycNET®

• Add, remove or change terms

• Search as Keywords, Title or

Abstract instead of Any Field

• Limit year of publication

Ways to edit your combined search

APA PsycNET®

• Limit to a Document Type,

Methodology, or Population

Group

• Limit to recently added

materials

Ways to edit your combined Search

APA PsycNET®

EBSCOhost Search

Before you begin the search, log in to (or create) your personal account on

EBSCOhost. This allows you to edit your search, and to save the search to run

again later.

Log in to your personal account

EBSCOhost

Customize the search by adding more rows for search terms, and changing the

conjunction from AND to OR.

Select your field to search: All Text.

PsycINFO® Advanced Search

EBSCOhost

Save Your Search

EBSCOhost

Give your search a name, and view it in

My Folder: Saved Searches.

Repeat previous steps to search and save all your concepts.

Run the rest of the OR searches

EBSCOhost

Within the Search History link on the Search page, you can select your saved

searches.

Select and Search with AND.

Combine searches with AND

EBSCOhost

Once the combined search is saved to My EBSCOhost, you can edit or run it at

any time.

You can also set up an RSS feed or to be notified whenever PsycINFO® adds a

new record on your topic.

Save and refine your combined Search

EBSCOhost

• Limit year of publication

• Limit to a Document Type, or

Population Group

Ways to edit your combined search

EBSCOhost

Ovid Search

Before you begin the search, log in to (or create) your personal account on Ovid.

This allows you to edit your search, and to save the search to run again later.

Log in to your personal account

Ovid

Customize the search by adding more rows for search terms, and changing the

conjunction from AND to OR.

You can search using the default All Fields.

PsycINFO® Multi-Field Search

Ovid

Save Your Search

Ovid

Give your search a name, and select Permanent. View it in

My Workspace: Permanent Searches.

Repeat previous steps to search and save all your concepts.

Run the rest of the OR searches

Ovid

Within the Search History feature on the Search page, you can select your saved

searches.

Select and Combine with AND.

Combine searches with AND

Ovid

Once the combined search is saved to My Workspace, you can edit or run it at

any time.

You can also email a permalink of your saved search to “jumpstart” your next

research session.

Save and refine your combined Search

Ovid

• Limit year of publication

• Limit to a Publication Type

Ways to edit your combined search

Ovid

ProQuest Search

Before you begin the search, log in to (or create) your personal account on

ProQuest. This allows you to edit your search, and to save the search to run again

later.

Log in to your personal account

ProQuest

Customize the search by adding more rows for search terms, and changing the

conjunction from AND to OR.

You can search using the default Anywhere.

PsycINFO® Advanced Search

ProQuest

Save Your Search

ProQuest

Give your search a name, and view in Saved Searches.

Run the rest of the OR searches.

Repeat previous steps to search and save all

your concepts.

Select all searches and combine with AND.

ProQuest

Once the combined search is saved to

My Research, you can modify or run it at

any time.

You can also set up an RSS feed or an

email alert to be notified whenever

PsycINFO® adds a new record on your

topic.

Save and refine your combined Search

ProQuest

• Add, remove or change terms

• Search as Abstract,

Document title or Keyword

instead of Anywhere.

• Limit year of publication

Ways to edit your combined search

ProQuest

• Limit to Record Type, or

Methodology

Ways to edit your combined Search

ProQuest

APA Databases & Electronic Resources Customer Relations

800-374-2722 | psycinfo@apa.org

This presentation was made to support a post on the APA Databases &

Electronic Resources Blog.