Cognitive Psychology

Searching_for_Research_Articles.pdf

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Peer-Reviewed Article

Psychology professors often speak about peer-reviewed articles. In fact, your instructors require you to cite peer-reviewed article articles in your research papers.

But what exactly is a peer-reviewed article? And why are articles in these journals so important to study? A peer-reviewed article is an article chosen for publication by an editorial board consisting of PhD professional psychologists and/or clinical experts.

Why should their opinions matter so much in determining which articles see the light of publication? The psychologists on the editorial board are experts in the field. They are knowledgeable about theories, methodology, and the science of psychology. Many of these experts have devoted their lives to reading broadly and deeply into issues of psychology or have developed a specialty within the field. Very few people know as much as or more than they do about the field.

When a team of experts such as this reads a study and deems it worthy of publication, it means that, in the collective estimation of these top professionals in the field of psychology, the study is based on sound science and addresses a current and pressing issue or problem in the field. Such a study has:

 A clear statement of purpose.  A clear understanding of prior research on the topic.  A clear research question or questions.  A clear methodological approach to addressing the research problem(s).  A clear demonstration that the methods in the study are reliable and valid.  A clear demonstration that results of the study can be generalized to the wider population.  In qualitative research, where data are not generalized, the study provides clear evidence.

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Anatomy of a Research Article

The most common type of peer-reviewed article is the research article, or paper describing a research study. Authors of research articles follow a prescribed structure as they discuss their studies. As you begin to gather articles for your literature review, you will begin to recognize a common anatomy, or structure, across the articles. This common anatomy makes it easier for us to navigate and understand the articles we read. Research articles are typically organized into the following six (7) sections:

1) Title Page 2) Abstract 3) Introduction 4) Methods 5) Results 6) Discussion 7) References

Each of these sections has a unique purpose:

1. The Title Page serves as a cover sheet for the article. It typically includes the title of the paper, the authors’ names, and the university, or institution, at which the research was conducted.

2. The Abstract is a brief summary of the entire research article. It helps us to get a sense of the research question, methods, and findings.

3. The Introduction section provides a review of the relevant existing research related to the study’s research question. It is the equivalent of a “literature review.” We will discuss the nature of literature reviews more fully later in this lecture. In short, the Introduction summarizes the history of research related to the study’s question and explains why the current research study is important and necessary.

4. The Methods section explains how the study was conducted. The authors describe the participants, or “subjects,” how they were selected, and what the subjects were asked to do in the study.

5. The Results section describes the findings of the study. The authors describe the data analysis and outcome of that analysis.

6. The Discussion section explores the author’s interpretations of their findings and how those findings fit in (or not) with existing research in the area of study. Here, the authors also discuss the limitations of their own study, as well as suggest future research that should be done to address the research question.

7. The References section provides citations of all references or sources the authors used in the preparation, design, and interpretation of their study. Readers often like to use the References section to get leads on other studies related to the topic of interest.

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Literature Review

A literature review is an academic paper that is much like the Introduction section of a research paper. It typically includes the following:

1) Title Page 2) Abstract 3) Introduction 4) References

The purpose of a literature review is to provide the reader with a full summary of the findings in major peer- reviewed research studies on a given topic. You will complete a literature review during this course, to be submitted in Module 5. Your literature review will provide the reader with a summary of the major research findings published within the past five (5) years related to your chosen topic and focal/research question. A strong literature review provides a summary, as well as a critique, of each article being reviewed. It organizes the information according to themes, or subtopics. Studies’ strengths, weaknesses, and limitations are covered. The following questions are answered in a strong literature review:

 What is my focal/research question?  What do I predict to be the answer to my focal/research question? This could be restated as, “What

is my hypothesis?”  What are the most important, peer-reviewed studies done already, related to my research

question?  Which of these articles describe results that agree with (support) my hypothesis?  Which of them found results that do not agree (do not support) with my hypothesis?  What is missing from the research that has already been done? What is known, and what is not yet

known? What needs to be further researched? For each article you review, you should include the following information:

 The problem or issue being addressed  The author’s research question and hypothesis  The method and an evaluation of the effectiveness of that method  A brief description of the results  An analysis of the quality of the study, including its limitations  A description of the study’s contribution to our knowledge in the area

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Literature Search

The most important first step when writing a literature review is to select high-quality, peer-reviewed, published, research articles related to your focal/research question. In order to find relevant articles, you must conduct a “literature search.” The most effective literature searches are conducted in academic libraries, either on campus or online. Argosy’s Online Library Argosy University’s online library is designed to help you with your literature search. When you visit the AU online library, you will find embedded search engines, with options to select only peer-reviewed articles. You can specify your search to psychology-related sources only or to full-text articles only. Any source you find with this type of search is likely to qualify as a high-quality, peer-reviewed, published article. With just one click on the Library and Tutoring Services page within our classroom, you will have access to hundreds of academic journals, thousands of research articles, and numerous academic search engines, including PsychINFO, PsychARTICLES, Psychology Journals, and the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. For a helpful introduction to the online library:

1) Launch the library when you are logged in to the classroom; 2) Select the tab “Services and Policies” tab; and 3) Click on “Library Introduction.”

Internet-Based Academic Search Engines Other options for literature searches include the use of Internet-based search engines, such as Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) and Microsoft Academic Search (http://academic.research.microsoft.com/).