Psychology Lecture: Scientific Papers & Peer Review

Course SchedulePSYC 1030

  • September 23: Time management

  • September 25: Scientific papers

  • September 22-26: Productivity and Procrastination

Scientific Papers and Journal Types

  • Importance of Journal Articles: Scientific journal articles are the cornerstone of academic communication in psychology and other fields. They serve as the primary means for researchers to disseminate their latest findings, methodologies, and theoretical advancements to a global scientific community. This ensures the ongoing growth of knowledge, allows other researchers to replicate and build upon previous work, and provides a vetted source of information for practitioners and policymakers.

  • Peer-Reviewed Publications: Peer review is a rigorous process designed to evaluate the quality, validity, and originality of scholarly work before publication. When a manuscript is submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, it is first assessed by an editor, then sent to independent experts (peers) in the same field for critical evaluation. These reviewers scrutinize the methodology, results, interpretation, and ethical considerations. Based on their feedback, the editor decides whether to accept, reject, or request revisions from the author, ensuring a high standard of scientific rigor and credibility.

  • Examples of Academic Journals in Psychology and Related Fields:

    • Annual Review of Psychology

    • Behavioral & Brain Science

    • Psychological Science in the Public Interest

    • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    • Perspectives on Psychological Science

    • International Journal of Education and Psychology in the Community

    • Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

    • Cognitive Psychology

    • Journal of Criminal Psychology

    • Animal Cognition

    • Child Development

    • Journal of Abnormal Psychology

    • Trends in Cognitive Sciences

    • Nature

    • Science

    • Social Science & Medicine

Using Google Scholar for Research

  • Accessing Google Scholar: Navigate to scholar.google.com.

  • Settings for Library Access: To maximize access to full-text articles, it's crucial to properly configure Google Scholar settings. By linking your institutional library (e.g., navigating to "Settings" -> "Library links" and searching for your university), Google Scholar can display direct links to articles available through your university's subscriptions. If you are off-campus, using a VPN (Virtual Private Network), such as VPN.uleth.ca for the University of Lethbridge, is often necessary to authenticate your institutional access and unlock full-text content.

  • Searching Strategies:

    • Search by: You can perform searches using specific keywords related to a topic (e.g., "cognitive bias in decision making"), by an author's name to find their publications, or by an exact article title if known.

    • Order Matters: The sequence of your keywords can significantly impact search results. Placing more specific or important terms earlier in your query or using quotation marks for exact phrases (e.g., "social psychology of addiction") can yield more relevant outcomes.

    • Narrow Search: Beyond publication year, you can refine your search through options like specifying authors, particular journals, or date ranges (e.g., 2020-2023). This helps filter out less relevant or older research.

    • Advanced Search: Utilize advanced search operators for greater precision. This includes searching for an exact phrase, excluding certain words (e.g., cognition -animal), searching within the title of the article only, or targeting specific authors or publications.

  • Accessing Articles: Once you locate an article, click on its title for more details. On the right-hand side of the search results, you will often find direct links such as [PDF], [HTML], or links indicating availability through your linked institution (e.g., "Find It @ UofL"). These links aim to provide immediate access to the full text.

  • Avoid Payment: Reputable academic institutions provide extensive online resources. You should never directly pay for an article you find on Google Scholar. Always leverage your university's library links, interlibrary loan services (where the library obtains a copy for you from another institution), or contact the corresponding author, as they often share their research.

  • Additional Features: Google Scholar offers several helpful functionalities:

    • "Cited by" links: These allow you to see other articles that have referenced the current paper, helping you track the impact and subsequent research.

    • "Related articles" links: These identify papers conceptually similar to the one you are viewing, which can be useful for expanding your literature review.

    • "Save" feature: You can save articles to your personal library within Google Scholar for easy access later.

    • "Create alert" feature: Set up alerts for new research by specific authors or on particular topics, ensuring you stay updated.