What’s in the box? Getting to know your research resources Robin Harris LIS 740 Social Sciences/Information Literacy 11/11/14

MAC-532 Professional, Legal & Ethical Issues: Research Paper Write a research paper focused on an ethical issue of your choice related to psychology or counseling. Expectations: ◦ Follow current APA guidelines. ◦ A minimum of five peer-reviewed references will be acceptable for this assignment. ◦ The final body of this paper will be 10–12 pages. The paper should cover the following areas: ◦ Research an area of professional development and ethics. Provide a description of the topic and why it is a topic that should be examined. ◦ Write a brief literature review examining the area of interest. Describe what has been done, the general findings, and implications. ◦ Self-reflection about your learning and insights regarding your own professional development and ethics. What are your strengths in this area? What are areas in which you believe you need growth?

Where are you going to look first? Library? Internet? Database? Today we’re going to look at Google Scholar, Academic Search Complete, and PsycINFO to see what they have to offer

Google Scholar Provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Many disciplines and sources: articles, abstracts, dissertations, books, court opinions and patents. From academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Often can only see an abstract and the citation details, and have to pay a fee to access the entire article. Not all journals allow access by Google Scholar.

Academic Search Complete Multi-disciplinary database providing full text for more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed titles. Subject coverage includes (but is not limited to) animal science, anthropology, area studies, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, food science & technology, general science, geography, geology, law, materials science, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion & theology, veterinary science, women’s studies, zoology, and many other fields.

PsycINFO Definitive database for psychology, psychiatry, and related mental health disciplines (including social, behavioral, and health sciences). Contains nearly 2.3 million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations. 98% of the covered material is peer- reviewed.

Same search, different boxes “professional ethics”* and “duty to warn”** *Course objective: Foundation for the ethical practice of professional counseling **Exception to a client’s right to confidentiality when a therapist thinks he may harm himself or others

What’s in the box? 1. Is the content of the box addressing your research topic? Is it relevant? How can you tell? 2. Is the information scholarly? Peer-reviewed? How can you tell? 3. Can you access the resource for free? Is there a pay wall? 4. Is there any information (subject terms, subject headings, links, etc.) provided to help you find similar resources? 5. What else can you tell from the results in the box? 6. Overall, how useful do you think this particular resource is for your assignment? 7. What resource do you think your box is?

Google Scholar results Ethics, tuberculosis and globalization Professional ethics in genetic testing Duty to warn guidelines for counselors Ethics in the military Book on Ethics for Adversaries Ethics in bankruptcy law and practice, $$ Counseling and values worksheet, $$ Environmental health research on hazards in the home and duty to warn, $$ HIV prevention and duty to warn Thyroid cancer and duty to warn

Academic Search Complete results Disclosure obligations in gambling-related theft Duty to warn/blood transfusion risks Duty to warn/genetic testing Psychology/counseling Medical/genetic testing/HIV Newspapers and periodicals

PsycINFO results Ethical issues in mental health background checks Protecting victims of violent patients while protecting confidentiality Confidentiality/therapeutic relationships Mental illness/risk of harming others HIV/genetics, but with counseling/psych angle All peer-reviewed

In general… Google Scholar=BIG box, tons of results, lots of “filler,” logins/pay walls. Hard to tell if peer-reviewed. Academic Search Complete=mid-size box, some “filler,” broad but not that deep in individual fields. Something on everything. 85% peer-reviewed. PsycINFO=smaller box, almost no “filler,” all related to psychology and mental health. 98% peer-reviewed.

Best bet? PsycINFO! Most relevant information Almost all peer-reviewed (and limiters can be set for that in advanced searching) None of the information is behind a pay wall Subject headings can be used to look for similar information Saves time by not having to dig through a lot of irrelevant search results

Want more help? Contact me at: Or stop by the reference desk Good luck on your paper!