Now that you have your search and Results list saved with your results, this is the time where you can begin to go through your results to determine what you are interested in. One of the key skills for this is to be able to identify what a resource is from its reference citation or for example whether an item is a book or book chapter, journal or journal article, an audiovisual item, or something else just from its reference. 

Additionally, sometimes journals offer reviews on books in articles within the journal issues itself. This means a resource might appear in a journal but be only a description of a book, or a description of the book itself.

Identifying a Journal Article

A journal can be identified by recognizing the following structure of a reference citation, although everything after the first line is indented a half-inch.

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

It is especially helpful to note the title of the periodical is followed by a volume and issue, pages, and the DOI number in the form of a URL. This is distinct from books and book chapters by these things.

Books

A book can be identified by the title and publisher information as provided in the following reference example, although everything after the first line is indented a half-inch.

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

To recognize the book, look for the publisher’s name, and the book title in italics (not the name of the journal with the article title in regular text.

Book Chapters
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (pp. pages of chapter). Publisher. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

To recognize the book chapter, look for the title (in plain text), the editor information, the title of the book, page numbers and chapters.
Note that according to the 7th edition of APA style, the chapter is only cited in an edited book. In a non-edited book, where the author and the chapter’s author are the same, the full book is referenced rather than just the chapter.

Streaming Videos

A streaming video, such as a Vimeo or YouTube video, is cited as follows:

Person or group who uploaded video. (Date of publication). Title of video [Video]. Website host. URL

The website host, “[Video]” designation, and the URL specifics should point out that it is a streaming video.

Dissertations or Theses

If the dissertation is unpublished, the citation would look something like this:

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation/thesis [Unpublished doctoral dissertation/master’s thesis]. Name of Institution Awarding the Degree.

You have the designation and the name of the institution to help assist you in knowing what the reference is like.

If the dissertation is published, the reference looks something like this:

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation/thesis (Publication No.) [Doctoral dissertation/Master’s thesis, Name of Institution Awarding the Degree]. Database or Archive Name.

In this case, you also see the database or the archive name in the reference, in addition to the designation and institution.

Posters vs. Journal Articles

A poster is cited in the following manner:

Presenter, A.A. (Year, Month). Title of paper or poster. [Poster presentation]. Organization Name, Location.

Like the dissertation, you have the designation and the organization, but the location is added as well as the month.
The journal article is formatted as follows:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
You will see the volume and issue, no poster designation, and no location or organizational name as opposed to the journal name.

Books vs. Book Reviews

There are two places you can find book reviews: from a library database or from websites.

A library database book review is as follows:

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Review. [Review of the book Title of Book: Subtitle if Any, by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name]. Title of Website, URL

In comparison and contrast, a website book review is as follows:

Bell, M. S. (2006, December 31). Review title. [Review of the book Let the northern lights erase your name, by V. Vida]. The New York Times Book Review, https://www.xxx.com

In both, you see the designation of “Review of the book followed by the book in italics. However, you may see only the title of the book review itself in the search list. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the citation as well as everything else when you search.

Availability of Tests and Measures

Some tests and measures may be available, especially under PsycTESTS, such as the BIO-WELL measure. Others are proprietary and must be purchased, although some measures and tests are included along in seminal journal articles in a library database. On occasion, contacting the authors might also be useful.

The Summary Check

After you save your results, it is a good idea to do a final check to see if you have what you need.

Click here if you are ready to revise your search.

Click here if you can move on to evaluating resources.

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