Skip to Main Content

Psychology Guide

Helpful Definitions

A library database is a digital collection of resources that is used to search for scholarly information. This can include ebooks, audiobooks, scholarly/academic journal articles, magazine articles, newspapers, encyclopedias, and streaming access to full-length features movies as well as educational material. Click here for direct access to our A-Z Database list.

If you are accessing library databases off-campus, you will need to login using your myBRCC username and password. We have a guide to assist with that process.

An academic journal is a scholarly publication containing articles that is published regularly. 

Scholarly articles are published in academic journals. Often they have been peer-reviewed, which means they have been analyzed by experts.

Filters, or limiters, are database tools that allow users to refine their search results to better meet their research goals. Most databases have filters for: full-text, peer reviewed sources, publication date, source type, subject terms, language, and many more. 

An abstract is the summary of a research article, usually describing the main points of the paper. Many databases will provide an abstract or summary either below the article link, or as the first paragraph within the paper itself. We recommend reading the abstract first to see if a paper discusses your research topic, before diving into the full text. 

Peer-Review is a process by which a scholarly work (such as an article) is checked by a group of experts in the same field or subject area to make sure that it meets the necessary standards before it is published. Check with your professor or syllabus to know if your assignment requires peer-reviewed articles. You can filter your databases searches to only include peer reviewed documents.
peer review image

The Full Text limiter means you can access the entire text of an article or an eBook online through our databases or catalog. You can also limit your database search to full text articles only.
full text filter image

Use the Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to connect your search words in order to narrow or broaden a search online.

  • AND will narrow your search results. For example, performing a search for "Shakespeare" AND "Tempest" will generate results that have both Shakespeare and Tempest in them.
  • OR will broaden your results. For example, performing a search for "Shakespeare" OR "Tempest" will generate results that have either Shakespeare or Tempest in them. 
  • NOT will narrow your search results. For example, performing a search for "Shakespeare" NOT "Tempest" will generate results for Shakespeare that do not that have Tempest in them. 

Finding Articles in Academic Search Complete

The following is an overview of the database search process. For a fuller description, with images of the searching process, click through the tabs above. 

  1. Finding Articles: To find articles using our library databases, go to the library homepage, and use the link for "Articles/Databases."

  2. Choosing a Subject Area: This will take you to the A-Z database list. You can look for a title on the full list, or use the filters at the top to narrow down those results. You can filter by Subject, Database Type or Vendor. 

  3. Choosing a Database: Access the database you want by clicking on the linked title. 

  4. Conducting a Search: Once you are in a database, you can use the search boxes at the top to begin your research. If you need help narrowing down your topic, make use the of the search suggestions populated in the drop-down as you type in your keywords. 

  5. Search Results: You will most likely get a large amount of results when you begin your search. There are filters on the left-hand side (under Limit To) that you can use to narrow down your results list. 

  6. Using Limiters: There are a variety of limits (filters) available. "Full Text" and "Peer Reviewed" are the most used. You can also narrow your results with a Publication Date filter, or look for specific Subject areas. 

  7. Accessing the Article: To access the article, click on the title. You may have to scroll down to see the full text. The record may also include a PDF version that you can download to your computer. Also, make use of the tools on the righthand side of the screen to save, email, or cite the article. 

As a BRCC student, you have online access to millions of newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles through the library databases. Some databases provide access to films and ebooks as well.

To begin, go to the full A-Z list of our library databases by clicking Articles/Databases on the library homepage.

Click on Subjects and then make a choice from the drop-down menu to see all databases for that subject area. For example, if you are doing research on technology, you could select English & Literature Criticism to see a list of all databases with information related to that subject.

Then click on a database from the list. 

Once you are in the database, type in keywords related to your subject in the search box.
Notice the database will populate a drop-down with recommended search words.

Next, you will see a list of all the results of your search. This search found over 1000 results!
It is helpful to narrow the list by refining the results using the options on the left-hand column.

On the left hand side of your search, look for the "Limit To" sidebar to narrow results. You should filter by Full Text only, Peer-reviewed, and also by Publication Date. 

If you specifically need a journal article, you can use the Source Type limit. If you need to narrow your search further, try searching for a similar keyword or subject.

limiter example image

To access the full text article click on the PDF Full Text tab on the left hand side of the screen.

You may also want to save the article by printing, emailing it, or saving it to your Google Drive. 

The citation tab is a great place to start for your works cited page. However, be sure to check the citation that is generated for the article against our citation handouts, as they are not always 100% accurate. 

Many databases also have accessibility functions. In this case there is an option for having the article read to you, as well as a translation function. 

The database includes other tools for further accessibility. The menu for those items is right above the article text. Those tools include:

A language translation tool:

And a "listen" function that can perform an auditory read-out of the article.