Introduction
Faced with an ever-evolving research landscape, institutions must navigate an increasing volume of published materials, a growing array of digital tools claiming to enhance research efficiency, and budget constraints. As a result, it’s challenging for them to make the best choices to support their constituents’ education and work. APA PsycInfo®, the flagship database from the American Psychological Association, is the world’s primary source for behavioral sciences and mental health research, and a carefully curated collection of over 5.8 million bibliographic records and multimedia sources. With Ovid, it’s supported by a highly structured and selective thesaurus and a range of search and customizable workflow tools indispensable for novice and veteran researchers alike that enhance research efficiency and precision.
Challenges for today’s researchers
Producing high-quality, impactful research output requires easy access to the best evidence available from reviews, peer-reviewed articles, clinical trials, and other source literature. Yet many researchers have difficulty getting to the information they need, due to:
- Increased volume of information: With millions of records, journals, and articles available, pinpointing relevant, authoritative, and up-to-date content is tough.
- Finding the right information: Many databases lack the precision-search functionality to identify specific studies researchers in behavioral health need.
- Time-consuming research workflows: Platforms with structured and intuitive search tools enable researchers to uncover key information and incorporate it into their research, greatly boosting research efficiency.
- Variety of user experience: Institutions must support researchers with often wildly different degrees of expertise. Novices and veterans use different tools to do their research.
Addressing these challenges demands a resource and search platform that streamlines workflows and yields results you can use.
Why APA PsycInfo for psychology research?
Comprehensive in scope and selective in content, APA PsycInfo helps users produce meaningful research output. Records date back to 1860 and, in 2022, 80% of the records were linked to articles and 66% of them were linked to trials, studies, and reviews. Open-access material is also included, and the database covers a wide range of topics researchers today need to be up on Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, and Pharmacology. They will find value-added inside the content, too, including subject descriptive guides and full-text links. The Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms® is a key attribute of the database and takes into account the exceptional variety of terms used among researchers in the field.
APA PsycTherapy® Spotlight: Video learning modules offer real-world therapy in action
Accessible through APA PsycInfo on the Ovid platform and other APA resources, APA PsycTherapy recently added over 1,000 hours of interactive therapy case studies — with linked transcripts and other supplementary materials for knowledge retention — that help viewers apply what they observe and hear, including ethical principles and the underlying procedural methodologies, into their learning and practice. Examples of recently added modules include a CBT session with a patient managing arachnophobia.
APA PsycInfo on Ovid: Optimizing efficiency, accuracy, and outcomes
Institutions have numerous options to choose from when deciding on the platform for an APA PsycInfo subscription. Ovid’s unique features and functionality are what it set it apart and make it the right choice. First, Ovid has multiple access points (search modes) to search the content.
- Search whole topics or quotations using natural language searching of Basic Search mode.
- Search for Subjects/Subject Headings using Advanced Search mode.
- Search combinations of fields and subjects using Multi-Field Search mode.
- Find or check references using Find Citations mode.
- Explore the subject structure of the database’s thesaurus with Search Tools.
- Search/browse one or more fields with Search Fields mode.
Key features include database-specific fields and limits, with special Ovid-specific limits. Tools provide easy access to the definitions and structure of the database thesaurus. Users may choose to search one database, or Ovid provides the opportunity to search multiple databases with APA PsycInfo. Users may choose to search one database, or Ovid provides the opportunity to search multiple databases with APA PsycInfo. Ovid also offers direct links to the full text where available.
It’s important to note that Ovid is one of the few vendors which offer all APA resources (APA PsycArticles®, APA PsycTherapy®, APA PsycBooks®, and APA PsycTests®). These resources include direct links to PsycInfo, highlighting the value of multifile searching.
1. Streamlining research workflows
APA PsycInfo on the Ovid platform includes unique functionality and tools designed for easy use and optimize research workflows for psychology researchers. For example, the platform supports structured searching for novice and experienced researchers to interact with the database effectively. Basic Search is powered by natural language processing and supports seasoned researchers, while advanced Boolean search operators in Advanced Search help more veteran researchers create a complex yet precise search. A wide variety of mapping tools align search terms with Subject Headings from the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms. Term Finder, for example, expands searches to broader terms ensuring no critical records are missed. It also displays the hierarchical structure of all branches in which the term occurs. Finally, search limits specific to APA PsycInfo, such as “population group,” “methodology,” and “document type,” allow researchers to fine-tune search results based on their specific study needs.
Real-world application: Using Boolean operators
Seasoned researchers examining the relationship between Artificial Intelligence, dementia diagnosis, and speech therapy can use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and Ovid's well-known adjacency proximity operators to further narrow their search to optimize relevancy to quickly yield a list of peer-reviewed journal articles, trials, and reviews.
2. Ensuring comprehensive content access
Psychology research demands easy access to scour as many of the field’s leading resources to develop high-quality research output. Seamless integration with APA PsycInfo companion resources, as well as cross-database searching with other Ovid-subscribed resources, ensures robust and exhaustive research results, maximizing interdisciplinary analysis. Ovid allows research to tap into the entire APA online resource portfolio, supported with tools like APA Thesaurus and Ovid Term Finder. Simultaneous searching using just a single query of APA PsycInfo with other key resources, like MEDLINE®, EBMR, or Embase®, expands searching. Automatic results deduplication, with deduped results displayed, enhances precision and saves time. A robust collection of open-access content is also available on the platform, searchable through multifile searching. This is ideal for institutions with budget constraints.
Real-world application: Accessing integrated assets
A graduate student preparing a comprehensive meta-analysis can search PsycTests for validated instruments, PsycTherapy for observational video case studies, and PsycArticles for identifying critical peer-reviewed studies, simultaneously or in succession, saving hours of research consolidation time.
3. Supporting all levels of research expertise
APA PsycInfo on the Ovid platform accommodates multiple expertise levels, with tools and features for beginners and advanced researchers. Unseasoned researchers such as undergraduates, first-time users, or people seeking a simple search experience, can take advantage of Basic Search mode, entering topics or questions in natural language using regular syntax. The interface is intuitive and easy to use, with synonyms and related terms clearly highlighted. Simple, direct full-text linking is prominently displayed, surfacing material quickly. In Advanced Search mode, expert searchers can build a complex search from its component parts in a measured and step-by-step way. Tools like Boolean connectors, adjacency operands, and Explosion functionality in term mapping, which links terms to the all-important subject headings, enable nuanced and high-impact searches. Search filters, many of them specific to Psychology research, help users fine-tune their searches and explore niche topics and specialties.
Real-world application: Term Finder furthers research efficiency
Expert searchers have numerous mapping, browsing, and searching fields options to increase search precision, minimize redundancy, improve relevance, and save time. The new Ovid Term Finder, popular with expert searchers, provides easy interactive access to the database subject structure, plus access to database synonyms and keywords drawn from the database and a variety of broader subject sources. Users uncover term definition, context, and other key term attributes, then add to a search quickly, without having to cycle through the mapping process and multiple screens repeatedly.
Enhancements to APA PsycArticles
APA PsycArticles consolidates full-text articles from 105 journals dating back to 1894 into a single searchable collection. Topical coverage spans the Psychology spectrum, and, like all APA offerings, it provides international perspectives. Ovid APA PsycArticles will soon be available with all the functionality of APA PsycInfo, including access to the collection's full-text journal articles.” Scheduled for release August 2025.
APA PsycInfo on Ovid: Unlock groundbreaking research quickly
Today’s psychology researchers are constantly looking for material that keeps them up on fundamental research and the latest theoretical developments and procedural techniques to inform their work. Researchers in Psychology trust the American Psychology Association’s APA PsycInfo database, widely regarded as the standard-bearer for rigorous, impactful research — and they rely on Ovid to maximize efficiency, precision, and accuracy to address these needs.
Learn more about APA PsycInfo and how it can transform how you and your colleagues support the research workflow of users at your institution.
