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Psyc 100 & 101: Dianne Crisp

What are research articles?

For many of your psychology courses, you'll be asked to find research articles which are also known as empirical articles.

Research articles report the methods and findings of an original research study conducted by the authors of the article. These differ from literature reviews which discuss previous research studies on a topic. 

Watch the videos below to learn more.

How are research articles organized?

Research articles often have a common organization that makes it easier to identify them.

Empirical research articles will usually have the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Literature Review
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion

Watch the video to learn more about what you can find in each section and to see an example of an empirical article. 

How do I find empirical articles in PsycInfo?

PsycInfo makes it easy to limit your results to not just peer-reviewed articles, but to empirical articles. Watch the video below to see how you can limit your search results to empirical articles, then try it for yourself.