Background
APA PsycInfo describes itself as "(T)he premier abstracting and indexiing database covering the behavioral and social sciences from the authority in psychology". (1) A resource produced and made available by the American Psychological Association (APA), APA PsycInfo, along with Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, constitute, in their respective fields, the largest and most comprehensive Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) databases for peer-reviewed scientific information.
APA PsycInfo on Ovid – Facts and Figures (1)
- A bibliographic database, APA PsycInfo is made up of over 5.7 million database records.
- Within these database records are some 144 million cited references.
- The database records are derived from 2,400 journals.
- Database records are indexed using the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (R).
- Content includes not only journal articles but also book chapters and dissertations.
- Spanning 600 years of content, the database is updated twice weekly.
- Additional topics related to psychology, also covered range from AI to education, medicine and sports.
Training Session Programme
This Learning Pathway series of training modules draws upon the content and teaching approaches in and behind the learning resource OvidGO! (2). Constructed around a selection of focused searches, the training programme has been designed to achieve the following two objectives,
- to introduce the database, APA PsycInfo on Ovid, drawing upon where helpful, parallels and comparisons with Ovid MEDLINE,
- to discuss, demonstrate and practice the key features and functionality of the database APA PsycInfo on Ovid.
(1). See https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index
(2). See https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/
Search Stategy
docz.dz.
limit 1 to "0100 journal"
limit 1 to "0110 peer-reviewed journal"
limit 1 to "0130 peer-reviewed status unknown"
limit 1 to "0200 book"
limit 1 to "0240 authored book"
limit 1 to "0280 edited book"
limit 1 to "0300 encyclopedia"
limit 1 to "0400 dissertation abstract"
limit 1 to "0500 electronic collection"
or/2-10
1 not 11
11 or 12
limit 1 to "0100 journal"
limit 1 to "0110 peer-reviewed journal"
limit 1 to "0130 peer-reviewed status unknown"
limit 1 to "0200 book"
limit 1 to "0240 authored book"
limit 1 to "0280 edited book"
limit 1 to "0300 encyclopedia"
limit 1 to "0400 dissertation abstract"
limit 1 to "0500 electronic collection"
or/2-10
1 not 11
11 or 12
Reviewers
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Charlotte Viken
Review Date: 2025-03-17
Expiry Date: 2026-03-17
Original search produced by:
Ovid Training Team
References:
OvidGO! / Skills Videos / General Introduction
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
Citation:
OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: APA PsycInfo on Ovid - Database Size and Shape (docz.dz) [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2025 [updated 2 March 2024; cited 10 March 2025]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=112