APA PsycInfo on Ovid – Knowledge Discovery through Indexing (APA Thesaurus)

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,

1. to introduce the database, APA PsycInfo on Ovid, drawing upon where helpful, parallels and comparisons with Ovid MEDLINE,
2. 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/       

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This focused search will provide you with a quick introduction to indexing on APA PsycInfo on Ovid. The focused search demonstrates how an entry term (as given in the search lines below in bold script) is mapped onto its equivalent thesaurus term in APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (R)..

Points to note:

• Includes more than 10,100 standard and cross-referenced terms.
• Scope notes define the terms.
• Historical notes provide valuable information on historical usage, text, or status changes, and the application of the term to historical records.
• Term hierarchies show the relationship to other terms.
• The year indicates when the term was added to the Thesaurus.

Instructions:

1. Logon to Ovid, select APA PsycInfo <1806 to Present>, select the Advanced Search / Keyword mode.
2. Enter the search lines for this focused search as listed below using the given entry terms.
3. Alternatively, having not yet logged on,  <Click here> to run this focused search above in Ovid.

anorexia nervosa/  [1. Entry Term: eating disorders, 2. Navigate to prefered term ] 
exp digital interventions/  [1. Entry Term: internet, 2. Navigate to prefered term ] 
1 and 2  
limit 3 to ("0800 literature review" or "0830 systematic review")  
limit 4 to "remove medline records"  

Questions:

1. Are there any sub-headings available for each of the search expressions?
2. What are the benefits of ‘exploding’ the term ‘digital interventions’?
3. What limit did you need to select to obtains only reviews’?

Search Stategy

Copy Strategy Launch Search

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 – Knowledge Discovery through Indexing (APA Thesaurus) [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=113