If you have already checked relevant psychology databases for research related to your thesis topic (e.g., APA PsycInfo), as well as your university library and Google Scholar, but you still can't find what you are looking for, or you just want to make sure you have done a REEAAAAALLLY thorough literature review, then here is an additional strategy to find relevant research articles:
Check Relevant Journals!
That is, go directly to journals that publish articles related to your topic.
PsycInfo covers nearly 2,300 journals - but that is not all of them. I have also read reports of potential bias in some journal databases - although I can't substantiate that claim (as fun as it sounds to spend a weekend going down that rabbit hole! 😉). Regardless, one way to avoid potential selectivity in databases is to go directly to journals.
THERE IS A JOURNAL FOR EVERYTHING*
(*OK, not everything - but there is a journal for A LOT of things)
I am constantly surprised by how many niche journals there are. There are entire journals devoted to topics such as, "Aggressive Behaviour", "Alcohol and Alcoholism”, "Dance Therapy”, "Death Studies", "Eating Disorders", "Emotion", "Exceptional Children", "Family Relations", "Happiness Studies", "The Psychology of Music", "Sex Roles"...
For example, if I was doing a research thesis on mindfulness I might go and check the journal of Mindfulness. I would start by looking at the "online first articles" (that is, articles fresh off the press that haven't been assigned an issue number yet). I would then work my way backwards through recent volumes and issues, looking at the titles of articles to see if any of them seem relevant.
How Can I Find Relevant Journals?
Check your reference list and see if you have referenced any journals multiple times. For example, if you have cited a couple of articles from Work & Stress, I would check that journal to see if they have published anything relevant to your topic in the last couple of years ... because they clearly like it!
Check out Scimago. Scimago ranks journals in various fields, including psychology. From the page I have linked you can check out the highest ranked journals in psychology in the categories of:
Applied psychology
Clinical psychology
Developmental & educational psychology
Experimental & cognitive psychology
Neuropsychology & physiological psychology
Miscellaneous
I would cast your eye across the journals in the most relevant category and see if any seem relevant to your thesis.
Please remember: These tips are an additional research strategy you could use if you haven’t been able to find the research you are looking for using appropriate databases. I recommend starting your literature review with APA PsycInfo because you can narrow your search to find the articles most relevant to your literature review (check out PsycInfo search tips here!).
Happy Researching!
Note. ☕️ ❤️
***If you want more strategies and tips for conducing a literature review, you can enrol in my on-demand workshop, Learn How to Write a Kick Ass Thesis: Part 1 - Setting Yourself up For Success in Your Literature Review and Introduction***
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