Psychology

When do you need books?

As a psychology major, your professor may frequently emphasize the importance of using journal articles as that is where the most recent studies are published. However, though books take longer to get published, there are times when they can be more more helpful than journal articles.

Books provide a broad overview of a subject matter in a much more accessible manner.

Journal articles are usually written for researchers and as such, they are condensed and assume that readers are very knowledgeable in the field. As a student, it is wise for you to also a subject matter using books which provide background, context and more detailed information.

There are several ways of finding and accessing books in psychology.

• Mason catalog. Here you can find both print and ebooks that are available at Mason and other nearby libraries that Mason can borrow.
• PsycBooks. It is a collection of psychology ebooks by American Psychological Association (APA).
• WorldCat. Here you can find books that are not available at Mason.

To find a book at Mason, go to the search box and type your criteria, then click Resource Type and choose Books from the options.

Search case: You're interested in finding books that will help you write a paper for a psychology class.

Step 1: Search for "writing psychology" in the Mason catalog.

Sept 2: Limit the Resource Type to Books.

You will find the following books among many others:

Making Sense: a Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Psychology.

Writing in Psychology

A Student Guide to Writing an Undergraduate Psychology Honors Thesis

Search exercise: Find the book below and check out which libraries nearby Mason have a copy. 

Billig M. (2019). More examples less theory : historical studies of writing psychology. Cambridge University Press.

To find ebooks in psychology, the best resource is APA PsycBooks.