The internet can be a great place for research. Google is quick and easy to use, links to vast amounts of free and current information, includes government sites, many research organisation, and specialist blogs.
The downside to Google is it does not discriminate and won't give the best results for academic information. Unlike the the Library's resources that are chosen for quality, you'll have to evaluate all information that you find on the Internet before you use it in your assignments.
When evaluating think about:
​Google Search Engine Tools
Searches scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines from journal articles, eBooks to conference papers. Items are ranks by citations. Recent and popular items are often restricted behind Publishers' pay-walls.
Student can use citations found in Google Scholar to search Library Search and access the full text if available.
Provides a sophisticated search interface to retrieve more specific results similar to the functionality of the library databases. You can use search operators (AND, OR, NOT) and other punctuation to get limited resulted rather than the million plus, typical of Google.
You can search within specific domains e.g. .ac.uk or websites: www.gov.uk.
All About Forensic Psychology - This website is designed to help anybody looking for informed and detailed information - key definitions, history, theory and practice, careers, criminal profiling and degree options for many forensic psychology topics.
Authentic Happiness - Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive. Here you can learn about Positive Psychology through readings, videos, research, surveys, opportunities and more.
Bad Science - Blog provided by Ben Goldacre, a best-selling author, broadcaster, campaigner, medical doctor and academic who specialises in unpicking the misuse of science and statistics by journalists, politicians, quacks, drug companies, and more.
Be Mindful - The Mental Health Foundation is a charity committed to good mental health for all and believes the social challenge of our time is to reverse the growing level of mental ill health.
Behind the Headlines (NHS Choices) - A guide to the science that makes the news.
Brad Buchsbaum's Blog - A blog about assorted topics in cognitive neuroscience and functional neuroimaging.
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy - BACP’s primary purpose is to support counsellors and help them better serve their clients. The Association was formed nearly 40 years ago by a group of counsellors who were passionate about the value of counselling and its potential to improve the lives of individuals and communities.
British Psychoanalytic Council - The British Psychoanalytic Council is a professional association and voluntary regulator of the psychoanalytic psychotherapy profession, publishing a Register of practitioners who are required to follow our ethical code and meet our fitness to practise standards.
Careers in psychology (BPS) - Select interactive tools to find out more about the different areas of psychology including training routes, pay and work experience. The British Psychological Society promotes excellence and ethical practice in the science, education and practical applications of psychology.
Employability resources (UniHub) - A range of literature to support your employability.
EPPI-Centre - The EPPI-Centre is committed to informing policy and professional practice with sound evidence. As such, it is involved in two main areas of work: systematic reviews, and research use.
Guidance on Data Protection - General guidelines & policy documents frm the British Psychological Society.
HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council - Guidance) - Guidance on conduct and ethics for students.
Livestrong - Provides content that engages and informs; practical tools to make living healthy an easier and sustainable process.
National Health Service (NHS) - Learn more about the structure of the NHS in England.
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse - Public Health England promotes a balanced and ambitious treatment system and will support local commissioners by providing high quality information and intelligence about drugs and alcohol, expertise, bespoke support, and by benchmarking performance and sharing best practice.
NeuroLogica Blog - The NeuroLogicaBlog covers news and issues in neuroscience, but also general science, scientific skepticism, philosophy of science, critical thinking, and the intersection of science with the media and society.
Neuroskeptic - Reports developments in science, medicine, technology, and the world around us. Photography and understandable stories on complex subjects connect everyday people with the greatest ideas and minds in science.
Personality Theories - This is an electronic textbook created for students in Personality Theories.
Skills hub (Skills Consortium) - The Skills Hub provides access to a vast library of resources on substance misuse treatment interventions. It is based on the skills framework developed by the Skills Consortium with help from the NTA and – as a result – initially focuses on drug treatment.
Sleep Education Blog - A sleep health information resource by the American Academy of sleep medicine. A professional society dedicated exclusively to the medical subspecialty of sleep medicine.
Standards of Practice for Practitioner Psychologists - The standards of proficiency are the standards which every practitioner psychologist must meet in order to become registered. Once registered, practitioner psychologists must continue to meet the standards of proficiency that are relevant to their scope of practice
Stats Make Me Cry - Stats Make Me Cry is a place to get help and find answers. The blog and video tutorials (SPSS and R) strive to provide easy-to-understand answers to your stats questions.
Talk About Sleep - Talk About Sleep is a service organization dedicated to information and awareness regarding sleep issues. Its methodology is to assemble an international sleep community consisting of individuals, physicians, commercial interests, and others to create a unified voice on sleep related matters and to channel market resources into sleep related pursuits.
TED - TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED is a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world.
The Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy - The Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy project (2010-2013), funded by the UK’s Medical Research Council, to develop a consensually agreed, reliable taxonomy that could be used across behaviours, disciplines and areas of interest (e.g. health, the environment).
The Black & Asian Therapist Network - The UK’s largest independent organisation to specialise in working with Black, African, Asian and Caribbean clients.
The British Psychological Society - The British Psychological Society is the representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK, and is responsible for the promotion of excellence and ethical practice in the science, education, and practical applications of the discipline.
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) is the leading resource for systematic reviews in health care. The CDSR includes Cochrane Reviews (the systematic reviews) and protocols for Cochrane Reviews as well as editorials.
The Institute of Psychoanalysis - The Institute of Psychoanalysis Library grants access to Psychoanalysis students at Mdidlesex to use their library free of charge. Access is reference only and you will not receive a remote login or Athens password for the Institute. You can howeveer use Pepweb on their library site. Pepweb has digitised versions of Freud and Jung's complete/collected works. Please contact your librarian Viv v.eades@mdx.ac.uk to get access to the IOPA.
The MacArthur Foundation study of Midlife Development - The culmination of a decade and a half of research, How Healthy Are We? presents the key findings from the MIDUS survey in three sections: midlife perspectives on physical health; emotion, quality of life, and psychological well-being in midlife; and contexts of midlife: work and family experience, neighborhood, and geographic region.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) - This guideline covers a set of principles that can be used to help people change their behaviour. The aim is for practitioners to use these principles to encourage people to adopt a healthier lifestyle by, for example, stopping smoking, adopting a healthy diet and being more physically active.
The Problems and Needs of Newly Sentenced Prisoners - The Community Justice Portal, your one stop shop for all the latest news, publications, and details of events for the Community Justice Sector. To navigate the site, please use the menus to the left of this text.
The SAPA-Project: Explore Your Personality - Take the Big5 personality test. Record your results.
The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy - A leading organisation for the education, training, accreditation and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors in the UK.
UK Data Service - Provides users with seamless and flexible access to a wide range of data resources to facilitate high quality social and economic research and education.
WellcomeTrust Library - One of the world's major resources for the study of medical history. Also offer a growing collection of material relating to contemporary medicine and biomedical science in society.
Writing and keeping journals - A guide for educators and social practitioners. Educators are often encouraged to write journals – especially when they are training – but what does journal writing entail, what benefits can it bring, and how can we go about writing one?