Using PsycINFO

Step 5: Saving Your Search History

You might want to save your search history to keep a record of it for yourself, or you might need to submit it for a course assignment.

Saving Your List of Searches

If you just want to save the list of searches that you did, underneath your searches click on Share Search History and then select either “Email All Search History” to email it to yourself or “Copy Search History Details” to paste it into a document.

Three menu options that say email all search history, copy search history link, and copy search history details

Exporting Your Search History and Selected Articles

To export your search history along with information about any relevant articles, select the relevant article(s) from the search results and then click on the “Export” button above the list of results.

The top of a list of search results with the first result selected and the Export button circled

In the menu that appears, choose these options:

  • Change the Format to either Microsoft Word or PDF
  • Change the Fields to Citation, Abstract, Subject Headings (unless otherwise specified for an assignment)
  • Leave the Citation Style as Ovid Citation (this will ensure the abstracts and Subject Headings of relevant articles are included)
  • Make sure the Search History checkbox is selected

When you press the “Export” button, a file will be saved to your computer. The downloaded document should include the search history and abstracts for the article(s) you selected.

Export Citation(s) menu in PsycINFO, which includes options for Format, Fields, Citation Style, and items to include

 

Advanced: Exporting Articles from Multiple Searches

If you want to export articles from multiple PsycINFO searches, select each relevant article while you are searching by clicking on the checkbox beside its title and then clicking on “Keep Selected” above the list of results. This will add a line to your search history for that article. You can also select multiple articles at once.

The top of a PsycINFO search result list, with one article selected and the "Keep Selected" button circled

Once you have selected and “Kept” all the articles you want to use, each one will appear as a separate line in your search history. To combine them, use the search box to write out the number of each search with OR in between them. For example, 9 or 10 or 11 will combine results from all three of those searches.

PsycINFO search history showing that articles were kept from three different searches, and then they were combined with OR: 9 or 10 or 11

Now all the articles you selected are in one list of results. Click on “Export” at the top of the results list, then follow the instructions above for choosing options in the Export menu.

Now we will look at how to use citations to find more sources.

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Library Research Skills for Psychology Students Copyright © 2021 by Augustana Campus Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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