PSY 635 Research Seminar I in School Psychology

With the wide variety of concepts and vocabulary used in the psychological literature, search and retrieval of records about specific concepts is virtually impossible without the controlled vocabulary of a thesaurus. This controlled vocabulary provides a way of structuring the subject matter in a way that is consistent among users (e.g., searching for Dysphoria, Melancholia, and Depression can all be achieved by searching the term “Major Depression”).

You'll find the thesaurus in the APA PsycInfo menubar

Reference books and handbooks are useful to help define your terms. Using definitions and language accepted by professionals in your field will help your reader contextualize your work with the body of existing literature and their professional experience.