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Key Terms
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Literature review  A review of relevant research and theory conducted during the early stages of the research process to identify important variables and accepted methods and to establish a rationale for research hypotheses.
Primary source  A reference source that contains the original, full report of a study. It includes all the details needed to replicate and interpret the study.
Secondary source  A reference source that summarizes information from a primary source and includes research reviews and theoretical articles.
Refereed journal  A journal whose articles have undergone prepublication editorial review by a panel of experts in the relevant field.
Nonrefereed journal  A journal in which articles do not undergo prepublication editorial review.
Paper session  A meeting at a scientific convention at which the most up-to-date research results are presented. A paper session may involve disseminating data by reading a paper or presenting a poster.
Personal communication  Information obtained privately from another researcher (for example, by letter or phone.)
PsyclNFO  A computerized database system that indexes journals and book chapters relevant to psychology and related fields.
PsycARTICLES  A computerized source of articles, downloadable in PDF format, that were published in the journals of the American Psychological Association.







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