Once you are in both Academic Search Complete and PsycARTICLES, then the following steps should be helpful.
In the top search box, type the topic you would like to find research on. For this example, I used depression.
Change the drop box to the left of the middle search box so that it shows NOT. This way, whatever is typed into the middle search box will be excluded from the results. At least it should be excluded from the results.
Then, in the middle box type exactly: meta-analysis or systematic review
From this search, I found the following article:
Weßlau, C., Cloos, M., Höfling, V., & Steil, R. (2015). Visual mental imagery and symptoms of depression - results from a large-scale web-based study. BMC Psychiatry, 15, 308. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0689-1
Upon opening the article you can see right away that it is a research article because it even says research article at the top. This doesn't happen for every article. But, if you see it, it is probably an article that will work for your assignment.
Also, usually, a research article's abstract will look like the one below.
It will labels for different parts including:
Background: This will have a short literature review on the subject. This is also where the researchers will say why this study is important and adds to the discussion fo the topic.
Methods: This explains how the research was conducted and a basic description of the participants.
Results:
And then scanning through the article there are defined sections for method and participants and conclusion and or discussion.
Here is a list of different types of studies and a description of them. For your assignment, look for articles that would fit the description for Randomized Controlled Trials, Cohort Studies, Case Control Studies, and Case Reports (Case Studies)
Contact the library if you still have questions.
