Finding interesting soc/psych research to discuss

July 26, 2012 10:43 PM

A group of friends and I, all recent college graduates, have decided to meet weekly to discuss interesting recent sociology and psychology research. How would we go about finding it outside of ScienceDaily, and - more importantly - how can we access it now that we're all without database access?
posted by LSK to science & nature (10 answers total)

I'd probably do an RSS subscription to all the top soc and psych journals.

Another source might be a Mendeley group - but those tend to go by topic rather than discipline.

As far as access? You might be able to ask a friend to email the PDF to you or you could go to a public library, get it, and email it around.

I'm not sure what your intention is in doing this (and I read this stuff for a living), but you might want to look into a MOOC.
posted by k8t at 10:59 PM on July 26, 2012

We're doing this for the fun of structured, regular discussion without the associated coursework or specific focus. The goal is to have good conversations with friends over coffee.
posted by LSK at 11:03 PM on July 26, 2012

how can we access it now that we're all without database access?

For sociology, at least, SSRN should have plenty of material.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:10 PM on July 26, 2012

Mind Hacks (A must-read for psychology)

A fascinating one-off I learned about from Mind Hacks is the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 2012 issue. The entire issue is devoted to the criminal psychopath. There are several good articles about how the FBI views psychopathy and makes for a rich read if you're deep into psychology. You'll find the links below. This is timely, after the shootings in Aurora, and would surely keep you guys busy for one session.

Online: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/july-2012
PDF Download: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/july-2012/leb-july-2012

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posted by Gerard Sorme at 11:28 PM on July 26, 2012

Heh. I read this stuff for a living as well. I 2nd RSS subscription to major journals. Followed by following psychologists on twitter who post a lot. APS and SPSP also frequently tweet new research that they find eye catching. I only use twitter for this purpose actually. I find it a good way to see what other's in my field (or those that tweet at least) are interested in. Also, preprints or stuff that hasn't been indexed yet, frequently gets posted. The preprints are usually from the author's website, so no paywall.
posted by Smegoid at 11:48 PM on July 26, 2012

Google Scholar is full of articles like that.
posted by wolfdreams01 at 4:01 AM on July 27, 2012

k8t, Smegoid: Can you link to the mentioned journals/twitter feeds? I don't actually know what the major journals are.
posted by LSK at 7:58 AM on July 27, 2012

As far as database access, many if not most US public libraries allow patrons to access the databases to which they subscribe remotely from any computer using your library card number to log in. I can't tell where you are though so that might not be helpful.
posted by CheeseLouise at 8:20 AM on July 27, 2012

Soc journals

Psych journals

(These are from the associations. This is by no means an exhaustive list.)

Here's a library listing of soc and psych.

And the ISI rankings, flawed as they are, tell you which ones are most "important." But they're not publicly available.

Google started ranking journals recently, but I wouldn't put too much weight into it yet. Soc psych

I study technology in a particular region and these are the journals I read.

But I assume that disciplinary journals work in this way:
- niche journals are for the really interesting findings and people within a particular community like certain journals. They are all talking to each other.
- bigger, more relevant to theory pieces go to the broader journals - which might have a methodological bent.

So, the most important list is hard to determine without knowing what stance you're taking.
posted by k8t at 9:43 AM on July 27, 2012

The British Psychological Society Research Digest.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:42 PM on July 27, 2012