LibGuides: Neuroscience Qual Spring 2025: Background Info

Finding Background Information

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and Review Articles can all be useful to understanding the background of a topic and becoming more familiar with how it is discussed. These resources are also called "reference" or "tertiary" resources. You should utilize reference resources throughout the research process to make sure you understand what you are reading! Information you find in the resources on this page can be used and cited for your Neuroscience Qual.

Good Places to Start

AccessScience
Subject encyclopedia for the sciences, including extensive coverage of environmental studies. May be useful for policy research relating to environmental and other scientific issues
Desk Reference for Neuroscience (Ref QM451 .L625 1992)
Dictionary of terms related to the nervous system.
Comprehensive Physiology
Current collection of comprehensive articles on topics ranging from mechanobiology of lung epithelial cells to inert gas transport in blood and tissues. Lengthy references are also included, as well as detailed figures, tables, and equations.

Background Information

See the Background Sources page for more psychology-specific dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks.

APA Dictionary of Psychology
More than 25,000 authoritative entries across 90 subfields of psychology.
The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science
Includes over 500 topical entries, each with suggested readings and extensive cross-referencing.

Dictionaries in Psychology

APA Dictionary of Psychology
More than 25,000 authoritative entries across 90 subfields of psychology.
Dictionary of Psychological Testing, Assessment and Treatment
The second edition provides over 3000 explanations of the key terms used in psychological testing, assessment and measurement.

Handbooks & Manuals in Psychology

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5.
The standard reference for clinical practice in the mental health field. Since a complete description of the underlying pathological processes is not possible for most mental disorders, it is important to emphasize that the current diagnostic criteria are the best available description of how mental disorders are expressed and can be recognized by trained clinicians.
Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science
A four-volume comprehensive and authoritative text in the field. First published in 1946, and now in its Seventh Edition, the Handbook has long been considered the definitive guide to the field of developmental science.
Handbook of Educational Psychology
The third edition provides an indispensable reference volume for scholars in educational psychology, human learning and motivation, and the learning sciences.

Encyclopedias

These subject specific encyclopedias include peer-reviewed articles written by experts in the field.

Encyclopedia of Animal Behaviour
Encyclopedia of Life Science
Encyclopedia of Neuroscience
Encyclopedia of the Human Brain
Covering anatomy, physiology, neuropsychology, clinical neurology, neuropharmacology, evolutionary biology, genetics, and behavioral science, this four-volume encyclopedia contains over 200 peer reviewed signed articles from experts around the world.
The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science

Includes over 500 topical entries, each with suggested readings and extensive cross-referencing.
Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology

An authoritative publication that reviews and evaluates the numerous applications of professional psychology. Areas include assessment, clinical, cognitive, community, counseling, educational, environmental, family, industrial/organizational, health, school, sports, and transportation psychology.
Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science

Reviews the common themes of information and information processing, representation, and computation, with in depth coverage of the core areas of psychology, philosophy, linguistics and neuroscience.
Encyclopedia of the Human Brain

Covering anatomy, physiology, neuropsychology, clinical neurology, neuropharmacology, evolutionary biology, genetics, and behavioral science, this four-volume encyclopedia contains over 200 peer reviewed signed articles from experts around the world.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences

This Encyclopedia is the first attempt in a generation to map the social and behavioral sciences on a grand scale.