Whether in psych textbooks or a journal article itself, cited references reflect many different "types of documents" and contents which my seem confusing to beginning students in psychology classes. What does the item I'm viewing refer to, what does it represent in terms of content/format, and is it appropriate to use in the context one's research assignment? Such confusion compounds when instructors place restrictions (no books or research studies or "peer reviewed") on sources to be used and you must make a judgment call.
Below in "bold" are exampes of commonly cited psychological references taken from a "psych" textbook with brief comments on what it is describing and "key points" for recognition. I am looking at "this item" - - - what does it represent?
Always "check" with your instructor if you are uncertain about the acceptability of a bibliographic citation resource!
Canli, Turhan. (2006) Biology of personality and individual differences. New York: Guilford Press.
[This references a printed book. A key warning in the citation is mention of geographic location/place such as: Chicago, New York, Stockholm, Boston, London, Paris, etc. The word "Press" is another "tip off" for a book publisher but many publisher names will not use the word "Press" in their formal business name, such as, for example, John Wiley & Sons or just John Wiley.]
Emmelkamp, Paul M. G. (2004). "Behavior therapy with adults." In Michael j. Lambert (Ed.), Bergin and Garfield's handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (5th ed.). New York: Wiley.
[This references a specific essay by Emmelkamp titled "Behavior therapy..." which appears in a collection along with other thematically related essays and published in a collected anthology book edited by Lambert. The key distinguishing factor for separation and recognition is the operative word "In", splitting the essay (not to be confused as a journal article) from the book's title.]
Olff, Miranda; Langeland, Willie; & Draijer, Nel. (2007, March). "Gender differences in posttraumatic stress disorder." Psychological Bulletin, 133(#2), 183-204.
Ong, Anthony D.; Fuller-Rowell, Thomas; & Burrow, Anthony L. (2009). "Racial discrimination and the stress process". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 1259--1271.
[Lacking any mention of geographic location, both above are cites to articles in psychological journals. Note, the word, "Journal" does not have to be a part of the publication's title; many journal title wordings specifically exist without this term and they are acceptable. Also, the numbers at the end represent pages and article length. 133 and 96 respectively refer to volume numbers.]
Wade, Nathaniel G.; Johnson, Chad V.; & Meyer, Julia E. (Mar 2008). "Understanding concerns about interventions to promote forgiveness: a review of the literature". Psychotherapy: theory, research, practice, training. 45(1), 88-102.
[Caution here. Technically. this is an article in a scholarly journal but it tends not to be considered a sole empirical research study. It is, in fact, collective commentary about highlights and commonalities of many other individual articles & research previously published and all of which have a central theme subject focus. Key flags obvious here to look for are words like:literature and review.]
Caution - - - the Dangerous Third Rail of Choice by Psychology Students!!
Marano, Hara E. (Mar-Apr 2014). "The purpose of dating". Psychology Today, 35.
[Not scholarly writing/research, this citation references an article in a general interest magazine, Psychology Today is considered by psychology instructors to be unacceptable for a research assignment. Though tempting and yes it deals with psychological topics, do not think about using it and most instructors will state this prohibition up front when an assignment is given. Many view this title as the psychological version of People Magazine.]