Encyclopedias

Once you have chosen a topic, the next step is to read some background material. This will help you narrow your topic. Sometimes, especially when writing about an unfamiliar topic, you may not know enough about the topic to narrow or focus. Encyclopedias and handbooks will give you an overview and provide background information. Following are some examples of how you might start with a broad topic and focus or narrow:

Besides providing background material and an overview of a topic, encyclopedias are also good for giving the main points of various theories and defining terms. Most encyclopedias will cite helpful sources that you can track down and read. See list of encyclopedias

Handbooks

Another good source for an overview and background information is handbooks. In psychology, handbooks contain articles that summarize research and theory in various subject areas. These articles, which are normally written by experts, are excellent places to begin research because they summarize research that has been done on a topic and have excellent bibliographies listing the most important research. There are literally hundreds of handbooks covering various subfields in psychology. See list of handbooks.