ABSTRACT
The scientific literature in psychology is constantly growing (as it is in any scientific discipline). In fact, the number of articles, books, and technical reports exceeds the capacity of any researcher to examine all the sources in their own specialty, let alone in all of psychology. Because so much literature is available and because the human mind is limited in its ability to collect and store information, becoming an expert in a particular field in psychology might seem impossible. There are two main types of publications that store the scientific literature: books and journal articles. Books are not as up to date as a journal article that came out last month. The time it takes to publish a book can be six months to a year, with the writing of that book taking usually at least two years, if not more. Back in the old days, all the scientific literature was stored in physical libraries.
