Use the advanced search: it lets you limit your searches by domain names,allowing you to choose to avoid commercial sites, choose sites from a specific country, or retrieve only sites from non-profit organizations, for example. Cutting down the huge numbers of items you retrieve will save you time!
Use Google Scholar if you want only scholarly writings. Many, though not all, of these will have been published in journals or books, not just on the Internet.
Never pay for an article online without talking to us first! One of the downsides of using Google is that you may think you have to buy an article that's available through the USM libraries. You can set up Google Scholar to display USM's journal holdings (see below) or access Google Scholar via our Databases A-Z list so that you will be authenticated as a USM user, but when in doubt about journal access, check with the library staff.
Web sites can be excellent sources of information, but require that you think critically about the information presented, especially since anyone can publish a Web site whether they are an expert on the topic being presented or not. Here are a few reliable sources of information that are pertinent to psychology majors. For other reliable sites, try the Librarians' Internet Index list of psychology Web sites.