APA PsycNet not longer saving

apross
Previously I was able to save citations from APA PsycNET without any issues, but in the last few weeks this changed and it no longer saves the publication information, but just saves it as "web page" with the URL. Do I need to update Zotero?

Thanks!
  • adamsmith
    They've changed their page and made a giant mess out of it (see https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/66653/zotero-connector-for-chrome-broken-for-apa-psycnet#latest ); we're trying to fix this, but it'd probably also help if people complain to them.
  • apross
    Will do! Thanks!
  • bwiernik
    (They’ve also broken things like following DOI links to PsycNET pages. About half the time, they just take me to the login page, rather than to the article abstract page.)
  • DWL-SDCA
    @bwiernik raises the key issue here. Sometimes a doi links to the abstract sometimes to the login. I've been able to get to the article abstract by repeatedly using the doi until I don't get the login. I have complained. I encourage everyone who reads this thread to also complain. The new site design looks attractive but the metadata availability has suffered.
  • gvdbroek
    I have the same issue and just contacted PsycInfo at this email address: psycinfo@apa.org

    I'm guessing the more complaints, the more likely they will act, so here is my email text - feel free to use or change it to quickly send your own complaints. Note that I also complained about troubles with the doi links; point 2 refers to Zotero.


    Dear customer service,

    I would like to bring to your attention that the access to journal articles and bibliographic information via the APA PsycNet interface is not working properly.
    I hope that you can suggest a solution or make sure that steps are taken to resolve these issues. The specific problems that I encounter are as follows:

    First, I cannot retrieve pdfs of articles. When I click on the doi link on the APA PsycNet site, I am directed to a page on which I am asked to buy the article (a login page or paywall) instead of the journal website. This happens even when I know for sure that I should have access to the journal, as I'm working from a university campus or proxy and can access the same article if I navigate to the journal website itself without APA PsycNET interfering.

    Second, I cannot download reference information about the articles on APA PsycNET into my literature programme (which is Zotero). The developers of this software have indicated that problems are due to recent changes in APA PsycNET, which have led to problems with RIS export or broken doi links on your website.

    Both of these issues not only make the website un-usable, but even a great hinderance because APA PsycNET shows up prominently in my search engine results but I have to actively avoid it and navigate around it to find the journal websites.
    I hope you can resolve these problems soon.

    Kind regards,
    ...
  • gvdbroek
    PS: Is the part about Zotero correct or can we be more specific about this?
  • satchfoot
    I too am having the exact same problem: only the snapshot is saved to Zotero via the APA PsycNet site. Other sites I try, for example, Pubmed, work fine. I sent a letter as well to APA. Any updates on this?
  • DWL-SDCA
    Lately, I’ve found a (rather painful) work-around. I am able to get the article metadata via the Magic Wand tool. I find that I can eventually get a screen that includes the article abstract. When I do, I copy the abstract and paste it into Zotero.

    I did manage to talk with someone at PsycNet. The short version is that the service is realy for subscribers and those who want to purchase articles. Their recommended alternative is to use PsycINFO to get article metadata with abstracts. When I pointed out that both of their recommendations weren’t palatable for people without access to a research library her reply was two-fold: 1) She didn’t think that there were many serious users who didn’t have access via a university library with a subscription; and 2) “we don’t encourage citation of our content by those who don’t have a full text version”. When I pointed out that even when I have full access to a subscription and full text I’d also like easy access to article metadata to import; she restated her recommendation to use PsycINFO for metadata access.

    Clearly, either I didn’t reach the proper person with knowledge of the issue or the APA hasn’t fully thought this through.
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