The term parapsychology (also known as psi phenomena) was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research. Parapsychologists study a number of ostensibly paranormal phenomena, including telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation and apparitional experiences.

Parapsychology is the academic study of certain types of reported phenomena which cannot be explained by current scientific understanding. These paranormal phenomena are often popularly referred to as psychic, but parapsychology also includes phenomena such as reincarnation, which do not fall under this umbrella. Parapsychology as an academic discipline began in 1882 with the founding of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in London, England.

Parapsychology research is conducted in some 30 different countries. Laboratory and field research is conducted through private institutions and universities. Privately funded units in psychology departments at universities in the United Kingdom are among the most active today. In the United States, interest in research peaked in the 1970s and university-based research has declined since then, although private institutions still receive funding from donations. While parapsychological research has occasionally appeared in mainstream academic journals, most of the recent research is published in a small number of niche journals. Journals dealing with parapsychology include the Journal of Parapsychology, Journal of Near-Death Studies, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research and Journal of Scientific Exploration.

Parapsychology is simply the scientific study of paranormal phenomena involving the human mind. The goal is to apply the rigors of the scientific method and the advancements learned in studying the human mind learned in psychology to the world of the paranormal. In practice most of the experiments are of very poor quality design. They use poor controls (if any at all), usually have small sample sizes, ill defined terms and procedures, and rarely apply the concepts of double-blind studies.

Notable Parapsychologists include: Rupert Sheldrake, Charles Tart, Dean Radin, Michael Prescott, Michael E. Tymn, David Fontana, Alan Gauld, Anthony Peake, Gary Schwartz, Michael Talbot, Chris Carter, Bruce Greyson

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