Doing Research

Gathering Academic Information

by Gail A. Caputo

Introduction

Thanks to the internet and other new technologies students have a variety of means to acquire criminal justice and criminology information. Academic information comes in many forms, including: databases; statistical information; survey instruments; directories; and publications in all areas of criminal and juvenile justice. It is available through a variety of sources, including library catalogs, electronic sources, and internet sites. This document serves as a resource for gathering academic information.

Sources of Academic Information

Information in criminal justice and criminology is published in textbooks, other academic books, edited books, research monographs and technical reports, and journals. Databases and survey instruments are also available. Searching these sources can be done in a variety of ways: perusing library holdings; using criminal justice and related indexes databases; and reviewing agency holdings in paper form or by using the internet.

Textbooks are designed to provide detailed and/or comprehensive information about a particular topic, such as juvenile justice. Textbooks are hardly ever used for research at the graduate level.

Other Academic Books focus on a particular topic, such as intermediate sanctions programs. These books are usually more detailed and are geared for a graduate-level audience. They can provide a worth of information about a particular topic area and may be incorporated into graduate research, depending on the book, the topic, and other available literature.

Edited Books, or anthologies are geared to a particular topic with chapters usually written by different authors. Such books are more commonly used in graduate research and writing and contain literature reviews, reports of research, critical analysis, etc. Good edited books highlight the newest thinking in a particular subject area.

Research Monographs and Technical Reports describe and analyze research, policy, programming, and other issues in criminal and juvenile justice. Monographs and reports are good sources of up-to-date information, because they are usually published more quickly than textbooks and other types of books. Where textbooks, other academic books and edited books are published by large and small companies that publish in many disciplines, monographs are published by criminal justice-involved centers, departments, government agencies, and private agencies.

Directories, Survey Instruments, and Databases are useful tools, particularly for the researcher. Directories usually provide lists and contact information on a particular subject. For instance, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice provides a directory on the location and type of prisons in Texas. Existing survey instruments are available for use or reference. Databases are available for statistical analysis. Students could use an existing database for work on a thesis or dissertation.

Journals contain current scholar writing in an array of subject areas. Journals are often considered to be the best source of academic information for graduate research. Some are available at libraries and on-line. Below is a partial list of academic journals in criminal justice and criminology:

American Journal of Criminal Justice
American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse
American Journal of Police
American Journal of Psychology
American Lawyer Magazine
American Sociological Review
Annual Journal of Pretrial Services
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology
Australian Police Journal
Behavioral Sciences and the Law
British Journal of Criminology
Campus Safety
Canadian Journal of Criminology
Contemporary Justice Review
Corrections Compendium
Corrections Management Quarterly
Corrections Today
Crime & Delinquency
Crime, History and Societies
Crime Prevention & Community Policing:An International Journal
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice Ethics
Criminal Justice:The International Journal of Policy & Practice
Criminal Justice and Behavior
Criminal Jutice Policy Review
Criminal Justice Review
Criminology
Current Psychology
Deviant Behavior
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Ethics and Justice
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research
European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice
Evaluation Review
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
Federal Probation
Homicide Studies
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice
International Criminal Justice Review
International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology
International Journal of Police Strategies & Management
International Journal of the Sociology of Law
International Review of Cr iminal Policy
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
Journal of Criminal Justice
Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture
Journal of Criminal Justice Education
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology
Journal of Drug Issues
Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice
Journal of Forensic Accounting
Journal of Gang Research
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Journal of Juvenile Justice & Detention Services
Journal of Offender Monitoring
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation
Journal of Quantitative Criminology
Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency
Justice Policy Review Journal
Justice Research and Policy
Juvenile Law and Family Court Journal
Judicature
Justice Quarterly
Law & Policy Quarterly
Law & Society Review
Legal and Criminological Psychology
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
National Institute of Justice Journal
New York Law Journal
Police Chief
Police Practice & Research: An International Journal
Police Studies
Policing & Society
Prison Journal
Psychology, Crime & Law
Punishment & Society: The International Journal of Penology
Social Forces
Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & WorldOrder
Social Science Research
Sociology of Crime, Law & Deviance
The IARCA Journal on Community Corrections
The International Journal of Police Science & Management
The International Journal of Law, Policy, and the Family
The Justice Professional
The Justice System Journal
The Pretrial Reporter
The Prison Journal
Theoretical Criminology
Victimology
Violence & Victims
Western Criminology Review
Women and Criminal Justice

Gathering the Information: Electronic and Internet Sources

Existing academic information can be obtained in a variety of ways: through library catalogs; using electronic resources; and by accessing Internet sites.

Library Catalogs. Perusing library holdings is the traditional method. One can physically search through books, journals, and other holdings or one can access library search engines. The Rutgers library system provides access to its holdings, as well as other academic libraries and government libraries (Paul Robeson Library in Camden) (Rutgers University Libraries Main Page)

Electronic Resourcesfor gathering information include: abstracts; indexes; full-text databases; directories; and reference books. One of the best sources for criminal justice and related information is the criminal justice abstracts. EBSCO is another good index to find articles , some with full text. For psychology-related materials psycINFO is available. The

also provides access to other electronic resources

electronic library

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Internet Sources. The Internet is a great way to search for information. Much of the information available on-line is available in electronic and paper form. One of the best sources of past and current criminal justice-related information includes private and governmental agencies that usually have web sites. Publications are usually available free. The following list is not exhaustive.