Essential Databases
The following databases are a great place to begin your search for peer-reviewed articles. This list includes databases that specifically cover Criminal Justice-related titles -- and databases that cover other areas relating to many criminal justice topics.
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Criminal Justice Database (ProQuest) (1981+) This link opens in a new window"a comprehensive database supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. As well as U.S. and international scholarly journals, it includes correctional and law enforcement trade publications, dissertations, crime reports, crime blogs and other material relevant for researchers or those preparing for careers in criminal justice, law enforcement and related fields."
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Criminal Justice Abstracts (EBSCOhost) (1910+) This link opens in a new windowCriminal Justice Abstracts includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to criminal justice and criminology. Criminal Justice Abstracts contains more than 400,000 records selected from the most important sources within the discipline. Subject areas covered include: criminology; criminal justice; criminal law and procedure; corrections and prisons; police and policing; criminal investigation; forensic sciences and investigation.
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Social Science Database (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window"ProQuest Social Science Journals is a definitive resource for those who need access to a variety of scientific journals. The database includes over 1000 titles, with the majority available in full text. It covers core disciplines across the social sciences including sociology, social work, anthropology, politics and other areas, featuring journals from over 50 countries, facilitating multidisciplinary research and providing researchers with a variety of perspectives."
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APA PsycInfo (EBSCOhost) (1887+) This link opens in a new windowThe APA PsycInfo® database, American Psychological Association’s (APA) renowned resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. It contains records and summaries dating as far back as the 1600s with one of the highest DOI matching rates in the publishing industry. Journal coverage, which spans from the 1800s to the present, includes international material selected from periodicals in dozens of languages.
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Social Work Abstracts (EBSCOhost) (1965+) This link opens in a new windowSocial Work Abstracts offers extensive coverage of more than 450 social work and human services journals dating back to 1965. Produced by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the database provides citations and abstracts dealing with all aspects of the social work field, including theory and practice, areas of service and social issues and problems.
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Sage Research Methods This link opens in a new windowSage Research Methods is the ultimate methods library with more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online from any scholarly publisher. The site is designed to guide users to the content they need to learn a little or a lot about their method. The Methods Map can help those less familiar with research methods to find the best technique to use in their research. Built upon Sage’s legacy of methods publishing, Sage Research Methods is the essential online tool for researchers.Full text of book, journal, and reference content to aid as students research design methodologies, understand and select methods, conduct research, and write findings.
Includes tools such as:
- Project Planner: find step-by-step guidance to complete your research project
- Which Stats Test: answer questions to see which statistical method is best for your data
Includes the complete series of:
- Little Green Books -- Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences
- Little Blue Books -- Qualitative Research Methods
Great Databases but...
Below are databases direct from journal publishers. They contain a lot of articles in Criminal Justice and the Social Sciences, but DO NOT begin your search here. The search interface for these articles is very basic. You need to have a good set of keywords or search terms to use before attempting to use these databases.
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Taylor & Francis Journals (T&F) This link opens in a new windowa one-stop site hosting international journals published by Taylor & Francis and Routledge
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Springer Nature Link This link opens in a new windowProviding researchers with access to millions of scientific documents from journals, books, series, protocols and reference works.
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Social Sciences & Humanities (SAGE Journals) This link opens in a new windowBrowse journals by discipline: Anthropology & Archaeology; Communication & Media Studies; Criminology & Criminal Justice; Cultural Studies; Economics & Development; Education; Ethnic Studies; Family Studies; Gender Studies; Geography; Gerontology & Aging; Group Studies; History; Information Science; Interpersonal Violence; Language & Linguistics; Law; Management & Organization Studies; Marketing & Hospitality; Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution; Philosophy; Politics & International Relations; Psychoanalysis; Psychology & Counseling; Public Administration; Regional Studies; Research Methods & Evaluation; Science & Society Studies; Social Work & Social Policy; Sociology; Special Education; Theology & Biblical Studies; Urban Studies & Planning
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Science Direct (1997+) This link opens in a new windowFull text scientific, technical and medical research journals, eBooks, Reference works, handbooks and book series published by Elsevier.
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Oxford Academic This link opens in a new windowOxford Academic access to scholarly and academic books and journals. It combines the full book and article content from Oxford Journals, Florida Scholarship Online, Oxford Scholarship Online, and Oxford Handbooks Online.
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Oxford Journals Online (OUP) (1827+) This link opens in a new windowSelective full text (1996+) of Oxford University Press journals covering a variety of disciplines:
-- Arts & Humanities -- Law -- Medicine & Health -- Science & Mathematics -- Social Sciences -
Emerald Insight Journals and eBooks This link opens in a new windowOnline journals and eBooks from Emerald which publishes in a broad range of disciplines.
Also Worth a Look
These databases are related to Criminal Justice topics and may help you find articles specific to your topic.
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Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowThis multi-disciplinary database provides active full text for more than 8,500 journals, including active full text for over 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,400 journals.
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Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts - ASSIA (ProQuest) (1987+) This link opens in a new windowApplied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA) is designed to serve the information needs of the caring professions, including practitioners, researchers, and students in healthcare, social services, education, and related areas. It is focused on a core of around 500 of the most relevant English language scholarly journals covering aspects of health and social care from a broadly social scientific perspective.
Coverage: 1987 - current -
Criminal Justice (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window"provides access to academic journals and magazines on topics in criminal justice and related fields. Key subjects covered in the database include law, law enforcement, security, and terrorism."
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Family Studies Abstracts (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowFamily Studies Abstracts includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to family studies, including marriage, divorce, family therapy, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. The index contains more than 53,500 records, which are carefully selected from the most important sources within the discipline.
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GenderWatch (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowa database of unique and diverse publications that focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas.
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JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull text of research journals and eBooks from numerous publishers. For most of the journal content, we can access all but the 3 to 5 most recent years of the journal.
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National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) (1970+) This link opens in a new windowan information clearinghouse for people around the U.S. and the world involved with research, policy, and practice related to criminal and juvenile justice, and drug control.
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National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts (ProQuest) (1975+) This link opens in a new window"The NCJRS Abstracts Database contains summaries of over 200,000 U.S. and international publications, including federal, state, and local government reports, books, research reports, journal articles, audiovisual presentations, and unpublished research."
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PAIS Index (ProQuest) (1915+) This link opens in a new windowcontains references to more than 553,300 journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material, & more.
The print index provides coverage for 1915-1974 - Main Library Reference H1.P8 -
Project MUSE (Johns Hopkins University) This link opens in a new windowa unique collaboration between libraries and publishers providing 100% full-text, affordable and user-friendly online access to over 300+ high quality humanities and social sciences journals from over 60 scholarly publishers.
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Social Science Research Network (SSRN) This link opens in a new window"is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research and is composed of a number of specialized research networks in each of the social sciences"
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Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) (1965+) This link opens in a new windowa multidisciplinary index to the journal literature of the social sciences.
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Sociology Collection (ProQuest) (1952+) This link opens in a new windowThis collection provides access to Sociological Abstracts in combination with other databases covering the international literature in sociology and social services, along with related fields. Together, it provides abstracts, indexing and full-text coverage of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, and more, including full-text from hundreds of leading sociology journals.
- Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA) (1987+)
- Sociological Abstracts (1952+)
- Social Services Abstracts (1979+)
- Sociology Database (1985+) -
Urban Studies Abstracts (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowUrban Studies Abstracts includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to urban studies, including urban affairs, community development, urban history, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. The index contains more than 51,600 records, which are carefully selected from the most important sources within the discipline.
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Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics) This link opens in a new window Provides citation indexing of top high-impact journals with powerful tools such as cited reference searching and Author Finder, 254 categories thoroughly cover the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
