Library Guides: Crime & Justice Studies: Find Articles

About this Page

Do you need to find articles on a particular subject? This page is designed to help you identify some good databases to get you started. It provides links and annotations for databases available through the Carney Library.

Topic Overviews

CQ Researcher
is a collection of reports on controversial issues dating back to 1991. It may be helpful when you need an overview of a topic before looking for research articles. Since the CQ Researcher is a reference source, it isn't something that you'll typically cite in a paper.

Recommended Databases for CJS

The following databases are helpful for conducting research in the social sciences. Search these databases when you looking for articles on a specific topic. If you want to find out whether the library provides access to a specific journal or article, use the the Find Journals tab.

SocINDEX
SocIndex (EBSCO) covers all subdisciplines of sociology, including anthropology, criminal justice, political science, social work and social psychology. I find that this is often a good place to begin researching most CJS topics.
Criminal Justice Abstracts
contains comprehensive coverage of international journals, books, reports, dissertations and unpublished papers on criminal justice and criminology and related disciplines.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar can be a helpful supplement to the library's suite of databases. In particular, Google Scholar is useful for performing forward citation searches (i.e., finding other sources that cite a relevant article or book). When using Google Scholar be sure to evaluate your sources carefully. Use Primo to determine whether the library owns the item.
HeinOnline
Includes full-text access to hundreds of law journals, a collection of legal classics, and federal publications.
Criminal Justice Database
A collection of U.S. and international criminal justice journals including information for professionals in law enforcement, corrections administration, drug enforcement, rehabilitation, family law, and industrial security.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Special Section on Law Enforcement & the Use of Force
JSTOR
is a full-text online collection of core scholarly journals from their first issues (some date back to the 1800's) to between two and five years prior to the present. Subject coverage includes arts & sciences, education, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, anthropology, Asian studies, economics, population studies, sociology, botany, and ecology.
PsycInfo
PsycInfo contains more than 4 million bibliographic records for research in the field of psychology, including citations, journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations, and technical reports. Journal coverage spans the 17th century to present, including international material selected from more than 2,500 periodicals in over 35 languages. More than 60,000 records are added each year. Also includes information about the psychological aspects of related disciplines such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business and law. Incorporates searchable full text articles from 43 journals published by the American Psychological Association and 8 from allied organizations.
Women's Studies International
Covers the core disciplines in Women’s Studies to the latest scholarship in feminist research. Coverage includes more than 586,600 records and spans from 1972 and earlier to present. This database supports curriculum development in the areas of sociology, history, political science & economy, public policy, international relations, arts & humanities, business and education. Over 2,000 periodical sources are represented.

Secondary Databases

The following databases cover economics, business, and education, areas that may offer additional information relating to CJS topics (I call them "sister disciplines").

ABI/INFORM Global
ABI Inform Global is a business and management database. It may be helpful when looking for literature on management and financial issues related to CJS.
EconLit
EconLit is an database of citations from journals and other resources in the field of economics. Check it out if you're looking for cost studies related to crime and justice. For example, it indexes articles on issues such as the cost of prison privatization and death penalty appeals.
ERIC
offers access to many full-text journal articles as well as full-text ERIC documents available on Department of Education web site. Students and faculty wishing to conduct advanced searches will likely find this version easier to use than the open access version.
MLA International Bibliography
is an index by the Modern Language Association of journal articles, books and dissertations. Coverage is international and subjects include literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory & criticism, dramatic arts, as well as the historical aspects of printing and publishing. Listings on rhetoric and composition and the history, theory and practice of teaching language and literature are also included.
Political Science Complete
Offers broad coverage of the political science literature, including subjects such as comparative politics, law and legislation, humanitarian issues, international relations, political theory and non-governmental organizations. It includes full-text access to many titles.
Project MUSE
is a full-text collection of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals in the humanities and social sciences. UMass Dartmouth subscribes to the standard collection, which grants our students and faculty access to most, but not all, Project MUSE titles. You can limit your search to the standard collection titles by selecting the check box for "Only content I have full access to," which is located under "Additional Search Options."

Newspapers

Here's a selected list of newspapers and newspaper databases available through the Carney Library.

Berkshire Eagle (2005 - present)
Boston Globe (1997 - present)
Boston Globe (1980 - 1996)
Google News
Limit your Google search to news sources. If you need older articles, use the archive feature or search the library's databases. Most, but not all, of the sources are full-text. If you need an article that you can't get full-text online, check Journal Locator. The library can help you obtain an article through ILL.
New Bedford Standard Times (1992-97)
New York Times (1980 - present)

New York Times Historical with Index (1851-2015)
Provides full-text access to historic issues of the New York Times. Includes New York Times (1851-2014) w/ Index (1851-1993).
US Newsstream
US Newsstream enables users to search the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. Offers exclusive access to the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and co-exclusive access (with Factiva) to The Wall Street Journal. Also offers one of the largest collections of local and regional newspapers.