CCJ 4960 - Criminal Justice Capstone - Criminology & Criminal Justice - Research Guides at Saint Louis University Libraries

This course page was created for CCJ 4960: Criminology & Criminal Justice Capstone. This is just a selection of sources that may be useful to you in this course. Please explore the full Criminology & Criminal Justice Library Research Guide. Contact your CCJ Librarian (Rebecca Hyde) with a question or to make an appointment for an in-depth research consultation. For quick and/or general questions you can contact Rebecca or use our 24/5 chat assistance to get help with your research!

Background Information on Issues & Theories

Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice
An international, comprehensive reference tool for the field of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Provides relevant background information for many of the concepts discussed in class.
Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory
Published in 2010, this encyclopedia gives explanation and history of numerous theories in criminology and criminal justice, and includes sources for further reading.

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
A collection of reference books with brief, background entries on subjects from many disciplines, including relevant topics for this course.

Finding Empirical & Other Scholarly Articles

Some databases will include the full-text of articles, but others will include thebutton which links to full-text when available and if not available, gives you the option to request articles for free through Interlibrary Loan's Illiad service.

Criminal Justice Abstracts This link opens in a new window
1910-present. Search for topics such as criminal justice, criminal law, corrections, prisons, police, policing, and more from important criminal justice magazines and journals.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
1952-present. Abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related social and behavioral science disciplines.
Google Scholar @ SLU This link opens in a new window
Although it doesn't have the same powerful limiters you'll find in Library databases, Google Scholar is invaluable for discovering who cited an article and for finding the very latest research. Make sure you're on campus or signed in through the SLU Libraries to make full use of this resource.
To see the Find It @ SLU link when searching Google Scholar off-campus:
- Sign in to Google Scholar Settings-Library Links
- Search for “Saint Louis University”
- Select “Find It @ SLU”
- Save
SLUth - Search Plus This link opens in a new window
Use SLUth to find journal articles across all disciplines, plus newspaper articles, books, ebooks and more! SLUth searches nearly 100 of SLU's databases including Criminal Justice Abstracts, Academic Search Complete, HeinOnline, Public Affairs Index, JSTOR, and more. [Does NOT include Sociological Abstracts.]

News & Government Documents

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Full-text of local, national, and international news sources. Includes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York Times. Also includes law reviews, court opinions, US and state legal codes.

CRS Reports
The Congressional Research Service is a nonpartisan agency that produces research reports and briefs on major policy issues and any topic requested by a member of Congress. This official site is publicly available and includes recent reports. SLU database ProQuest Congressional includes historical reports going back to 1914.
Congressional Budget Office - Cost Estimates
The Congressional Budget Office creates cost estimates for many bills that come before Congress. If your policy includes elements that have been previously proposed by Congress, you may find some useful cost estimates here.

Washington Post (ProQuest Recent Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Full-text Washington Post articles from 1987-present.
Wall Street Journal Digital Subscription This link opens in a new window
SLU students, faculty and staff can activate their complimentary memberships by visiting this link, logging into the SLU school portal, and creating a WSJ account on the registration page. Readers have complete and personalized digital access to The Wall Street Journal and the WSJ app.
New York Times Digital Subscription This link opens in a new window
Use this link to register for a SLU NYT online account using your @slu.edu email address. Accounts provide SLU students with subscriber access to NYTimes.com or the NYT app. Student subscriptions are valid through the graduation date entered at sign-up.

Finding Statistics & Data

Search USA.gov
Search USA.gov searches .gov, .mil, .us and selected other domains that include official local, regional, state and federal government agencies as well as quasi governmental agencies such as the Smithsonian. Search for official information from St. Louis City or other localities around the country.

ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new window
2013-present. The Statistical Abstract of the U.S. includes brief statistics on almost every topic. The focus is on the U.S. but some international statistics are included. This is a great source to start with to find which agency or organization has collected more in-depth statistics.

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program
Service of the FBI, includes statistics from The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS); Hate Crime Statistics; Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA); National Use-of-Force Data and more. Use the Crime Data Explorer to build statistical tables with data back to 1985.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Collects and compiles statistical information on crime, criminal justice, incarceration, and other related topics to provide statistics at the federal, state, and sometimes county levels. Part of the Department of Justice.
Criminology & Criminal Justice Research Guide: Statistics Page
See this page on the CCJ Research Guide for additional statistical sources and tools.

Citation Management & APA Style

Citation managers allow you to keep all your sources in one place, and easily insert citations into your paper as you write. EndNote citation management software is available as a free software download to any SLU student, faculty or staff.

"Cite Sources" on the CCJ Guide
This page includes information on APA style.
EndNote Web
Considering EndNote but not ready for the time commitment of setting up & learning a new software? This free online resource allows you to easily save citations from a variety of databases and link back to the full-text. You can also use the cite while you write feature and import your citations into the EndNote software if you decide you need a more powerful citation manager.
EndNote download
If needed, please contact IT service desk at 314-977-4000 or helpdesk@slu;edu.
more...less...
To learn about EndNote, go to EndNote tips, by Donghua Tao, Ph.D.

Criminology & Criminal Justice

Your Librarian

20 Minute Rule

Citation Mapping

Background Information on Issues & Theories

Finding Empirical & Other Scholarly Articles

News & Government Documents

Finding Statistics & Data

Citation Management & APA Style