Social Science Librarian
Bibliographies
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowThis resource can provide you with background information as well as pros and cons for many public policy topics related to criminal justice.
- CQ Global Researcher This link opens in a new windowGreat for discovering broad policy issues from a global perspective.
- Oxford Bibliographies: CriminologyEach article is created by scholars identifying important works, journals and issues. Sub-topics include: Corrections, Courts and Sentencing, Crime Prevention, Criminal Behavior, Criminologists and Criminological Theories, Environmental Criminology, International and Comparative Criminology, Juvenile Delinquency and Justice, Organizational and White-Collar Crime, Policing, Public Response to Crime, Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and Crime, Research Methods and Measurement of Crime, Victimology.
Encyclopedias
Evaluating Encyclopedia Articles (short tutorial from CPJA 808)
Provides a brief explanation of Wikipedia and how to assess encyclopedia articles.
- International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (First Edition) This link opens in a new windowThe International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences is a seminal work.in the Social Sciences
- Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new windowA collection of over 2000 reference resources.
- SAGE Reference Online This link opens in a new windowA gateway to those SAGE reference publications (encyclopedias and handbooks) Penn State has acquired
- Brill Online Reference Works This link opens in a new windowPlease note that PSU does not have licensed access to all of the Brill Online Reference Works. Those which we are able to access are marked with a green icon.
- Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowOxford Reference Online consists of a wealth of facts, figures, definitions, and translations found in dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.
- Oxford Research Encyclopedias This link opens in a new windowComprehensive collections of in-depth, peer-reviewed summaries on an ever-growing range of topics. New approved articles and new summaries are added to the encyclopedia on an ongoing basis.
- Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal JusticeSeminal encyclopedia from criminology and criminal justice research
Handbooks
What are handbooks?
Often times a particular topic gains ongoing scholarly interest that attracts the interest of a publisher or research organization. Authors who are known in the particular field of study are often asked to contribute chapters or to provide editorial oversight for these types of publications. Handbooks can provide a useful overview of the topic and help you identify some of the "movers and shakers" in that particular area of research.
- Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research Reviews This link opens in a new windowThe complete texts of the Oxford Handbooks in multiple disciplines and subject areas. These Handbooks contain in-depth, high-level articles by scholars at the top of their field.
- SAGE Reference Online This link opens in a new windowAccess to handbooks published by Sage Scroll down and select content type HANDBOOKS.
- LionSearch This link opens in a new windowTo find handbooks by other publishers: search LionSearch by selecting Advanced Search. In the 1st search box search for your "general concept" in ALL FIELDS and change the second search box to TITLE and search handbook.
Finding Scholarly Reviews
What is a review journal? A review journal in academic publishing is an academic journal devoted to the review of progress of empirical research in some particular area or topic during a preceding period often through the means of its publishing review articles.
IMPORTANT TIP: when you browse a particular journal online, the publisher will often designate whether or not the publication is a review article, editorial or research article. If you discover an article using a search engine or library database and have doubts. Sometimes browsing the journal will help you determine how it is designated by the publisher.
- Annual Reviews This link opens in a new windowIn depth reviews of current research trends in various disciplines. Crime and criminology can be found in Law and the Social Sciences. Search each review title individually or cross search the entire collection
Annual Review of CriminologyThe Annual Review of Criminology provides comprehensive reviews of significant developments in the multidisciplinary field of criminology, defined as the study of both the nature of criminal behavior and societal reactions to crime.- Annual Review of Law and Social ScienceThe Annual Review of Law and Social Science, in publication since 2005, strives to enhance the understanding of the complex connections between law, culture, social structure, and society by focusing on social scientific studies of law and law-like systems of rules, institutions, processes, and behaviors.
- Crime and Justice: A Review of ResearchThis whole title is a review of the latest international research, providing expertise to enhance the work of sociologists, psychologists, criminal lawyers, justice scholars, and political scientists. The series explores a full range of issues concerning crime, its causes, and its cures. In both the review and the thematic volumes, Crime and Justice offers an interdisciplinary approach to address core issues in criminology.
- Criminology and Public PolicyPolicy journal of the American Society of Criminology. If you browse the journal you will see some articles designated as "Policy Essays". The function essentially as review articles.
