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CRJU 202: Research Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Useful Databases

Database Search Tips

 Research Tip: How to Narrow Your Search

  • Combine concepts with AND to search for both terms
    • women AND crime
    • gender AND sentencing
  • Use “quotation marks” to find exact phrases
    • "public defender"
    • “self evaluation"

 Research Tip: How to Broaden Your Search

  • Use OR to search for synonyms 
    • women OR girl OR female
    • adolescent OR teenager
  • Truncate roots to find plurals
    • delinquen* (searches for delinquent, delinquents, delinquency, etc.)

In most databases, the truncation symbol is *

 Research Tip: Database Exploration

  • Start your search by doing keyword searches.
  • Look at the subject headings of relevant records to determine the terminology used in the database for your topic. 
  • Use Limits to limit results to Scholarly/Peer Reviewed articles, by publication date, and more.