Criminology

What is a peer-reviewed journal?

Peer-reviewed journals are often called scholarly or academic journals. They are different from popular magazines. Articles in peer-reviewed journals:

• are written by experts for other experts
• usually report on research
• always include many in-text citations and a list of references or works cited by the author(s)
• most importantly have been rigorously critiqued and reviewed by experts for quality before being published. This is called peer-review.

This one-page checklist compares scholarly journals with popular and trade magazines in Criminology:

This short video from Vanderbilt University helps to explain the difference between scholarly journals and popular magazines and other periodicals.

Primary and secondary research articles

Once researchers complete an empirical study, they will usually (try to) publish their findings in a peer-reviewed journal. These are often called primary or original research articles because they are the first-publication of new research findings.

Secondary sources of information describe, explain, interpret or summarize primary sources. These include encyclopedias, book reviews, commentaries, literature reviews, and any books or journal articles that simply discuss the original (previously-published) work of others. Although these can be very helpful sources for identifying primary research articles, they are not primary studies themselves.

Structure of a primary research article

A primary (original) research article will usually be divided into several parts:

• Introduction
• Literature review (may be included in Introduction)
• Method (often called Methodology) -- always found in an empirical research article
• Findings/Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions

The names of the parts may vary, but a primary research article will always include a methodology section explaining how the research was conducted (i.e. what type of empirical method was used). Most secondary journal articles do not include a methods section.

Example of a peer-reviewed, primary research article:

APA-formatted citation for this article:

Every research article will include a section where the authors review research that has already been done on this subject.

Some journal articles are entirely literature reviews. These can be excellent sources to look at first for your own literature review. The authors will have identified important research on the subject and synthesized the findings. A good lit review can help you to narrow the focus of your research topic, and give you citations to primary research articles on your topic. Just make sure to check the date of the lit review. You want to find a fairly recent one.

Tips for finding literature reviews:

1. Use a database that allows you to limit your search to literature reviews, e.g.:
   • PsycINFO: choose the Methodology "literature review"
   • ProQuest's Criminal Justice Database and Sociology Collection: choose the Document Type "literature review"
   • Note: some databases -- especially medical ones -- refer to literature reviews as "review articles" or "reviews". However, other databases use the term "review" to mean a book review which you don't want. Be careful when you use these filters.
2. If a database does not include this filter, just add the phrase"literature review" (in quotation marks) to your search keywords.

Some strategies for finding qualitative research articles using KPU databases:

1. Use a database that allows you to limit by research methodology

• PsycINFO is the best for this. Look for the Methodology filter, and choose one (or more) of the following options:
  • "Field Study"
  • "Interview" (or more specifically "Focus Group")
  • "Literature Review"
  • "Qualitative Study"
• Criminal Justice Abstracts and Social Sciences with Fulltext databases let you limit by Document Type. [Use caution here; these databases do not consistently apply these filters.] The options are:
  • "Case study"
  • "Interview"

2. Include methodology terms in your search keywords

• If you are using a research databases that does not provide the filters above, add the word METHODOLOGY as a keyword in your search.
• Better yet, add the specific type of method as a keyword, e.g. "CASE STUDY"

3. Find one good article using a qualitative method and then use citation mapping to find others

• Another approach is to find one article you like, and then look at the studies listed in its cited references. Take it a step further and find out which articles have subsequently cited the article you already have. These may use a similar methodology, or comment on the methodology used in your article. See the Citation Mapping section below for tips.

If you have not found anything useful in the Library's databases (though that's very unlikely!), you may want to check Google Scholar.

Google Scholar lists articles from a wide variety of scholarly journals. It also includes references to book chapters and many other types of sources.

How do I find the full text for an article I found in Google Scholar?

Google Scholar does not usually provide the full-text for articles for free, so you might get prompted to pay for access to an article. 

Do not pay for articles! It's quite likely that the KPU Library subscribes to the journal. If we don't, we can get it for you free of charge.

• If you are on-campus, look for the "Full text at KPU" link in your results.
• If you're off-campus, customize the Google Scholar settings to check the KPU Library for full-text. Choose 'Library Links' and then type in Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
• If the KPU Library does not have the journal article that you need, you can request a copy from another library through interlibrary loan at no charge. We do the searching and can deliver most articles to you via email within 2 business days.

Where can I get this article?

If you are searching in a KPU library database:

• You will often see a link directly to the full-text of the article; look for a PDF icon, or a link that says "full-text"
• If you do not see this, click on the link that says "Where can I get this?". This will often link you to the full article in another database available through KPU Library.
• If KPU Library does not subscribe to this journal, you will be given the option to request the article AT NO CHARGE through the interlibrary loan request link. We do the searching and can deliver most articles to you via email within 2 business days.

If you have a citation for a specific article:

Look up the journal title here to find out if it's available through KPU Library:

Important:

This search will ONLY tell you whether Kwantlen users have access to a specific journal title, and link you to a list of available issues.

This tool will NOT search for individual articles on a specific topic in these journals. For that, you need to use a Research Database. (Try the recommended databases in the second tab of this box first.)

If KPU Library does not have the journal article:

You can request a copy from another library  using our interlibrary loan service at no charge. We do the searching and can deliver most articles to you via email within 2 business days.

Many research databases will link to other sources which have cited a specific article. Here is an example from the PsycINFO database:

Search results in Google Scholar showing Citing References

In this case, 384 other sources in Google Scholar have cited this 2003 journal article by Terrill and Reisig.

When you click on the "Cited by 384" link, you will see a list of those 384 citing references. The results include books, and many other types of sources, not just journal articles.

How do I find the full text for an article I found in Google Scholar?

Google Scholar does not usually provide the full-text for articles for free, so you might get prompted to pay for access to an article. 

Do not pay for articles! It's quite likely that the KPU Library subscribes to the journal. If we don't, we can get it for you free of charge.

• If you are on-campus, look for the "Full text at KPU" link in your results.
• If you're off-campus, customize the Google Scholar settings to check the KPU Library for full-text. Choose 'Library Links' and then type in Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
• If the KPU Library does not have the journal article that you need, you can request a copy from another library through interlibrary loan at no charge. We do the searching and can deliver most articles to you via email within 2 business days.