Related Guides
Databases
Criminology & Law
- Criminal Justice Database This link opens in a new window ProQuest Criminal Justice indexes and abstracts U.S. and international scholarly journals and trade journals on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. Date coverage: 1981 - present.
- Criminal Justice Abstracts This link opens in a new window Criminal Justice Abstracts indexes and abstracts international journal articles and as well as books on criminal justice and criminology. Date coverage: 1968 - present.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new window Hein Online is a PDF collection of primary and secondary legal materials including: law reviews, law journals, and bar journals; treatises; federal statutes and legislative materials; federal regulations and executive materials; Supreme Court cases; selected state materials; titles from the American Law Institute and National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws; and a growing collection of international legal materials including United Nations publications and treaties.
- National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Abstracts This link opens in a new window The NCJRS Abstracts Database contains summaries of U.S. and international publications, including federal, state, and local government reports, books, research reports, journal articles, audiovisual presentations, and unpublished research. Date coverage: 1970 - present.
- National Institute of Corrections Library The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is the only federal agency with a legislative mandate to provide specialized services to corrections from a national perspective. NIC provides practical assistance in planning and implementing improvements at the federal, state and local levels. These efforts contribute to cost efficiency and effectiveness in such areas as planning, design, and operation of new jails, prisons, and community corrections programs, offender workforce development
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window Nexis Uni is a source for newspapers and magazines, trade journals, wire services and transcripts, as well as legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790, and information on U.S. and international companies and executives.
Social Sciences
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window Sociological Abstracts indexes and abstracts the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews. It also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Forty percent of the content is published outside of North America. Date coverage: 1952 - present.
- Social Science Premium Collection This link opens in a new window “This collection provides access to databases covering international literature in social sciences, including politics, public policy, sociology, social work, anthropology, criminology, linguistics, library science, and education. Featured databases include IBSS, Sociological Abstracts and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Together, they provide abstracts, indexing and full-text coverage of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, and more.”
- Social Sciences Full Text This link opens in a new window Social Sciences Full Text provides access to hundreds of English language journals in the social sciences. About two-thirds of the journals are peer-reviewed. Date coverage: 1983 - present.
- Social Services Abstracts This link opens in a new window This database includes the full text and abstracts of articles from over 1300 journals in the social work and human services fields. It also includes citations to dissertations and theses. Topics covered include social work practice, social welfare, community and mental health services, and crisis intervention. Date coverage: 1980-
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new window The PAIS International database covers current public policy issues and areas of potential legislation. Cited articles, books and documents can date back to 1910 and are listed in the original language. While some full text is included, the index primarily links to full text articles available through existing BU subscriptions. Date coverage: Approximately 1910 - present.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (WPSA) This link opens in a new window Indexes and abstracts international relations, political science, and foreign affairs literature. May include references to dissertations, books, or scholarly articles. Some full text included; links provided to BU content. Date coverage: 1975 - present.
- International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) This link opens in a new window This database contains indexes journal articles and books in the social sciences. Subjects covered in the database include anthropology, economics, education, ethnography, political science, sociology and more. It has broad international coverage. Abstracts are available for half of all current journal articles. Date coverage: 1951 - present.
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window Covers the most current and controversial issues of the day with summaries, pros and cons, bibliographies and more. Provides reporting and analysis on issues in the news, including coverage of issues relating to health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy.
Humanities
- Humanities Full Text / Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window These combined databases provide access to journal articles, book reviews, performance reviews, interviews, bibliographies and more from a broad range of humanities and social sciences journals. Date coverage: 1907 - present.
- Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new window The Philosopher's Index indexes and abstracts books and 350 journals of philosophy and related interdisciplinary fields published in the U.S. and other western countries. Major philosophy journals in other languages are included since 1967. Date coverage: 1940 - present.
- PhilPapers: Philosophical Research Online This link opens in a new window PhilPapers is a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers. It monitors all sources of research content in philosophy, including books, journals, open access archives, and personal pages maintained by academics.
Searching Across Disciplines
- BU Libraries Search (BULS) This link opens in a new window BU Libraries Search provides a single place to search for a wide variety of academic material provided by the library. The material covered by the search includes books, journals, scores, video and audio recordings, and other physical items held by the library. The search also covers ebooks and ejournals owned by the library, as well as online material provided by the library from a variety of sources.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window Academic Search Premier contains indexing, abstracts and full-text articles for scholarly publications, most of them peer-reviewed. The subjects covered include topics in the social sciences, humanities, general science, education and most areas of academic study. Date coverage varies by publication
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window ScienceDirect is a general science database that searches journal articles and book chapters in all areas of science, technology, and health. ScienceDirect also provides full text access to a number of major reference works, allows the user to create email alerts for specific journal titles, book series, or research topics, and provides access to a limited number of "pre-pub" articles (articles accepted for publication but not yet officially released). Date coverage: varies by publication.
- Project Muse This link opens in a new window Project Muse provides digital access to scholarly journals and books in the humanities and social sciences. The scholarly content comes from non-profit scholarly publishers, including university presses and societies. The full text resources include journal articles, book reviews and book chapters.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window This database provides full text access to the back issues of core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Book reviews are included as well as journal articles. Abstracts are available for some of the articles. Date coverage: earliest issues of each journal up to the most current five years for most publications and to the present for some.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window Web of Science is one of the core general science databases covering all aspects of scientific literature. It also has a number of tools that make it a unique resource for finding scholarly literature. Item records come with links both to the works cited by the paper in question and the future works that cite that paper. Web of Science also allows the user to set up email alerts for specific authors or topics, provides researcher profiles, and allows the user to search conference proceedings.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) This link opens in a new window This database contains indexing and abstracts of American doctoral dissertations accepted at accredited institutions since 1861 and a selection from other countries. Masters theses are included selectively. Date coverage: full text 1997 - present; abstracts 1980 - present; indexing 1861 - present.
Featured Journals
- Corrections Today Corrections Today is the professional membership publication of the American Correctional Association (ACA). Its international readership includes individuals involved in every sector of the corrections and criminal justice fields.
- Criminal Justice and Behavior Criminal Justice and Behavior (CJB), peer-reviewed and published monthly, promotes scholarly evaluations of assessment, classification, prevention, intervention, and treatment programs to help the correctional professional develop successful programs based on sound and informative theoretical and research foundations.
- Punishment & Society Punishment & Society is an international, interdisciplinary, peer reviewed journal that publishes the highest quality original research and scholarship dealing with punishment, penal institutions and penal control. It is a source of informed commentary and criticism regarding the penal policies and practices of our time.
- Journal of Correctional Education The Journal of Correctional Education is the foremost publication of the Correctional Education Association (CEA). The Journal serves as a resource for: Academic research in correctional education; Current issues/Legislative updates in correctional educations'; Best practices for correctional educators
- Journal of Prison Education & Reentry The Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (JPER) is an international, open access, peer-reviewed journal for researchers and practitioners. Topics covered include but are not limited to sociology, criminology, adult education and literacy, instructional design, mental and behavioral health, and administration and policy as it relates to the context of prisoner education and subsequent reentry into the community beyond prison walls.
- Journal of Correctional Health Care The Journal of Correctional Health Care is the only national, peer-reviewed scientific journal to address correctional health care topics.
- The Prison Journal The Prison Journal has continued to be a central forum for studies, ideas, and discussions of adult and juvenile confinement, treatment interventions, and alternative sanctions. Exploring broad themes of punishment and correctional intervention, The Prison Journal advances theory, research, policy and practice.
