Searching Tips
You can use these searching tips for your other classes too.
- When looking for books or articles by a particular, known author, type in last name, first name. For example: Bergdahl, Jacqueline.
- Article databases and the catalog don't recognize phrase searching, so break your topic into the main keywords or concepts. For example, if your topic is the effect of parental drug abuse on the family, don't type in "the effect of parental drug abuse on the family." Instead, type in "parents AND drug abuse AND family" or "parents AND 'drug abuse.'"
- Try to think of as many different ways to describe your topic as you can.
- When you find a good article, look at their lit review or references section to see what articles the author read--you might find a few good ones that you can use. See box below for how to find articles from a references section.
Articles
You find articles or article citations in databases. These will have articles most useful to you in this class.
IMPORTANT: In most of the databases below you'll see this button: 
If you don't see a link to the full text of the article, click on the Find It button 
! It will open a new window or tab in your browser and it will show you if we have the full text of the article through one of our other online databases or if we have the journal that your article is from in print.
If you need to get the print article, be sure to note what volume you need and double-check that we do actually have that exact volume. Write down ALL the information about the article, including the call number of the journal. If you don't know where to find the print, someone at the Information Desk will be happy to help you.
- Criminal Justice Abstracts This link opens in a new windowCovers crime trends, prevention, deterrence, juvenile delinquency, justice, police, courts, punishment and sentencing. Indexes international journal articles, books, and governmental and non-governmental reports.
- SocINDEX This link opens in a new windowSearch extensively indexed books, monographs, and conference papers. This index features citations with subject headings from a sociology-specific thesaurus designed by expert lexicographers. SocINDEX covers all subdisciplines of sociology such as anthropology, criminology, demography, ethnic, racial, and gender studies, marriage, family, and social structures, and social work.
- APA PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowIndexes psychology literature and related disciplines including psychiatry, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, cognitive science, and linguistics. Includes journals and book chapters. Use Historic PsycINFO to identify literature published as early as the 1920s. Links occur to full-text when available.
- Social Sciences Citation Index This link opens in a new windowThis multidisciplinary resource indexes journal literature of the social sciences. Represented disciplines include anthropology, business, communication, criminology, demography, ethnic and racial studies, gender studies, history, law, political science, psychology, religion, social psychology, sociology, social work, and urban studies. Search by topic, keyword, or author. Identify articles that cited a previous work. Links to full-text occur when available. Also known as SSCI.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowIndexes research literature across a wide range of disciplines and formats. Use the library connection to gScholar to get more attached full-text articles.
Finding the full text of an article when you have the citation
How would you find the full text for the following citation?
Tillyer, R., Engel, R. S. & Wooldredge, J. (2008). The intersection of racial profiling research and the law. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36, 138-153.
- Go to the library catalog title search page.
- Type your journal title (Journal of Criminal Justice) in the box. Do not type your article title in the box.
- If WSU owns your journal, see if we have the year, volume, and issue number you need. Note: it might be in electronic form or paper form.
- If WSU doesn’t have the journal you want or doesn’t have the year/volume/issue you need, use Interlibrary Loan.
Citation for Citation Search
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Citing Your Sources
To see how to cite the articles that you find for your lit review assignment as well as for your final research proposal, see our guide Citing Your Sources. Look on the tabs for APA or ASA format.
Data Sets
Do you need raw data to use in a statistical program like SPSS, SAS, or STATA? Try these sources: