Welcome to the research guide for your Intro to Criminology Research Paper. The tabs above will walk you through your research process from finding books and articles to citation. If you need assistance in writing or editing your paper, see the information in the Writing Center tab.
When you begin a research assignment, you will need to compile a list of keywords for searching. Keywords are the terms you will use in the search boxes for databases, the library catalog, and the internet. Find somewhere (a piece of paper in your notebook, a planner/organizer, a Google Doc, a Word file) to keep track of keywords that are useful. This strategy will help you as you go from search to search.
Think about your topic. What words do you associate with that topic. E.g. identity theft. What other words mean "identity theft"?
Once you have brainstormed some search terms, you can begin putting those words into our databases and our library catalog to see what you can find. You need to separate those search terms with boolean operators.
AND - Use "and" between search terms to find results with BOTH words in the documents. AND is a narrowing search term. It narrows your search down by requiring more than one search term in the results. E.g. fraud and New Jersey will find articles where fraud and New Jersey are somewhere within the article.
OR - Use "or" between search terms find either one term or the other term. OR is a broadening search term. It expands your search to contain one term or the other. e.g. fraud or theft will find articles with either word. OR is a great addition to your search if there are multiple search terms that are synonyms.
NOT - Use "not" to eliminate search results containing a specific word. NOT is a narrowing search term. It narrows your search to find the first term and eliminates those results that contain the second search term. Consider using NOT when you find articles that are related to your topic, but not related to your specific focus of research. E.g. fraud NOT internet will yield articles where fraud appears in the article and eliminates the articles that include the term internet.
When you are brainstorming search terms, you may have some ideas that are groups of words. For example, identity theft is another word for fraud. If you searched the words identity theft in a database or in the library catalog, the database will find the words, but not necessarily together. To search for the words together, put quotes around them:
"identity theft"
