Skip to main content

Criminology: Introduction

Image of a fingerprint with sections circled and pointing to parts of a larger puzzle

Criminology is a behavioural science that studies crime and criminal justice and tends to also involve legal, psychological and sociological perspectives. There are many different ways to approach criminology research, depending on your topic.

Getting Started with Omni, Laurier Library's Academic Research Tool

5 min Video

Omni Help Page

If you want help from your subject librarian:

Please book a 1-on-1 appointment by clicking this link

If you choose to send an email for non-urgent research help, please include:

  • your course number and when the assignment is due
  • as much information about the assignment as possible 
  • where you have already searched for information, what keywords you have used, and what kind of results you have achieved

If you need immediate help and your subject librarian is unavailable, try the Ask Us Chatservice to get help with your question.

Other Helpful Subject Guides:

Remember, you are encouraged to connect directly with other subject librarians for help finding materials in their area of expertise.

Are you in the joint Laurier and Sussex program? Have a look at the University of Sussex Library subject guide on Law.

Resources: Main

Resource Description
21st Century Criminology: A Reference Handbook Full-text articles on criminology. View full description
21st Century Sociology Provides a timely and comprehensive assessment of the 100+ specialty fields of Sociology View full description
APA PsycInfo® A comprehensive database for the field of psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines. View full description
CPI.Q Index for Canadian academic journals and popular magazines View full description
Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text Covers journal articles, books, reports, dissertations and unpublished papers. View full description
Encyclopedia of Race and Crime Full-text articles covering topics on race and crime. View full description
Factiva A full-text resource with news, business information and journal articles drawn from almost 9000 worldwide sources, including Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and the KW Record. View full description
ICPSR US and international datasets in criminology, demography, economics, health, political science, and sociology. View full description
Lexis Advance Quicklaw Canadian court decisions and legal commentary. View full description
NCJRS Abstracts Database U.S. database with summaries of articles, books and other materials about crime and corrections. View full description
Nexis Uni Full-text documents for international news, business, legal research, and key people in the news. View full description
Sociological Abstracts Comprehensive, international coverage of journal articles, books, papers, etc. in sociology and related disciplines. View full description
Sociology @ ProQuest Selected ProQuest databases for Sociology. View full description

Resources: Also Useful

Resource Description
Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America Contains citations to books, journal articles, essays, conference papers, and government documents. View full description
Canada Commons Collection of Canadian books and public documents. View full description
CANSIM @ CHASS Canadian socio-economic statistical data. For advanced users. View full description
CANSIM @ Statistics Canada Canadian socio-economic statistical data. View full description
Child Welfare Information Gateway Links to information and publications for the well-being of children and families. View full description
CQ Researcher Reports on political and social issues. View full description
Encyclopedia of Human Rights Human rights theory, practice, law and history. Online version of five-volume print edition. View full description
Encyclopedia of Law & Society: American and Global Perspectives Covers important knowledge about law and society from an interdisciplinary perspective. View full description
Encyclopedia of law and higher education Full-text reference articles covering topics on law and higher education. View full description
Google Scholar Searches for articles and web resources from academic publishers and universities. View full description
I-Portal: Indigenous Studies Portal Index to articles, books, and other documents related to indigenous peoples of Canada and North America. View full description
Legal Information @ EBSCOhost Selected EBSCOhost databases for legal information. View full description
Legal Information @ ProQuest Selected ProQuest databases for legal information. View full description
LLMC Digital Open Access An international collection of key historic legal texts and executive, legislative and judicial government documents. View full description
odesi Repository of socio-economic survey, census, and polling data from Statistics Canada, Ipsos Reid, Gallup, etc. View full description
PAIS Index International index to various types of publications on public/social policy and social sciences. Includes PAIS Archive. View full description
Periodicals Archive Online Full-text articles from journals in the humanities and social sciences. View full description
Policing & Public Safety @ EBSCOhost Articles on aboriginal issues, criminal justice, leadership, and training for Policing & Public Safety. View full description
Very Short Introductions Collection of introductory books on a variety of topics including arts, humanities, law, health, science, and social sciences. View full description