Criminal Justice Subject Guide

Research Tools & Resources in Criminal Justice

Assess

Be sure the information you select is the information you need! 

Assess your Information & Sources

 Currency
  • How recent is the information?
  • When was it published?
  • Is it current enough for your purposes?
Reliability
  • What kind of information is included in the resource?
  • Is content of the resource informative rather primarily opinion? Is it balanced?
  • Does it include references or sources for data, claims, and quotations? 
  • Can you confirm information and claims in other sources?
Authority
  • What kind of expertise does the author have? Academic? Firsthand experience?  
  • Who is the publisher or sponsor and what is the publisher's interest (if any) in this information?
  • If you need scholarly information, is this a scholarly article? 
    • Is it written by academics? 
    • Is the information thoroughly documented with in-text citations a references list?
Purpose/Point of View
  • Is the source: Informative? Opinion? Entertainment? 
  • If from a scholarly journal, is the actual article a scholarly study? Or is it a book review?
  • Does the focus of the piece fulfill your assignment needs?
  • What is its point of view?

Evaluate

Download the CRAAP Test