Skip to Main Content

CJS 331 Olivas (Hamilton): Finding Articles

Criminal Justice Resources

Youll need to enter your Miami Unique ID and password to access these resources from off-campus.

All of the databases listed below will be helpful when conducting research for this class. You can choose one to search, or you can search all of them at the same time.
-To search more than one of these at the same time, click on one of the links below.
-At the top of the page (above the search boxes) click on “Choose Databases”.
cjs101choosedatabases
-Then check the box(es) next to the other databases you would like to search.
-Scroll to the top or bottom of the pop up window and click “OK”.
Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text

Legal Collection

Academic Search Complete

SocINDEX

Sociological Collection

 

screenshot of options in ebsco

If you see links that say “PDF Full Text” or “HTML Full Text”, clicking on those will take you to the full text of the article. Then, on the right-hand side of the page, you’ll see options to:
--download/save the article (blue arrow in the screenshot),
--print the article (red arrows in the screenshot),
--email the article to yourself (yellow arrow in the screenshot), and
--get the citation information for the article (green arrow in the screenshot).

After you click the icon to get the citation, you can highlight, copy, and paste the APA-formatted citation into your document. Always be sure to double-check your copied citations, though. Sometimes formatting, such as italics and hanging indents, aren’t correct. Information is typically in the correct order, but good to double-check that as well.

Nexis Uni

​Nexis Uni
Nexis Uni is the best place to find cases and information about cases.

  • Enter your topic in the large search box at the top of the page.
  • The default for the results list is to show news articles.
  • Click on "Law Reviews and Journals" to switch to articles from law-related sources.

 

 

To find cases about your topic:

  • Click on "Cases" in the middle of the screen.
  • Then choose either "Federal Cases" or "State Cases" depending on what type of cases you would like to review. If you choose "State Cases", you will need to indicate the state you wish to search.
  • Type your topic in the box.

 

Click on the title of the item to get to the full text.

When you are viewing the full text of the item, there are options at the top of the page to:
-print the item (red arrow)
-email the item to yourself (blue arrow)
-download the item so you can save it to your computer or flash drive (yellow arrow)
-send the item directly to your Google Drive (green arrow)

You can get the citation information for the item formatted in APA style by clicking on the "Export Citation" button below the title of the item. (purple arrow)

Find It!

Find It! button

When you search a database for a "Full Text" item, you are only searching through that particular database for the document in full-text, and not our entire collection.  An item may exist as a "Full Text" selection within a different database.

If you don't find an item as full-text in the database you're searching, use the "Find It" button to cross-search other databses for that same item.  You may discover that we have electronic access to that material after all.

More Resources

Need more sources? The Criminal Justice Studies Research by Subject page provides links to other resources that might be helpful for your specific topic.

Search Tips

“And”, “Or”, “Not” (Boolean Operators): Use the words to narrow or expand your search results. For Example:

  • “automobiles” AND “accidents” will return results that contain BOTH of the terms.
  • “juvenile” OR “adolescent” OR “teenager” will return results that contain at least one of the terms. Useful for words with similar meanings.
  • “cinderella” NOT “rock band” will return results that do NOT include the 1980’s rock band, Cinderella.

Use an * at the end of a root word to find all variations of that word. For example, “child*” will search for “child,” “children,” “childhood,” and “children's.”

Brainstorm words or concepts that are similar in meaning and use those as search terms. If you find a good resource, look at the “Subject Headings” or “Descriptors” listed and use those as additional search terms.

Bibliographies/References/Works Cited pages are great ways to find additional resources. You can search the library’s Catalogs and/or Databases.

Tutorials and Videos