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Criminal Justice Research Guide: Home

A research guide devoted to criminal justice and police science.

Off-Campus Access to Databases

To access any database in this Research Guide from off campus, you will need your myMCC login. If you need to reset your password, go to the myMCC login page and click on Password Reset/Find Username.

Getting Started with Research

The Research Process

  1. Start with your research question or a general topic you want to explore.
  2. Identify key concepts
    • These are the main ideas of your research question or topic.
  3. Identify keywords related to those concepts.
    • These are the words you'll use to when you search a database. Use specific keywords, not questions, when you search.
  4. Choose your search tools.
    • Will you search the internet for popular sources? (Be sure to evaluate popular sources carefully! Click on the Evaluating Sources tab for more help.)
    • A library database for scholarly sources?
    • The library catalog for books?
  5. Test your search.
    • Enter your keywords and look through the results. Did you get too many? Adding another keyword will limit your results.
    • If you're searching a library database, use the limiters: full text, scholarly peer-reviewed limiters, and date range
  6. Revise/refine your search.
    • Try new keywords and do another search. You can also try a different database.

Starting Your Search

Academic Search Complete is a good general subject database for research in most areas. You can also try a database specific to Criminal Justice. Click the Finding Articles & More tab for a list of those databases.

  1. From the library website, click Academic Sources, then select A to Z Databases.
  2. From the alphabetical list, select Academic Search Complete.
  3. On the search page, before you enter keywords, click the checkboxes for Full Text and Peer Reviewed.
  4. Enter your keywords in the search boxes. Example: serials killers and psychology
  5. When you get your results, consider using the date ranger limiter if your instructor has date requirements for your sources.
  6. Click the title of the article to open the record. From there you can:
  • View the abstract (which is a good source for more keywords when you revise your search!)
  • Open the full text article (PDF or HTML)
  • Save the article to your Google Drive
  • Get the article's citation (Cite tool)
  • Print, email, or copy the link to the article (Permalink tool)

Library Databases for Criminal Justice

MCC Library Info

MCC Library Homepage

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Regular Library Hours

Monday through Thursday,

8:00am to 6:00pm

Friday,

8:00am to 4:30pm

Winter Break Library Hours (December 9th - January 13th)

Monday - Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm

MCC Closed

Thanksgiving – Wednesday, November 23 - Friday, November 25

Friday, December 23 - Monday, January 2

Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- Monday, January 16