Criminology & Criminal Justice: Background Information

Scholarly reference works are useful for the following:

• An overview of a topic
• Topic ideas for a paper topic or narrowing your topic
• Finding keywords for searches 
• Bibliographies for further research

Reference works are good starting points for research, but are rarely cited in research as secondary sources. 

Scholarly subject encyclopedias provide background information about specific topics. Entries or articles, written by scholars or subject experts, include bibliographies or suggested readings that will lead to more information on your topic.

You can use subject encyclopedias to identify keywords for your research in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.