CCJ 380 - Criminal Justice Research: Reference Works

Why Reference Works?

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. 

Search for Reference Sources (PSU Only)


Types of Reference Sources






Full-Text Online Reference Databases

Encyclopedias

Handbooks