Where to Find Scholarly Sources

Scholarly sources can be in the form of books or academic journal articles. While scholarly information can be obtained from reputable government/university websites, these are oftentimes summaries of original work. It is always best to seek out the primary (original) source for the information. These are most likely books or journal articles.

To find books first search the UNT library catalog found on the library homepage. If the UNT library does not have the book you need, you can see about obtaining it through Inter-Library Loan. You can also search websites such as Google Scholar for scholarly books that have been written on a certain topic. 

To search for journal articles again go to the UNT library homepage. From the homepage, click on "Find Journal Articles" under the heading Electronic Resources then click on "Government, Law, and Politics" under the heading Browse Abstract and Index Titles by Subject. You can then choose "Criminal Justice" and pick an index to search. "Criminal Justice Abstracts via CSA" is always a good one to start with. Choose your key terms and be sure to choose the "Social Sciences" Subject Area. You can also search for E-journal titles on the UNT library homepage by clicking on "Find E-journal Titles" under the heading Electronic Resources. Once you have found the journal, you can search for the article you need assuming it was published in a year that can be found on-line.

If you choose a psychological or sociological topic (theory) you may also want to search "Psychology" or "Sociology" indices (instead of choose "Government, Law, and Politics" as mentioned above, choose "Psychological, Counseling, and Education" or "Social and Information Sciences"). "PsycInfo via Ebscohost", "Eric via FirstSearch",  and "Social Sciences Abstracts via Ebscohost" are all good indices to search.

Again, if you need a journal article that is not available in full text either on-line or in print at the library, you can request it through Inter-Library Loan.