Criminal Justice

Why using good sources matter...

When you endeavor to find sources related to a topic of interest for your academic writing, you are demonstrating a number of skills

• You are able to synthesize a variety of information and integrate it into your own work
• You are able to investigate the dialogue that has occurred related to an area of interest and engage in that conversation through your academic writing
• Using good, credible reliable sources will elevate the accuracy and authority of your own work

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Information, in any format, is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method.  The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting produce reflects these differences (ACRL par. 13).

• Information creations are valued differently depending on the context and purpose for which they are created
• Audience matters. Certain things are created for specific purposes and don't make one format of information better. It is up to us to discern what information process best fits our information needs.
• In your own creation process, understand that your choices in what type of information you use, impact the purpose for which the information product you create will be used and the message it conveys.

Take 3-5 minutes and sort these sources into the column that you think it would best fit (academic/scholarly or not academic). 

Source Sorting Activity (click on link).  You must authenticate with some sort of gmail/mru account.

Academic and non-academic sources

Examples of what academic sources can look like:

Holmgren, J. A., & Fordham, J. (2011). The CSI effect and the Canadian and the Australian jury. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 56, S63-S71.

Yanushkevich, S. N., Sundberg, K. W., Twyman, N. W., Guest, R. M., & Shmerko, V. P. (2019). Cognitive checkpoint: Emerging technologies for biometric-enabled watchlist screening. Computers & Security, 85, 372-385.

Check if:

• The sources has a DOI (that is a good sign!)
• The source has a "recieved" and "accepted date"
• If it is published in a place that indicates a peer review or quality control process

But seriously...

Your scholarly sources will likely be one of the following:

• A peer-reviewed journal article
• An academic encyclopedia entry (that gives you some substantive information)
• An academic book (published by an academic press, written by a scholar)

Remember: 

Use your critical evaluation skills to determine whether your other sources are good enough to use in this assignment! Look for references to data, evidence, and links to other scholarship.  Make sure that the source you use comes from a reliable source.

Let's try this quick activity:  

Take a look at the image below.  Using the link provided, type in words or phrases that you would use to describe this image. Think: how would I search to retrieve a similar image? 

[Figure 1. jobbgem. Traffic [Photograph].https://flic.kr/p/4roEou]

What words would you use to describe this photo? 

Questions to consider

• Are you using the terminology that an expert in the field would use?
• Is there more than one way to spell the word?
• Are there any synonyms or other terms that could apply to your topic?

What are alternative ways to search for "self-presentation"?

Using the Library 

There are a few ways to use the library.  

• Use the library search box/Library Search - allows you to search the entire collection.  
• Search in subject-specific databases - I have them listed under the databases tab on the CRJS guide.  You will be searching a smaller collection of sources.
• Search in discipline-specific journals - This type of search will definitely yield fewer results.  It helps to know the publication title to use this feature effectively, but you can also type in a broader topic, as long as that word is contained within the title of the journal  Eg: forensic

Search Smarter!

You can search in a way to combine or omit different terms by telling the search engine exactly what you want…this can help you save some time (and frustration!)

• Use quotation marks to keep phrases together - "Black Lives Matter"

• Use  AND to combine search terms - "police violence" AND protester

• Use OR to connect two or more similar terms - BLM OR "Black Lives Matter"

• Use wild cards to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol - demonstr*

Things to remember when using Library Search:

1. Sign in to save searches, items, and to request materials.

2. Use the pin icon to save books and articles. 

3. Use the filters on the right. You will use Availability, Resource Type, and Date filters most often.

4. Some items won't be available. You can request unavailable items using interlibrary loan.

5. When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get It or Full Text section to get the item.

Search Google Scholar

Google Scholar is another great way to find peer-reviewed/scholarly material. Google Scholar has a nifty citation chaining function.  The Cited by function will forward you to indexed scholarly material that has cited an article that you may be interested in.  The Related Articles link will direct you to similar articles that may have the same metadata or keywords. 

The Advanced Search is found by clicking the menu icon (top left).
Besides providing links to articles in MRU databases, Google Scholar links to online repositories that contain articles the author has been allowed to upload.  Academia.edu and ResearchGate are among the repositories searched by Google Scholar.

By clicking on the Settings icon, you can select library links to show library access for up to 5 libraries (type in Mount Royal and click on save).  If you are logged into the MRU library, links should automatically populate if you are running a Google search in another window. 

CanLII (The Canadian Legal Information Institute) is a freely available database powered and supported by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.  Content focuses on Canadian primary law sources that include: 

• Jurisprudence (Federal and Provincial case law, tribunal decisions).
• Legislation (Federal and Provincial statutes and regulations)
• Commentary (both refereed and crowd-generated commentary).

• Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.
• Referencing Webinars: APA & MLA. Referencing Webinars are 75 minutes long.  Registration is required.
• Online Appointments: Personalized online 30-minute appointments with a Learning Strategist.

SLS APA Referencing Tutorial on D2L

This self-paced 90-minute tutorial covers the same content as our live workshop—why citation is important along with the basics of in-text citations and reference entries in APA Style. Students who complete the tutorial will gain access to a form they can fill out and submit as proof of completion.

Access the tutorial on D2L: Using Google Chrome as your web browser, log in to D2L (learn.mru.ca) with your @mtroyal.ca account. Click the “Discover” tab, then type “APA” in the search bar. Click on the “APA Referencing Tutorial” link and then the “Enroll in Course” button. If you have any questions about the tutorial, contact sls@mtroyal.ca.