Justice, Law, and Public Safety Studies

Need help coming up with a topic for your research? 

• Think about a topic that has different elements within a whole so your finished product will be cohesive without being repetitive.
• Scan your syllabus - did your professor provide topic guidelines?
• Browse current journals, magazines, newspapers, and/or news websites (with reliable information).
• Click the link on this page to find out the current news of the day from the newspapers in our collection.
• Search encyclopedias -- try the Credo Reference search box on this page.

Credo Reference is a great place to start when you're exploring and refining a research topic. A scholarly alternative to Wikipedia or Google, it's a searchable collection of information from reputable sources such as subject-specific encyclopedias and reference books.

Credo also includes Topic Pages for many common research areas. These comprehensive guides gather background information, mind maps, images, and links to journal articles and other resources, all in one place.

Start with a broad topic, like prison inmates, and then narrow it down into a focused question.  This will help you search for more relevant information that pertains to your topic, and save you time in the searching part of the research process.