Before using a website in a paper or project, you should evaluate it to make sure that it is appropriate for college level research. Consider the following criteria when you are evaluating a website:
The domain of a website indicates the type of entity responsible for creating and maintaining the site. The domain can be found in the site's URL and is always preceded by ".". See below for a list of possible domain names and the things to consider when evaluating these sites.
.gov : Maintained by various areas of the federal government and can generally be trusted. These are particularly useful for statistical inforamtion such as census or employment data as well as legal information such as Congressional hearings and Supreme Court rulings.
.edu : Maintained by educational institutions ranging from elementary through college. These are generally reliable sources, particularly if they are maintained by a college or university department or research center. However, be weary of personal student websites which may be hosted under a .edu domain but are not necessarily reviewed by the institution.
.org : Most commonly maintained by non-profit organizations which are usually credible, unbiased sources. However, be weary of non-profit organizations that strongly advocate specific points of view such as many lobby or activist organziations. While these organizations may provide credible information, be sure to check that this information is supported by cited sources and that you have evaluated all sides of this issue in other sources. Be sure to consider whether this organization is supported by commercial interests which may introduce bias.
.com : Maintained by commercial entities. Consider the motive of the site's creators as they are likley selling or promoting their product. While this information may be accurate, it may also be presented in a biased light or it may exclude information that could potentially harm their commerical interests.
.net : This is a generic domain name that could was originally intended for network technology groups but has come to encompass commercial and individual interests as well. These sources should always be closely evaluated.
.mil : Maintained by the various branches of the United States military.
.il.us : Maintained by various branches of the Illinois state government. This would also apply to any of the other 50 states such as wi.us, in.us, mi.us, etc. State sources are generally reliable and are particularly useful for state governement information such as state tax or health department information as well as websites hosted by individual towns or municipalities.
Common English-Speaking Country Domains :
.au = Australia
.ca = Canada
.uk = United Kingdom
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS)
An international association established in 1963 to foster professional and scholarly activities in the field of criminal justice. ACJS promotes criminal justice education, research, and policy analysis within the discipline of criminal justice for both educators and practitioners.
American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section
The Criminal Justice Section has primary responsibility for the American Bar Association's work on solutions to issues involving crime, criminal law, and the administration of criminal and juvenile justice.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
A federally funded resource offering justice and drug-related information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide. The "Browse By Topics" feature allows you to look at articles, statistics and other highlighted information on your topic of choice.
National Institute of Justice
The research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice is dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science. NIJ provides objective and independent knowledge and tools to reduce crime and promote justice, particularly at the state and local levels.
Office of Justice Programs
Works in partnership with the justice community to identify the most pressing crime-related challenges confronting the justice system and to provide information, training, coordination, and innovative strategies and approaches for addressing these challenges.
United States Department of Justice
The umbrella agency of the United States responsible for enforcing and administering the law.
United States Federal Bureau of PrisonsThis federal agency's mission is to provide more progressive and humane care for federal inmates, to professionalize the prison service, and to ensure consistent and centralized administration of federal prisons.
United States Sentencing Commission
An independent agency in the Judicial Branch of government. Serves as an information resource for Congress, focusing on sentencing policies and guidelines. Has links to statistics and commissions by state.
The World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems
Provides narrative descriptions of the criminal justice systems of 45 countries around the world.
Blogs can be an excellent way to keep up with current issues in your field. Just keep in mind that blogs can be created by anyone with computer access so you should only follow blogs written by trusted experts in the field. Most bloggers will embed links in their posts to other sites that are covering the same topic.
Cops Alive
Information, strategies and tools to help cops plan happy, healthy and successful careers, relationships and lives.
Cop in the Hood
This blog is written by Dr. Peter C. Moskos, award-winning author and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the City University of New York Graduate Center. His blog is a sociological look at police culture, crime prevention and ending the war on drugs.
Excessive Bail
This entertaining blog is written by criminal defense attorneys Matthew Haiduk, Ray Flavin and Jason Tarnow. It is irreverent, witty and chock full of biting sarcasm. It covers all things related to crime, punishment and criminal defense and was “designed to poke fun at the legal system.”
FBI News Blog
This official blog of the Federal Bureau of Investigation provides up-to-date, straight-foward snippets of current FBI investigations without the wordiness of FBI press releases.
The Justice Blog
The official blog of the U.S. Department of Justice is managed by the DOJ’s office of public affairs and includes stats and information from sources including the National Institute of Justice and Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano.
Second City Cop
This blog is filled with "sarcasm and silliness" from an anonymous Chicago cop.