Lamson Library: Criminal Justice: Criminal Justice Journals

The Literature of Criminal Justice

In the box below you'll find the journal titles that represent "the literature" of Criminal Justice to which you have full-text, online access. The journals you cite in your papers is an indication of the quality of your research. These journals should be well represented in your bibliographies. However, these are certainly not the only journals that you could use. Many important studies relating to crime can also be found in sociology journals. Impact factors change from one year to the next, but merely having an impact factor rating is a positive indication of credibility.

Scroll down to see which databases index these journals.

Select Criminal Justice Journals

American Journal of Sociology
Established in 1895 as the first U.S. scholarly journal in its field, American Journal of Sociology remains a leading voice for analysis and research in the social sciences. The journal presents pathbreaking work from all areas of sociology, with an emphasis on theory building and innovative methods. AJS strives to speak to the general sociological reader and is open to sociologically informed contributions from anthropologists, statisticians, economists, educators, historians, and political scientists. AJS prizes research that offers new ways of understanding the social.

Impact Factor: 4.045
Cost: $416 per year
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology
One of the world`s longest-running criminology journals, having been established in 1968. It is a leading international journal for criminological research. The journal is dedicated to advancing research and debate on a range of criminological problems and embraces diverse, methodological approaches, being home to a wide range of criminological and, interdisciplinary work in the field of crime and criminal justice

Impact Factor: 0.452
Cost: $534 per year
The British Journal of Criminology
One of the world's top criminology journals. It publishes work of the highest quality from around the world and across all areas of criminology.
BJC is a valuable resource for academics and researchers in crime, whether they be from criminology, sociology, anthropology, psychology, law, economics, politics or social work, and for professionals concerned with crime, law, criminal justice, politics, and penology. In addition to publishing peer-reviewed articles, BJC contains a substantial book review section.
Impact Factor 1.442
Cost: $853 per year
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice
A scientific journal containing in-depth articles based on research and experimentation. It is well received in academic circles and often quoted in textbooks, manuals, the media, other journals and training curricula. It counts subscribers in more than 35 countries. This publication appeals to justice administrators, researchers and practitioners, academics, and to anyone wishing to keep abreast of recent criminological findings and opinions.

Impact Factor: 0.523
Cost: $215 per year
Crime & Delinquency
A policy-oriented journal offering a wide range of research and analysis for the scholar and professional in criminology and criminal justice. CAD focuses on issues and concerns that impact the criminal justice system, including the social, political and economic contexts of criminal justice, as well as the victims, criminals, courts and sanctions.

Impact factor: 1.33
Cost: $1,857 per year
Crime and Justice
Since 1979 the Crime and Justice series has presented a review of the latest international research, providing expertise to enhance the work of sociologists, psychologists, criminal lawyers, justice scholars, and political scientists. The series explores a full range of issues concerning crime, its causes, and its cures. In both the review and the thematic volumes,

Crime and Justice offers an interdisciplinary approach to address core issues in criminology.

Impact Factor: 1.57
Cost: $60 (one volume per year)
Crime, Law and Social Change: An International Journal
Publishes essays and reviews addressing the political economy of organized crime whether at the transnational, national, regional or local levels anywhere in the world. In addition, the Journal presents work on financial crime, political corruption, environmental crime, and the expropriation of resources from developing nations. The includes coverage of the broad area of Human Rights, including historical and contemporary studies of genocide; essays on compensation and justice for survivors of mass murder and state-sponsored terrorism; analyses of international human rights organizations (both governmental and NGOs); and historical as well as contemporary essays focused on gender, racial and ethnic equality

Impact Factor: 0.543
Cost: $1,761 per year
Crime, Media, Culture
International journal providing a vehicle for scholars working at the intersections of criminological and cultural inquiry. It promotes a broad cross-disciplinary understanding of the relationship between crime, criminal justice, media and culture. The journal explores a range of media forms (including traditional media, new and alternative media, and surveillance technologies) and has a special focus on cultural criminology and its concerns with image, representation, meaning and style. While CMC embraces submissions across a range of research perspectives and methodological orientations, CMC encourages especially work that develops cultural, critical, and qualitative understandings of the crime, media, culture nexus
Impact Factor: 0.5
Cost: $671 per year
Criminal Justice & Behavior
A peer-reviewed and published monthly, promotes scholarly evaluations of assessment, classification, prevention, intervention, and treatment programs to help the correctional professional develop successful programs based on sound and informative theoretical and research foundations.

Impact Factor: 1.528
Cost: $1,030 per year
Criminology
Devoted to crime and deviant behavior. Disciplines covered include sociology, psychology, design, systems analysis, and decision theory. Major emphasis is placed on empirical research and scientific methodology. The journal’s content also includes articles which review the literature or deal with theoretical issues stated in the literature as well as suggestions for the types of investigation which might be carried out in the future.
Readership

Impact Factor: 3.098
Cost: $337 per year
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Focuses on the broad field of criminology and criminal justice policy and practice. The journal publishes scholarly articles on all areas of criminology, crime and criminal justice. It includes theoretical pieces, as well as empirically-based analyses of policy and practice in areas that range from policing to sentencing, community penalties and prisons; drug use to organized crime and terrorism; and from crime prevention to victims of crime.

Impact Factor: 0.583
Cost: $901 per year
European Journal of Criminology
Published by SAGE publications and the European Society of Criminology. It provides a forum for research and scholarship on crime and criminal justice institutions. The journal published high quality articles using varied approaches, including discussion of theory, analysis of quantitative data, comparative studies, systematic evaluation of interventions, and study of institutions of political process

Impact Factor: 0.928
Cost: $1,105 per year
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research
Monitors crime trends in today’s enlarged Europe and beyond. The focus of its peer-reviewed coverage is on understanding crime in different geographical and socio-economic contexts, on presenting innovative crime prevention policies and practices, and on following legislative and institutional change.

Impact Factor: 0.419
Federal Probation
"A journal of correctional philosophy and practice" published by the United States Courts. See USCourts.gov

Impact Factor: Not Applicable
Cost: Free government publication
Feminist Criminology
Published quarterly, is an innovative journal dedicated to research related to women, girls, and crime within the context of a feminist critique of criminology. The official journal of the Division on Women and Crime of the American Society of Criminology, this international publication focuses on research and theory that highlights the gendered nature of crime

Impact Factor: 0.742
Cost: $670 per year
Global Crime
A social science journal devoted to the study of crime across international settings. Its focus is multi-disciplinary and its principal aim is to make the best scholarship on crime available to specialists and non-specialists alike. It draws on authors from a variety of disciplines, including criminology, sociology, economics, history, political science, anthropology and area studies.

Impact Factor: Not Available
Cost: $532 per year
Homicide Studies
Published quarterly, bridges the gap between academic and practitioner with high quality, multidisciplinary articles devoted to the dissemination of information concerning research, public policy, and applied knowledge related to the study of homicide. HS brings you the latest thinking and discussion in homicide studies aiding more effective public policies to help reduce and possibly prevent future homicides.

Impact Factor: 1.159
Cost: $793 per year
International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology
Publishes articles on any aspect of forensic language, speech and audio analysis. Founded in 1994 as Forensic Linguistics, the journal changed to its present title in 2003 to reflect a broadening of academic coverage and readership. Subscription to the journal is included in membership of the International Association of Forensic Linguists and the International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics.

Impact Factor: 1.014
Cost: $1,377 per year
International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law
Publishes articles on any aspect of forensic language, speech and audio analysis. Founded in 1994 as Forensic Linguistics, the journal changed to its present title in 2003 to reflect a broadening of academic coverage and readership. Subscription to the journal is included in membership of the International Association of Forensic Linguists and the International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics.

Impact Factor: 0.429
Cost: $270 online only
The International Review of Victimology
The leading international peer-reviewed journal for victimological research. The journal focuses upon traditional areas of victimological research, such as offender typologies, the victim-offender relationship, victimization surveys, victim compensation, the victim in the criminal justice system, reparation and restitution by offenders and crime prevention for offenders. The journal also looks at broader theoretical issues such as definitions of victimization and the philosophy of victimology.

Cost: $732 per year
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology
A student-run publication at Northwestern University School of Law that prints four issues annually and rests upon a century of scholarship devoted to the scientific study of criminal law and criminology. Since its inception in 1910, the Journal strives to capture the breadth and depth of legal scholarship on crime through the publication of legal articles, criminological research, book reviews, and symposia. The Journal is consistently ranked among the most influential legal and criminology publications and remains the most widely read and cited criminal law journal. Our broad readership of judges, legal scholars, criminologists, and practitioners composes the second largest subscription base of all the nation's law journals.

Impact Factor: 2.512
Cost: $50 per year
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
Published quarterly and guest-edited by an expert in the topic being studied, focuses on a critical issue in contemporary criminal justice in order to provide a cogent, thorough, and timely exploration of the topic. Authoritative, balanced examinations on a variety of critical issues in criminal justice today include; organized crime, community policing, gangs, white-collar crime, and excessive police force.

Impact Factor: 2.512
Cost: $643 per year
Journal of Experimental Criminology
Focuses on high quality experimental and quasi-experimental research in the development of evidence based crime and justice policy. The journal is also committed to the advancement of the science of systematic reviews and experimental methods in criminology and criminal justice. The journal seeks empirical papers on experimental and quasi-experimental studies, systematic reviews on substantive criminal justice problems, and methodological papers on experimentation and systematic review. The journal encourages submissions from scholars in the broad array of scientific disciplines that are concerned with crime and justice problems.

Impact Factor: 2.512
Cost: $680 per year
Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology
A multidisciplinary journal devoted to publishing papers relating to aspects of psychiatry and psychological knowledge (research, theory and practice) as applied to offenders and to legal issues arising within civil, criminal, correctional or legislative contexts.

Impact Factor: 0.953
Cost: $1,113 per year
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Published monthly, is devoted to the study and treatment of victims and perpetrators of interpersonal violence, addressing the causes, effects, treatment, and prevention of all types of violence. It provides a forum of discussion for the concerns and activities of professionals and researchers working in domestic violence, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual assault, physical child abuse, and violent crime.

Impact Factor: 1.210
Cost: $1,976
Journal of Quantitative Criminology
Publishes papers that apply quantitative techniques to substantive, methodological, or evaluative concerns relevant to the criminological community. The contents span a broad range of disciplines, drawing on research advances in statistics, sociology, geography, political science, economics, and engineering. Features include original research, brief methodological critiques, and papers that explore new directions for studying a broad range of criminological topics.

Impact Factor: 2.385
Cost: $1,274
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency
Peer-reviewed and published bi-monthly, offers articles, research notes, review essays and special issues to keep you up-to-date on contemporary issues and controversies within the criminal justice field. For more than forty years, this international forum has explored the social, political, and economic contexts of criminal justice and examined victims, criminals, courts, and sanctions.

Impact Factor: 2.702
Cost: $887 per year
Justice Quarterly
An official publication of the ACJS. JQ is a refereed, multi-disciplinary journal that publishes theoretical, empirical and interpretive studies of issues related to criminal justice. JQ is indexed in Criminology and Penology Abstracts, Police Science Abstracts, Criminal Justice Periodical Index, and Criminal Justice Abstracts. In the past decade, JQ has become a premier journal and it continues to be a major forum for criminal justice related scholarship, making it an essential part of any library’s holdings.

Impact Factor: 2.889
Cost: $1,208
Legal and Criminological Psychology
The Journals of the British Psychological Society form an essential part of the Society's mission to advance and disseminate psychological knowledge. With a publishing history spanning over 100 years, our journals portfolio is at the forefront of the psychology community with international contributions and readership.

Impact Factor: 1.49
Cost: $358
Police Quarterly
Peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is a scholarly journal that publishes theoretical contributions, empirical studies, essays, comparative analyses, critiques, innovative program descriptions, debates, and book reviews on issues related to policing. The only such journal published in North America, PQ seeks to publish both qualitative and quantitative police-related research that emphasizes policy-oriented research of interest to both practitioners and academics.

Impact Factor: 1.158
Cost: $670
The Prison Journal: An International Forum on Incarceration and Alternative Sanctions
Peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is a central forum for studies, ideas, and discussions of adult and juvenile confinement, treatment interventions, and alternative sanctions. Exploring broad themes of punishment and correctional intervention, TPJ advances theory, research, policy and practice. Also provides descriptive and evaluative accounts of innovative programs and policies, state-of-the-art surveys and reviews, and legal and historical analysis.

Impact Factor: 1.033
Cost: $645
Probation Journal
Established in 1929 and now provides a national and international forum for sharing good practice, disseminating criminal justice research and developing debate about the theory and practice of work with offenders. The Journal is read in 25 countries, and has gained a reputation for publishing material which is both of a high quality and accessible to a wide readership. Probation Journal is not limited to probation issues and welcomes submissions from those interested in the wider community justice arena.

Impact Factor: 0.33
Cost: $546
Punishment & Society
An international, interdisciplinary, peer reviewed journal that publishes the highest quality original research and scholarship dealing with punishment, penal institutions and penal control. It is a source of informed commentary and criticism regarding the penal policies and practices of our time. Punishment & Society includes theoretical and empirical contributions from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives including criminology and penology; the sociology of punishment and penal institutions; penal history; penal law; sentencing theory and the philosophy of punishment.
Impact Factor: 0.889
Cost: $1,040
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment
Provides a forum for the latest original research and scholarly reviews on both clinical and theoretical aspects of sexual abuse. SA is the only publication to focus exclusively on this field, thoroughly investigating its etiology, consequences, prevention, treatment and management strategies. The in-depth studies provide essential data for those working in both clinical and academic environments.
Impact Factor: 2.113
Cost: $1,054
Social & Legal Studies: An International Journal
A leading international journal, publishing progressive, interdisciplinary and critical approaches to socio-legal study. Published quarterly, the journal is committed to feminist, post-colonial and socialist economic perspectives to the study of law.

Impact Factor: 0.620
Cost: $1,019
Theoretical Criminology: An International Journal
A major interdisciplinary, international, peer reviewed journal for the advancement of the theoretical aspects of criminological knowledge. Theoretical Criminology is concerned with theories, concepts, narratives and myths of crime, criminal behaviour, social deviance, criminal law, morality, justice, social regulation and governance. The journal is committed to renewing general theoretical debate, exploring the interrelation of theory and data in empirical research and advancing the links between criminological analysis and general social, political and cultural theory

Impact Factor: 1.400
Cost: $1,022
Trauma, Violence and Abuse: A Review Journal
Peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is devoted to organizing, synthesizing, and expanding knowledge on all forms of trauma, abuse, and violence. TVA is practitioner oriented, dedicated to professionals and advanced students in clinical training who work with any form of trauma, abuse, and violence, and is intended to compile knowledge that clearly affects practice, policy, and research.

Impact Factor: 2.676
Cost: $567
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
Peer-reviewed and published quarterly, serves a diverse audience of academics and practitioners in juvenile justice and related fields with a resource for publishing current empirical research, discussing theoretical issues, and reviewing promising interventions and programs in the areas of youth violence, juvenile justice, and school safety. Articles address the fields of juvenile justice and youth and school violence prevention.
Impact Factor: 1.585
Cost: $381