Skip to Main Content

Restorative Justice (Springs)

Guide Goals

  • Staying organized when working on large research projects
     
  • Finding resources:
     
    • Using available resources to search the peace studies journal literature, especially on restorative justice, systemic racism, and mass incarceration. 
       
    • Using Web of Science and Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies to help navigate scholarly conversations.
       
    • Knowing about resources to discover and access print and e-books.
       
  • Reading scholarly works
     
  • Getting help if you get stuck (it happens to everyone!)

Introductions

Session Materials and Sign-In Sheet

Introductions

  • Your name
  • Your (newly selected!) research topic
  • What is one question or potential pain point on your mind related to this (or any other big) assignment?
  • What is one thing you are excited about this semester (doesn't have to be school-related)?

Staying Organized

Keeping Projects Organized

Experiment with good enough methods, but the following are often considered minimum viable principles (how you apply them in your life is going to depend on what works for you!)

  • Create one Google Drive folder per class (and within a class folder, one folder to contain files for each big project)
     
  • Name files/folders consistently with a simple formula (e.g., YY-Sp-Class // 25-Sp-USEM)
     
  • Note your major deadlines in a calendar / reminder system 
     
  • Keep notes on your process so you don't lose important citations / thoughts 
     
  • It's OK to be messy/imperfect! Future you will be grateful for the breadcrumbs you leave for yourself! Something (even if it's messy/imperfect) is better than nothing!

Peace Studies Resources Overview

—Key Peace Studies Resource Starting Points

—Finding Overviews & Bibliographies

  • Oxford Research Encyclopedia (ORE) [mass incarceration]
    • How many results are there in ORE?
    • How many results are there in ORE International Studies?
    • How many results are there in ORE Criminology and Criminal Justice?
    • Looking at just one result from the last ORE subject area (of your choosing, or look at this example): Drucker, E.  (2019, July 29). Mass Incarceration in the United States: From Punishment to Public Health. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology. Retrieved 24 Mar. 2025, from https://doi-org.proxy.library.nd.edu/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.453.
      • What information is in this source?
      • How could it be helpful to your research?
         
  • Oxford Handbooks Online [mass incarceration]
     
  • Key takeaways
    • Encyclopedia entries are great places to start your research. A good encyclopedia article will summarize a topic, go through the major relevant issues and theories, and discuss controversial points versus consensus areas, concluding with a list of the foundational works on a topic.
    • Handbooks are edited publications that aggregate chapters written on a topic. Handbook chapters are excellent sources of further readings.
       

—Searching the Journal Literature

  • Peace Research Abstracts [restorative justice]
    • Filters: Linked full-text, peer reviewed, timeframe, source type, ALL FILTERS (e.g., subject) 
    • Results display: how many are visible at a time, sort by relevance or age 
    • Search options: Save search, create alert
    • Record options: Bookmark, cite, add to project, download, view linked subjects, access full text PDF
       
  • ProQuest Social Science Database [mass incarceration]
    • Note the option to view documents with shared references
    • Note that you can view a researcher's Orcid profile when the green circle ID icon indicates that is applicable
    • Note that you can search using the subject term(s) associated with this result
    • Note that you can include/exclude subjects using the filter on the left

—Searching the Library Catalog

  • Navigate to library.nd.edu > Search for the article above (Reproductive Justice Disrupted: Mass Incarceration as a Driver of Reproductive Oppression)
  • Note the facets/filters on the left-hand side
  • Note the ability to save your search 
  • Note that you can click the subject heading(s) to view results under those headings
    • Keyword searching
      • What it does: searches author, title, subject, and other article descriptors
      • Pro(s): there are often many results
      • Con(s): too many results may be returned, the results may not be relevant to your search
    • Subject heading searching 
      • What it does: searches only the subject field of a database/catalog record
      • Pro(s): more relevant results
      • Con(s): have to figure out which subject heading works best for your topic
  • Where applicable, note the ability to see a list of the sources cited in a result and/or sources that cite a result 


—Tools for Searching Just Books 

Tips for Reading Scholarly Works

Most scholarly articles in social sciences organize content into the following section types:

SECTION

 PURPOSE USE IT FOR
Abstract Summarizes of the work, including potential implications of the findings. Figuring out the work's potential relevance to your project.
Introduction Provides the background information for the work (often called the "literature review" portion of a paper), including situating the current work's contributions relative to the foundational and relevant literature. Understanding the big picture of relevant prior work on the topic; identifying potentially interesting other works to look at.
Methods Details how the investigation was conducted (could include, e.g., data collection procedures, instruments used, variables measured, as may be applicable depending on the type of work you are reading). Understanding how the researchers conducted their investigation.
Results Provides results of the research. Learning what the researchers found out.
Discussion/Conclusions Describes implications of what the researchers found, including weaknesses in the approach, and future directions. Grasping the overview implications of a work.
References/Bibliography List of works the researchers looked at when conducting the research.  Finding articles related to the one you are reading
(source)

You'll likely have to read an article multiple times to fully understand it/its relevance for your project. To efficiently identify sources you want to come back to, consider the following approach the first time you read an article:

  • Skim! You don't need to closely read the first time through!
     
  • Start with the ABSTRACT summarizing the work
     
  • Move on to the DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS section that synthesizes the findings and implications
     
  • Move on to the INTRODUCTION to the background literature and how the work your reading fits into the field (consider noting potentially relevant sources to check out in the references section if any jump out at you)
     
  • Look at the RESULTS and METHODS sections to see the detailed findings and how they were achieved

Uncovering the Scholarly Conversation

Web of Science page for 

Hayes, C. M., M.S.W., Sufrin, C.,M.D.PhD., & Perritt, J. B.,M.D.M.P.H. (2020). Reproductive Justice Disrupted: Mass Incarceration as a Driver of Reproductive Oppression. American Journal of Public Health, Suppl.Supplement 1, 110, S21-S24. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305407

  • Analyze results
  • Citations report
  • Related records 

If You Get Stuck Trying to Access Resources

Don't panic if a resource is not available! You have options!
 

  • Print resources—you can request an item from the person who has it checked out currently (the patron who currently has the item checked out will receive a message asking for its return within 7 days; once the item is returned by that patron it will be held for you and you'll receive an email notification)
     
  • Online resources—check our off-campus resource access guide for troubleshooting issues accessing digital content
     
  • All resources—you can make an interlibrary loan or document delivery request
     
  • All resources—you can recommend that the library purchase an additional copy or different format of the resource 
     

If you don't ask a question, the answer will always be no! So please do not hesitate to be in touch with me, or anyone in the Libraries, with questions! :)