ABOUT NCJRS

Established in 1972, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) is a federally funded resource offering justice and drug-related information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.

Who are the NCJRS Federal Sponsors?

The federal sponsors include:

• U.S. Department of Justice
• Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
  • Office of the Assistant Attorney General (OAAG)
  • Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
  • Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
  • National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
  • Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
  • Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
  • Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART)

More on our Federal Sponsors.

Who can use NCJRS?

NCJRS services and resources are available to anyone interested in crime, victim assistance, and public safety including policymakers, practitioners, researchers, educators, community leaders, and the general public.

What services does NCJRS offer?

NCJRS offers a range of services and resources, balancing the information needs of the field with the technological means to receive and access support. The following highlights a number of NCJRS services and resources.

Ask Questions, Find Answers

NCJRS offers extensive reference and referral services to help you find answers to your questions about crime and justice-related research, policy, and practice. Search Questions & Answers to access hundreds of questions related to juvenile and criminal justice, victim assistance, substance abuse, and NCJRS services.

Join the Information Network

Stay informed about new publications, grants and funding opportunities, and other news and announcements. Register online and you will receive:

• JUSTINFO: a bi-weekly electronic newsletter that includes links to full text publications, notices of upcoming trainings and conferences, funding announcements, and other resources.
• Email notifications: Periodic messages about new publications and resources that match your specific areas of interests.
• Publications: periodic mailings of publications that match your interests.
• Listserv invitations: receive invitations to subscribe to other topical listservs based on your interest areas.

To review your profile, update your contact information or interest areas, or unsubscribe at anytime go to Manage Account.

Receive Information Through RSS

Subscribe to the to receive notices of NCJRS home page updates or embed the feed on your website to pull content directly from our home page.

Access, Read, and Request Publications and Other Products

The NCJRS sponsoring agencies publish hundreds of reports and other information products each year to share with you and your colleagues. The types of reports and their content are designed to meet the broad range of interests in the field and the audiences who use them. Most of the titles are available online through the NCJRS website, see OJP Publications to view online or place an online order for a paper copy by clicking the Order Photocopy icon or Order Print Copy icon next to the product.

Learn From the Experiences of Others

NCJRS hosts one of the largest criminal and juvenile justice libraries and databases in the world, the NCJRS Abstracts Database. The collection, with holdings from the early 1970s to the present, contains more than 225,000 publications, reports, articles, and audiovisual products from the United States and around the world. These resources include statistics, research findings, program descriptions, congressional hearing transcripts, and training materials.

The abstracts include the title, author, sponsoring agency, purchasing address, and journal citation, as well as a 100- to 200-word summary of the document's contents. Keyword and index term searches of the database are easy. With the search capabilities offered, you can quickly retrieve all the citations relevant to your question or area of interest.

Attend, Promote, and Support Events

Learn about upcoming conferences, webinars, and other events through the NCJRS Justice Events Calendar. Search for events based on topical focus areas, geographical location, or dates. Increase exposure and participation at your upcoming events by adding your event to the calendar.

How Can You Help NCJRS?

NCJRS is a two-way partnership and your participation is always welcomed.

Give Us Your Feedback

Your unsolicited comments are also appreciated. Please let us know when a job is done well or if you have any concerns. Your feedback makes a difference.

Share NCJRS With Others

Help us expand the scope of the audience receiving information from NCJRS.

• Request information about registration and online resources to share with your colleagues, association members, or conference attendees.
• Send us a mailing list of your organization so that we can invite your members to join the information network.
• Link to the NCJRS website at www.ncjrs.gov.

Contribute to the NCJRS Virtual Library and Database

If you or your organization produces resources on behalf of OJP or creates resources that are sponsored or funded by OJP, please submit them for screening and potential inclusion in the NCJRS Virtual Library. See the Contribute to Our Collection page for further information and direction on how to do so.