NCJ Number
171093
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1996) Pages: 225-235
Date Published
1996
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The match between what criminology journals report and what criminology textbooks discussed was studied by means of recent citation analyses of 23 textbooks published from 1989 to 1993.
Abstract
The textbooks were ranked by how prominently they cited the 25 most-cited scholars in recent leading criminology journals. The 25 scholars had been identified by Cohn and Farrington in 1994 and Wright in 1995. Results revealed a fairly low level of agreement between the most-cited scholars in the leading criminology journals and the most-cited scholars in the textbooks. Findings were consistent with Wright's observation that criminology textbooks often are not up-to-date with some of the recent developments in criminology. However, it is reasonable for textbooks to cover somewhat different material than that in journals. The citation analysis is only one of several indicators that should be considered when examining the quality of textbooks. Citation analysis also has several limitations. Nevertheless, citation analyses of journals and textbooks appear to have much promise for estimating, evaluating, and ranking textbooks by how thoroughly they cover the important developments reported in journals. Tables, notes, appended list of textbooks studied, and 24 references (Author abstract modified)