NSVRC Publications

The NSVRC publishes regular Research Briefs and Literature Reviews.  Browse our collection [8] or suggest a topic [9] for a future publication.

National Research on Sexual Violence: A look to the Future [10] provides a brief summary comparing U.S. national surveys.

Reading, Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Glossary of Terms [11]

How to Find Research on Sexual Violence

Searching the Internet on Violence Against Women Prevention HTML [12]

by David Lee, Casey Keene, and Jennifer Grove, Prevention Connection (2007)
This 8 minute web-based audio visual presentation reviews common techniques for effectively searching the internet to locate information that will help inform domestic and sexual violence prevention efforts.

Navigating Websites on Violence Against Women Prevention HTML [13]

by David Lee, Casey Keene, and Jennifer Grove, Prevention Connection (2007)
This 10 minute web-based audio visual presentation introduces strategies for effectively using websites when looking for information related to violence against women prevention.

Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need HTML [14] (8 p.)

Noodle Tools
This is a listing of useful search engines broken out by needs of the searcher.  It provides review of tools for searching by discipline, time period, media type, and more.

The NSVRC maintains a state of the art online library collection [15] and we encourage you to begin your search with us, online [15], with email support or by calling us at 877-739-3895.

The additional resource-based websites listed below offer a variety of materials on sexual violence and related topics. They are reliable, credible sources of useful information and data from several fields including human services, advocacy, criminal justice, academia, and public health.

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
[16]

The Bureau of Justice Statistics is United States' primary source for criminal justice statistics. Its mission is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. These data are critical to Federal, State, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded. The website houses hundreds of statistical reports and raw data collected by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Injury Center (CDC-NCIPC)
[17]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began studying home and recreational injuries in the early 1970s and violence prevention in 1983. In June 1992, CDC established the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). As the lead federal agency for injury prevention, NCIPC works closely with other federal agencies; national, state, and local organizations; state and local health departments; and research institutions. Their website provides fact sheets, raw data, statistics, funding information, and a variety of related publications.

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) [18]

CINAHL is a for-profit provider of health care information that offers authoritative coverage of the professional literature – journals, books, pamphlets, dissertations, audiovisuals, software, etc., -- in nursing and 17 allied health disciplines and also covers consumer health, biomedicine, alternative therapy, and health sciences librarianship. The database has full text from selected state nursing journals, standards of practice, practice acts, critical paths, research instruments, and government publications. Unique CINAHL records include legal cases, drug records, accreditation records, and clinical innovations. The database has over 545,000 records, with coverage from 1982 to the present, and is updated monthly.

Medline Plus
[19]

MEDLINE is the National Library of Medicine's database of references to more than 11 million articles published in 4,600 biomedical journals. You will find information about articles on your topic (the author, title of the article, name of the journal, date published, page numbers) Many of the listings also have abstracts and links to the full article. Please note that most of the articles you will find listed in MEDLINE are written for health professionals.

Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) [20]

The mission of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) is to support research, education, and access to violence related resources. The MINCAVA Electronic Clearinghouse [20]provides an extensive pool of up-to-date educational resources about all types of violence, including higher education syllabi, published research, funding sources, upcoming training events, individuals or organizations which serve as resources, and searchable databases with over 1000 training manuals, videos and other education resources.

National Criminal Justice Resource Service (NCJRS) [21]

NCJRS is a federally funded resource offering justice and substance abuse information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide. 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 Web site. 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 180,000 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.

The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women, VAWnet [22]

VAWnet is an easily accessible and comprehensive collection of full-text, searchable electronic resources developed to assist those working to end domestic and sexual violence by increasing access to information and materials that are timely, reliable, and relevant. VAWnet is a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV), enhanced through a collaborative partnership with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). VAWnet is supported by a grant from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) [23]

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center serves as the nation's principle information and resource center regarding all aspects of sexual violence. It provides national leadership, consultation and technical assistance by generating and facilitating the development and flow of information on sexual violence intervention and prevention strategies. The NSVRC works to address the causes and impact of sexual violence through collaboration, prevention efforts and the distribution of resources. NSVRC is supported by a grant from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

National Sexual Assault Resource Sharing Project (RSP) [24]

The RSP was created to help state sexual assault coalitions across the country access the resources they need in order to develop and thrive. The project is designed to provide technical assistance, support, and to facilitate peer-driven resources for all statewide sexual assault coalitions. The RSP recognizes the needs of all coalitions, especially those designated as new or emerging, regarding issues of organizational growth, professional development, and policy development.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) [25]

OJJDP, a component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, accomplishes its mission by supporting states, local communities, and tribal jurisdictions in their efforts to develop and implement effective programs for juveniles. The Office strives to strengthen the juvenile justice system's efforts to protect public safety, hold offenders accountable, and provide services that address the needs of youth and their families. The web site hosts publications, programs, funding opportunities, events, and other resources on a variety of topics from child protection to offenders.

Prevention Connection Wiki Project [26]

Prevention Connection is a project dedicated to advancing the prevention of violence against women. As a wiki dedicated to the same goal, the Prevention Connection Wiki Project is a place to collect experiences and knowledge gained in the practice, theory, research and evaluation of violence against women prevention efforts. Although it can be read by anyone, the intended audience for this wiki is professionals and others dedicated to prevention efforts. Prevention Connection: The Violence Against Women Partnership is supported by a grant from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PSYCH Info [27] (Formerly PSYC Lit)

PsycINFO ® is an electronic bibliographic database that provides abstracts and citations to the scholarly literature in the behavioral sciences and mental health. The database includes material of relevance to psychologists and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.

SafetyLit: Injury Prevention Literature Update [28]

Funded by the World Health Organization, SafetyLit provides information about the occurrence and prevention of injuries is available from many sources and professional disciplines. SafetyLit staff and volunteers regularly examine 2,600 scholarly journals from 35 professional disciplines and scores of reports from government agencies and organizations. A weekly update is posted every Monday morning, and can be subscribed to by e-mail or RSS feed. Abstracts relevant to interpersonal violence on SafetyLit are indexed under “Violence and Weapons Issues.”

Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR) [29]

Stop Prisoner Rape seeks to end sexual violence committed against men, women, and youth in all forms of detention. To achieve this goal, SPR seeks to: engender policies that ensure government accountability for prisoner rape; change ill-informed and flippant public attitudes toward sexual assault behind bars; and promote access to resources for survivors of this type of violence. Their website offers legal resources, academic articles, fact sheets, reports, and access to books on related topics. A collection of press releases and news reports are available.

Tribal Court Clearinghouse [30]

The Tribal Court Clearinghouse, a project of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, is a comprehensive website established in June 1997 to serve as a resource for American Indian and Alaska Native Nations, American Indian and Alaska Native people, tribal justice systems, victims services providers, tribal service providers, and others involved in the improvement of justice in Indian country. Materials available through the website include laws and publications on child welfare, sexual assault, stalking, elder abuse, domestic violence, and more.

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS)

2010 Summary Report [31]

Fact Sheet [32]

Toolkit [33]

NSVRC Initial Talking Points [34]

National Research on Sexual Violence: A look to the Future [10] provides a brief summary comparing NISVS to previous national surveys.

Resources on How to Evaluate Research on Sexual Violence

It is important to take a close, critical look at research. The following resources provide some general information and tips evaluating sources and research in general.  

Distinguishing Scholarly From Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria  HTML [35] (3 p.)
Cornell University Library (2005)

This resource aims to guide the reader in distinguishing between the various levels of scholarship found in periodicals.

Understanding scientific journal articles: Tips for advocates and practitioners. PDF [36] (3 p.) Center for Research on Violence Against Women, University of Kentucky (2004)

This guide provides a layman's introduction to scientific journal articles, with information on article layout, content, and the review process.

Interpreting Research Studies  PDF [37] (4 p.)
Guttmacher Institute (2006)

This document is intended to help demystify social science research for those who could make use of the findings but lack specialized training in research methods.

How to Evaluate Journal Articles  HTML [38] (3 p.)
by Colorado State University Libraries (2006)

This resource provides information for the reader on what to look for when evaluating a journal article.

Evaluating Research Quality PDF [39] (17 p.)
Todd Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute (2005)

This paper discusses the importance of good research, discusses common causes of biases, provides guidelines for evaluating research and data quality, and describes examples of bad research.

Evaluating Violence Against Women Research Reports PDF [40] (9 p.)
Sandra K. Beeman, VAWnet: The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (2002)

This document provides introductory guidelines for the use and evaluation of research reports. The purpose of this document is to help advocates become more skilled and more confident about reading and understanding research reports. What are the different forms of research reports and where can they be found? Can we believe what we read? How can a non-researcher critically read and analyze research reports? How can we judge the quality of research? What can be done with the results of research?

Assessing the Credibility of Online Sources HTML [41] (5 p.)
Judith Kilborn, St. Cloud State University (2005)

This resource offers criteria for assessing the credibility of online resources. The author provides a list of critical questions one should ask in the process of evaluating such resources.

Critical Evaluation of Resources HTML [42] (4 p.)
University of California (2007)

This resource offers useful information for those doing research online. It challenges the reader to evaluate the authority and appropriateness of the resource, whether it is a book, article, or website.

How to Connect with Researchers

The NSVRC maintains an extensive experts database and can assist in connecting you with research partners in your community. Read more [43].

To hear interviews with key researchers, listen to our xCHANGE Forum podcasts [7].

For opportunities to connect with researchers in real time, participate in our quarterly xCHANGE online forums [44].