Indexing of interdisciplinary literature on crime, violence, and mental disorder

Abstract

Recent growth in interdisciplinary research on crime, vio lence, and mental disorder has encouraged the development of computerized techniques for organizing literature from a variety of sources and many different fields. This paper describes a detailed, pre-tested format for classifying systematically re search references on factors such as: sample selection and sample characteristics, test instruments and methodology, de sign, and major findings and conclusions. Special efforts were made to address those problems frequently encountered by interdisciplinary researchers, such as differences in terminology and orientation across disciplines. It is intended that this format will facilitate links across disciplines and thus promote comprehensive approaches to research, medical diagnosis, and policy development.