Criminology Made in Germany? KrimDok as Future Export Hit for Criminologists Around the World

• In Event: Globalizing Criminology: Culture, Context, and Cross-National Inquiry

Abstract

With its beginnings dating back to the late 1960s, the bibliographic database “KrimDok” has a long history. What started out as a relatively small card index system of bibliographic references on a very tight budget, over the years and with funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG) turned into a well-establish national and ever-growing international landmark for criminological literature. The open access and easy to use database makes it possible to search for criminologically-relevant articles, monographs or edited volumes in different languages and features a German, English and Spanish interface, thereby making KrimDok a highly valuable database for criminologist from all over the world. While German criminological research – by nature – is at the core of KrimDok, already 47 % of the featured research is in English. As the use of KrimDok steadily increases within the international context and the amount of referenced literature in languages other than German continues to grow, KrimDok sets out to further establish itself in international criminological circles. The presentation sheds light on the background and the role of the database in the international research area and shows what positive effects this has on the visibility of German criminological research and criminological research as a whole.

Author

• Sarah Schreier, University of Tuebingen (Germany)