Harvard School of Public Health launches Firearms Research Digest database

New database provides excellent resource for reporters, law enforcement, public health officials and policymakers concerned with issues of gun violence

A new firearms research database launched by the Harvard School of Public Health makes scholarly articles more accessible to reporters, law enforcement, public health officials, policymakers, and the general public. The Firearms Research Digest (www.firearmsresearch.org) provides summaries of articles gathered from social science, criminology, medical and public health journals and is written in clear, accessible language for use by those outside academia.

The website currently covers six years of research published between 2003 and 2008. The digest will be expanded over time to include articles from 1988 to the present.

"Despite the increased ease of accessing articles through search engines like Google Scholar or PubMed, the sheer volume of returned information in technical jargon can be daunting," said David Hemenway, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health. "The principal objective of this digest is to present research findings in clear, lay language so anyone can readily understand the study results."

With the new availability of gun violence data and research, one of the primary goals of the website is to help those in law enforcement, public health and government develop best practices and smarter approaches to curbing gun crime and violence.