Associate Professor Julia Davis has research interests in three main fields: the theoretical, practical and psychological aspects of sentencing; the philosophy of the criminal law; and the concept of justice. She has published chapters in books and articles based on her research on criminal law theory, sentencing, domestic violence and child sexual abuse in Australia, New Zealand, Britain and Europe.

Associate Professor Davis was part of a team led by Professor Kate Warner (University of Tasmania) that won a large Criminology Research Council research grant to conduct a Jury Sentencing Survey over the period 2007-2009. The study aimed to improve the measurement of public attitudes to sentencing by designing and implementing a jury survey to be administered after guilty verdicts, by giving jurors sentencing information and using the survey results to assist policy makers to respond to informed public opinion with the ultimate goal of improving confidence in the criminal justice system.

In November 2012, Associate Professor Davis and her research colleagues, Professor Kate Warner (from the University of Tasmania) and Professor Arie Freiberg (from Monash University) were awarded an ARC Discovery grant of $400,000 to extend and develop the jury survey methodology in Victoria over the years 2013-2015.

In 2013 Associate Professor Davis was part of a national team of researchers who were awarded an Australian Research Council Linkage grant of $252,124 to conduct a national study aimed at gauging informed public opinion on sentencing for sex offences by surveying the views of jurors in sex offence trials in all higher courts in Australia.

Associate Professor Davis's contribution to research was recognised in 2014 by the Business School in a commendation in the category of research excellence.