Il étudie les procédés de collecte de renseignement et la sécurité nationale. Auteur d'au moins 13 livres sur le renseignement, il a dirigé la publication de plusieurs collections de documents d'archive de la National Security Archive.
(en) Jeffrey Richelson, Social Choice Theory and Soviet National Security Decisionmaking, Center for International and Strategic Affairs de l'UCLA, (ISBN978-0-86682-048-6)
(en) Jeffrey Richelson, United States Strategic Reconnaissance : Photographic/imaging satellites, Center for International and Strategic Affairs de l'UCLA, (ISBN978-0-86682-050-9)
(en) Jeffrey Richelson et Desmond Ball, The Ties That Bind : Intelligence cooperation between the UKUSA countries, Allen & Unwin, , 402 p. (ISBN0-04-327092-1)
(en) Jeffrey Richelson, Sword and Shield : The Soviet intelligence and security apparatus, Ballinger Publishing Company, , 485 p. (ISBN0-88730-035-9)
(en) Jeffrey Richelson, American Espionage and the Soviet Target, William Morrow, , 383 p. (ISBN0-688-06753-0)
(en) Jeffrey Richelson, America's Space Sentinels : DSP satellites and national security, University of Kansas Press, , 329 p. (ISBN0-7006-0942-3)
(en) Jeffrey Richelson, The Wizards of Langley : Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, Westview Press, , 386 p. (ISBN0-8133-6699-2)
(en) Jeffrey Richelson, Spying on the bomb : American nuclear intelligence from nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea, New York, Norton, , 702 p. (ISBN0-393-05383-0)
(en) Defusing Armageddon : Inside NEST, America's Secret Nuclear Bomb Squad, New York, W.W. Norton, , 318 p. (ISBN978-0-393-06515-2, OCLC227016184)