Research Resources
You can use the BU Libraries Search box to look for print and electronic resources available through the Boston University Libraries. These resources include print books and journals available in the library stacks, as well as e-books and full-text journal articles. This broad tool can assist you at the beginning of your search process in identifying materials.
Find Articles: Core Databases for Social Work
You can begin your search within focused databases which offer abstracts, articles, and books relevant to social work research. To individually search within these specific databases you can click the links below:
- Social Services Abstracts This link opens in a new window This database includes the full text and abstracts of articles from over 1300 journals in the social work and human services fields. It also includes citations to dissertations and theses. Topics covered include social work practice, social welfare, community and mental health services, and crisis intervention.
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window Provides access to articles, books and book chapters, and dissertations that cover the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. Includes material of relevance to psychologists and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.
- APA PsycArticles This link opens in a new window PsycArticles provides full text access to articles from journals published by the American Psychological Association, the APA Educational Publishing Foundation, The Canadian Psychological Association, and Hogrefe Publishing Group. Subject areas include general psychology as well as specialized areas such as animal behavior, cognition, memory, psycholinguistics, and social psychology.
- Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection This link opens in a new window This database includes the full text of articles from more than 500 journals. It covers a broad range of topics related to psychology and the behavioral sciences including observational and experimental methods, child and adolescent psychology, and many areas of counseling.
- Social Sciences Full Text This link opens in a new window Social Sciences Full Text provides access to hundreds of English language journals in the social sciences. About two-thirds of the journals are peer-reviewed.
- Social Sciences Citation Index This link opens in a new window Social Sciences Citation Index, accessed via Web of Science, provides comprehensive data on bibliographic and citation information. This database allows a researcher to identify which later articles have cited any particular earlier article, or have cited the articles of any particular author, or have been cited most frequently. Searches notable and significant journals across more than 50 disciplines.
Other Relevant Databases for Social Work
Other additional sources which may assist you in your research are:
- Child Development & Adolescent Studies This link opens in a new window This database includes books, book chapters, journal articles, dissertations and theses, and technical reports related to the growth and development of children through the age of 21.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window Sociological Abstracts indexes and abstracts the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews. It also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Forty percent of the content is published outside of North America.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new window The PAIS International database covers current public policy issues and areas of potential legislation. Cited articles, books and documents can date back to 1910 and are listed in the original language. While some full text is included, the index primarily links to full text articles available through existing BU subscriptions.
- Abstracts in Social Gerontology This link opens in a new window This database includes the full text and abstracts of articles that cover essential topics related to social gerontology including the psychology of aging, elder abuse, and society and the elderly.
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders This link opens in a new window Geared for psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and other mental health practitioners, the DSM-5 provides comprehensive guidelines for diagnosing mental disorders. Published in 2013.
Social Work Journals
Important journals to the field of social work include but are not limited to:
Librarian
Questions?
Have questions about library offerings related to social work? Contact Lucy, Social Work Librarian, by email at LFlamm@bu.edu.