LibGuides: SOCW 100: Introduction to Social Work: Field of Practice Paper

Finding Journal Articles

Social Work Databases

Social Services Abstracts
This database will help you find articles from 500 journals in the field social work. This would be a good start for everyone.

Description: Social Services Abstracts is an index to social work journals, dissertations and book reviews. It also covers social work related fields like, human services, social welfare, social policy, and community development.
Time Period: 1979 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 1,300 publications
Subject Headings: Social Sciences
Primary Materials: Journal Articles

Databases from other disciplines

These databases for other professions include journals for social work professionals practicing in hospitals, in mental health

Sociological Abstracts
May be helpful because sociology and social work are related fields. The database also includes some social work journals.

Description: Sociological Abstracts provides indexing for U.S. and international literature in sociology and related disciplines in in the social and behavioral sciences. May be useful for research in social work and women and gender studies.
Coverage: 1952 to present
Sources: Covers more than 5,300 journals.
Subject Headings: Psychology, Social Sciences
Primary Materials: Journal Articles, Dissertations and Theses, Books, Conference Proceedings, Symposiums
APA PsycInfo
May be useful for fields such as families, disability, education, mental health, substance abuse, work place, and aging.

Description: PsycInfo is a key database in the field of psychology and related disciplines such as neuroscience, business, nursing, law, and education.
Time Period: 1887 to present with some content as far back as the 17th century
Sources: Indexes more than 2,400 peer-reviewed journals.
Subject Headings: Psychology, Education, Social Sciences
Material Types: Journal Articles, Dissertations, Theses
MEDLINE with Full Text
May be helpful for fileds such as health care, education, disability, substance abuse, mental health, and aging. This database contains a few social work journals including Social Work, which published by the National Association of Social Workers.

Description: MEDLINE, created by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, is the premier index of medical journal articles. This version of the databases has linked full text and FindIt@BALL STATE, a technology which helps users locate the text of articles when it isn't available in MEDLINE. The advanced search allows users to place a wide range of limits on their searches including limiting results to EBM reviews.
Time Period: 1946 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 5,200 journals.
Subject Headings: Health, Mobile, Psychology, Science, Technology (Biomedicine, Life Science)
Primary Materials: Journal Articles, Magazine Articles, News
ERIC (EBSCOhost)
May be useful for fields such as education and disability.

Description: ERIC EBSCOhost is a key database in the field of education, providing access to journal articles, ERIC documents, dissertations and other materials.
Time Period: 1907-present
Sources: Contains 2 million records with nearly 600,000 full-text, peer-reviewed articles.
Subject Headings: Education, English, Literature, Fine and Performing Arts
Primary Materials: Journal Articles, Documents, Government Documents, Books/e-books, Dissertation and Theses, Reference Entries, Reports, Grey Literature

Information about the Profession

Occupational Outlook Handbook
This source will tell you what social workers do and what education they need.