Skip to main content

Social Work Guide Ask Us

Guide Sections

Articles

Below are some recommended databases for searching for journal articles in social work. To search for individual journals by title, go to the Journals & Newspapers section.

Key Resources

  • Social Work Abstracts (EBSCO)
    "Social Work Abstracts offers extensive coverage of more than 450 social work and human services journals dating back to 1977. Produced by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the database provides indexing and abstracts dealing with all aspects of the social work field, including theory and practice, areas of service and social issues and problems. Researchers seeking scholarly and professional perspectives on subjects such as therapy, education, human services, addictions, child and family welfare, mental health, civil and legal rights, and more will find Social Work Abstracts to be an indispensable resource."
    Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1977-Current
  • Social Services Abstracts (ProQuest)
    Social Services Abstracts "provide bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development."

Additional Resources

  • Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
    Academic Search Premier is a multidisciplinary resource that "provides journal coverage for most academic areas of studies."
    Permitted Use | eResources record | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | Full text: 1990 - present. I
  • America: History and Life (EBSCO)
    "America: History & Life is the definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With indexing for 1,700 journals from 1964 to present ... The database also includes citations and links to book and media reviews."--Database information page.
    Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1964-Current
  • Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) Reference (ProQuest)
    Please note: CBCA Reference is now searchable as part of the larger CBCA Complete collection. Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) Complete is the nation's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic full-text reference and current events database. Available through the ProQuest Web interface, CBCA Complete combines full text and indexed content from all four CBCA database subsets (Business, Current Events, Education, and Reference). Subject coverage is comprehensive and information is available from the broadest range of Canadian sources anywhere.
    NOTE: In certain instances ProQuest has decided to omit particular 'articles' from full-text access due to copyright restrictions or because the item has not met their criteria for being an 'article' (ie. too short, a letter, not attributed to an author, etc.).
    Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access
  • CINAHL with Full Text (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature - EBSCO)
    CINAHL with Full Text is the world's most comprehensive source of full text for nursing & allied health journals, providing full text for more than 500 journals indexed in CINAHL. This authoritative file contains full text for many of the most used journals in the CINAHL index - with no embargo. With full-text coverage dating back to 1981, CINAHL with Full Text is the definitive research tool for all areas of nursing and allied health literature.
    Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1981-Current
  • The Cochrane library
    The Cochrane Library contains high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. This database includes the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews, the The Cochrane Methodology Register, the Health Technology Assessment Database, and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database.
    Access to the Cochrane Library in New Brunswick is through a province-wide license made possible by a partnership between UNB and the eight Regional Hospital Authority libraries.
  • Google scholar
    Google Scholar searches a subset of the Web that Google has classified as "scholarly literature". They do not publish a list of chosen sites, and they do not state how often sites are checked. Some important sources are not covered at all. Thus, Google Scholar alone should not be relied on for comprehensive research.
  • Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
    "Historical Abstracts is an exceptional resource that covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more ... Provides indexing of more than 1,700 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955."--Database information page.
    Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1955-Current
  • Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) International and Archive (ProQuest)
    The PAIS International database contains references to journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material, and more. Newspapers and newsletters are not indexed. Also included in PAIS are the PAIS Archive and ProQuest Deep Indexing: Public Administration and Policy databases.
  • PsycINFO (American Psychological Association; APA - EBSCO)
    PsycINFO is an abstracting and indexing database of more than 2000 journals (approximately 3.3 million records) devoted to peer-reviewed literature (journals, books and dissertations) in the behavioural sciences and mental health.
    Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1887-Current
  • PubMed
    PubMed is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM®) database of biomedical citations and abstracts. It includes MEDLINE, which covers over 4,800 journals published in the United States and more than 70 other countries primarily from 1966 to the present.
    Open Access
  • Scopus
    Scopus, a multidisciplinary online resource, will be invaluable to students and faculty in various fields of study within the sciences, health sciences and the social sciences. Scopus offers full-text linking, abstracting-and-indexing information including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources.
  • Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest)
    Sociological Abstracts "covers the world's literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behaviorial sciences."
  • SocINDEX with Full Text (EBSCO)
    SocINDEX with Full Text is the world's most comprehensive and highest-quality sociology research database. Its extensive scope and content provide users with a wealth of extremely useful information encompassing the broad spectrum of sociological study. The database features more than 2.1 million records with subject headings from a 20,000+ term sociological thesaurus designed by subject experts and expert lexicographers. SocINDEX with Full Text contains full text for 890 journals dating back to 1908. This database also includes full text for more than 850 books and monographs, and full text for over 16,800 conference papers.
    Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1908-Current
  • Violence & Abuse Abstracts (EBSCO)
    Violence & Abuse Abstracts publishes 1,200 abstracts annually plus and extended bibliography of recent literature on all types of interpersonal violence, including sexual, physical and psychological child abuse, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault and harassment, hate crimes, workplace violence, gang violence, elder abuse and neglect. Each abstract is categorized into one of four distinct sections: medical, legal, psychological and social.
  • Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (ProQuest)
    Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides "citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy."

Selected Core Journals

The following is a selected list of core peer-reviewed academic journals which are among the most important to social work. During database searches, you will encounter articles from these journals, plus many additional titles essential to specific social work sub-fields, research approaches, geographic regions, or related disciplines.

 

 

Newspapers

While news sources are legitimate primary sources for academic study, note that most news sources are not themselves academicThe library subscribes to many newspapers online, including major historical archives for The Globe & Mail, The New York Times, and The Times (London).

 

Sapere Aude | Veritas | Barry collects and helps people understand, access, and use research and scholarship. He conducts searches for systematic reviews, and teaches search techniques to students, while also encouraging deep reading and critical thinking skills.


Last modified on October 16, 2024 12:15