Social Policy and Social Work: Journal Articles & Databases

Information about books, journals, databases and other useful social policy and social work resources.

Finding Articles on Reading Lists

Try this first

You can look up articles in OneSearch, our resource discovery service.

Put the exact title of the article in inverted commas.

If we can provide an instant link you will see the journal article displayed - click Full Text Online to access the text.

Next steps:

If we cannot provide a quick article link or it fails, then search for the name of the whole Journal instead of the article title e.g. "Journal of Common Market Studies"

For print-only journals you will be shown the location and shelfmark, so that you can locate the volume on the shelf

For electronic journals, click to link to the full journal and then navigate to the year, volume and issue that you want to see your article: or there may be an option to search for the article title provided by the online journal portal in which case key in the article in that box.

What Is Peer Review?

Articles in peer reviewed journals have been assessed before publication by subject experts. This means they are the 'gold' standard in academic articles. You will be expected to use peer reviewed journal articles in your assignments.

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Key Databases for Social Policy and Social Work

Social Services Abstracts

This database provides bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services and related areas, including social welfare, social policy and community development.

Sociological Abstracts

This database abstracts and indexes the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.

ASSIA - Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts

An indexing and abstracting tool covering health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education.

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences

IBSS includes over two million bibliographic references to journal articles and to books, reviews and selected chapters dating back to 1951

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Abstracts Database

This database covers literature related to research, policy and practice in criminal and juvenile justice and drug control from U.S. and international publications from 1975 to the present.

ScienceDirect Journals

ScienceDirect contains over 25% of the world's science, technology and medicine full text and bibliographic information. Includes online eBooks, reference works, handbooks, book series, journal titles and backfiles.

Violence and Abuse Abstracts

Includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to violence and abuse, including family violence, sexual assault, emotional abuse, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.

Web of Science

This multidisciplinary research platform lets users search numerous databases simultaneously via one interface.

Key Journals for Social Policy & Social Work

Irish Social Worker

The journal of the Irish Association of Social Workers

Bbritish Journal of Social Work

The journal of the British Association of Social Workers.

European Journal of Social Work

The European Journal of Social Work provides a forum for the social professions in all parts of Europe and beyond. It analyses and promotes European and international developments in social work, social policy, social service institutions, and strategies for social change by publishing refereed papers on contemporary key issues.