Social Work Research Guide

 Start, improve, or complete your research by working smarter! Take advantage of these guide pages and tips on conducting research, finding , evaluating and citing your sources.

General tips for in-library use: Browse for Books in the HV, HN, and HQ sections of all the library's books: Reference, Circulating (3rd floor), and Special Collections.

Search the Library Catalog using the term Social Work or Social Services as a subject. Also use multiple concepts such as Social Work and Multicultural Practice as keywords to get more specific books. This strategy also works very well when searching research databases for journal articles.

Journals are shelved alphabetically, so while some will be located in the S's (Social Service Review), others will be located elsewhere (such as Affilia or the Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare). Many journals, including Social Work, Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, Health and Social Work, Journal of Multicultural Social Work and Social Work Research are also available full-text in the library's recommended databases. You can search by subject ...OR look through the tables of contents for these journals.

Good Annotated Bibliographies...

• Begin with a citation in PERFECT APA format :)
• Summarize the central theme. (If the theme is unrelated to a significant aspect of your topic, it is not a good article to choose).
• Discuss significant findings
• Discuss the study's limitations
• Describe the article's audience
• Explain the article's usefulness in relation to your topic- WHY is the article a good one?
• Explain why the article is significant in relationship to the other articles you have chosen
• Potentially comment on the authority of the author
• Note: It is wise to provide an introduction at the top of the document, explaining the significance of your topic