Research Guides: Social Work: Articles / Databases

Important Research Databases

Sociology Collection This link opens in a new window
CONTENT: It provides information on the topics of culture and social structure, family and marriage, organizational sociology, history and theory of sociology, political sociology, poverty and homelessness, race and ethnicity, social change and economic development, social control, sociology of health and medicine, and the sociology of education, and more.

RESOURCE TYPES: Abstracts of journal articles, citations to book reviews, abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers and working papers.

COVERAGE: 1952 to the present, citations and abstracts from over 1,800 periodicals.
Proquest This link opens in a new window
CONTENT: Citations, abstracts, and full-text articles from thousands of news magazines, professional journals, leading newspapers, and popular publications. Subject specific database portions include: business, education, humanities, interdisciplinary, medical, news, psychology, biology, science, social science, and technology and more.

RESOURCE TYPES: Scholarly and popular articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals. Books are full-text in the fields of health and business.

COVERAGE: Covers over 13,000 periodicals/publications, divided by subject areas/databases to allow focus of searching. Dates differ for every periodical, most cover the current three years.
Sage Journals This link opens in a new window
CONTENT: Browse journal titles from A-Z, by discipline or conduct a topic search in the fields of: Health Sciences, Life and Biomedical Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, and Social Science and Humanities.

RESOURCE TYPES: Scholarly journal articles.

COVERAGE: Provides full-text access to 389 journals; updated monthly.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
CONTENT: Browse by journal title or discipline including: anthropology, art, art history, architecture, economics, ecology, film studies, folklore, history, mathematics, music, performing arts, philosophy, political science, religion, sociology, statistics, and many more.

RESOURCE TYPES: Scholarly journals and monographs.

COVERAGE: Over 1,000 scholarly journals and other scholarly content, from the earliest issues (many in the late 1800s) to within 3-5 years of current publication. Collections: Arts & Sciences I Collection, Arts & Sciences II Collection, Arts & Sciences III Collection, Arts & Sciences VII Collection, Nineteenth-Century Literature and The William and Mary Quarterly.

The Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic Reviews The Campbell Collaboration is an international social science research network that produces high quality, open and policy-relevant evidence syntheses, plain language summaries and policy briefs.

PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new window
CONTENT:

A database produced by the American Psychological Association (APA) of psychology research.
RESOURCE TYPES:

Full text, peer-reviewed scholarly articles from 110 journals, including all APA published journals.

COVERAGE:

1894-present, with full text coverage (HTML and PDF format) from 1985 to present, updated weekly.
DSM-V Library This link opens in a new window
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Content:
Diagnose and classify mental disorders, concise and explicit criteria, intend to facilitate an objective assessment of symptom presentations in a variety of clinical settings- inpatient, outpatient, partial hospital, consultation-liaison, clinical, private practice, and primary care.

Resource Type: Diagnostic manual, books, and articles.

Coverage: All aspects of mental health.
CINAHL with Full Text This link opens in a new window
CONTENT: Nursing, allied health disciplines, cardiopulmonary technology, emergency services, health education, med/lab technology, medical assistance, medical records, occupational therapy, physical therapy, radiologic technology, respiratory therapy, surgical technology, and physician's assistant.

RESOURCE TYPES: Journal articles, medical text books, nursing dissertations, educational software, legal cases, clinical innovations, critical paths, drug records, research instruments and clinical trials. In addition, this database offers access to health care books, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice, audiovisuals and book chapters.

COVERAGE: Indexes more than 3,000 journals in the field of nursing and allied health, dating back to 1981.
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) This link opens in a new window
CONTENT: ERIC indexes education journals on topics in education including: adult, career, and vocational education, information and technology, assessment and evaluation, language and linguistics, disabilities and gifted education, reading and communication, educational management, teachers and teacher education, elementary and early childhood education, urban education, higher education and many more.

RESOURCE TYPES: Journal articles, research papers and books.

COVERAGE: Updated monthly. It contains more than 1,000 journals and other materials dating from 1966 to the present. Compiled by the U.S. Department of Education.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
CONTENT: Browse by journal title or discipline including: anthropology, art, art history, architecture, economics, ecology, film studies, folklore, history, mathematics, music, performing arts, philosophy, political science, religion, sociology, statistics, and many more.

RESOURCE TYPES: Scholarly journals and monographs.

COVERAGE: Over 1,000 scholarly journals and other scholarly content, from the earliest issues (many in the late 1800s) to within 3-5 years of current publication. Collections: Arts & Sciences I Collection, Arts & Sciences II Collection, Arts & Sciences III Collection, Arts & Sciences VII Collection, Nineteenth-Century Literature and The William and Mary Quarterly.

Google Scholar

Key Journals

These are just a few of the excellent journals with relevant research available through Saint Francis University Library

DSM-V

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). by American Psychiatric Association Staff This new edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, an authoritative volume that defines and classifies mental disorders in order to improve diagnoses, treatment, and research. The criteria are concise and explicit, intended to facilitate an objective assessment of symptom presentations in a variety of clinical settings -- inpatient, outpatient, partial hospital, consultation-liaison, clinical, private practice, and primary care. The chapter organization reflects a lifespan approach, with disorders typically diagnosed in childhood at the beginning of the manual, and those more typical of older adults placed at the end. The revised organizational structure recognizes symptoms that span multiple diagnostic categories, providing new clinical insight in diagnosis. Specific criteria have been streamlined, consolidated, or clarified to be consistent with current clinical practice Both ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM codes are included for each disorder, and the organizational structure is consistent with the new ICD-11 in development. The information contained in the manual is also valuable to other physicians and health professionals, including psychologists, counselors, nurses, and occupational and rehabilitation therapists, as well as social workers and forensic and legal specialists.
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 0890425558
Publication Date: 2013
DSM-5 handbook of differential diagnosis. by First, M. B. & American Psychiatric Association
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 1585629995
Publication Date: 2014

sccclibrary. (2013, July 11). DSM-5 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGdSyNdAYL9bimhURJQlu5Q

Peer-review? Refereed? Scholarly?

Peer-review in 3 Minutes

Video created by NCSU Libraries :: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/peerreview/

What does it mean when my professor wants me to use "scholarly articles"?

They want you to use articles that go beyond the basic type of information you might get in a newspaper or popular magazine (like, Newsweek or Popular Science).
Scholarly articles are where much of the work of the discipline gets done or directly reported.
- A scholarly Chemisty article may be a thirty page report detailing everything about an experiment that a group of scientists completed.
- A scholarly Literature article may be an analysis of a recent novel using a particular theory lens, such as feminist theory.
Scholarly articles are written for an audience that has an educational background in such topics.
- You may find scholarly articles difficult to read. Don't worry, that's part of you learning!

What does "peer-reviewed" or "refereed" mean?

These both refer to the same process that many scholarly articles undergo before publication.
The article is sent out to independent reviewers who critique the article. These reviewers are experts or well-experienced scholars/practitioners in the field.
They analyze the paper's research quality, its logical cohesiveness, the accuracy of its theoretical applications. Essentially, these peer reviewers help to make the article the best it can be, to ensure that the research is top notch.
A careful researcher (like you) cares to find the best, peer-reviewed scholarly articles for their research needs.

Want to be double-sure the journal you're using is "peer-reviewed"?

Then search for it in Ulrich's and if you see the referee jersey next to your journal... it is!

Ulrich's - Global Serials Directory This link opens in a new window
CONTENT: Provides the ISSN, publisher, language, subject, abstracting & indexing coverage, full-text database coverage, tables of contents, and reviews written by librarians for all periodicals. Useful in the identification of subject area publication requirements, follow the company URL to seek out manuscript submission procedures.

RESOURCE TYPES: Periodical types include: academic and scholarly journals, e-journals, peer-reviewed titles, popular magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and more.

COVERAGE: Covers over 300,000 periodicals, in 900 different subject areas.