SW 124/322   Tags: public welfare, research skills, social services, social work  

Not finding what you want? Call, email, chat with or visit a UK Reference Librarian who will be glad to help you.

This is an in-depth, step-by-step guide to the research process, in case you need to review.  

Research 101

You will need to identify and describe three articles on a topic(s) assigned or approved by your Social Work instructor (topics such as criminal justice, violence against women, child welfare, health, etc.).  The articles must also meet the following parameters:   

Current articles.  (Current is defined as published in or after 2004.) 
Peer-reviewed articles. (Also known as referred or scholarly articles.)
Social Work/Social Science (psychology, sociology, etc.) journals.

Do you really understand what "social justice" means?  If not, how are you going to discuss the articles you choose in relation to this topic? Need more information about a topic but don't necessarily want an in-depth treatment like you'd get in a book or a scholarly article?  Consider one of the online databases listed below for this kind of background/context information.  The articles in these reference sources are often written by individuals whose credentials and expertise qualify them as experts on the topic.  Specialized reference sources can also help you develop your research outline--look at the table of contents and index headings and subheadings. 

Use these sources In lieu of Wikipedia, where even the site itself warns "You should not use Wikipedia by itself for primary research unless you are writing a paper about Wikipedia."  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Researching_with_Wikipedia 08/31/2011).