Social Work Library

Research and Guides

Located on the lower ground floor of McGuinn Hall, the Social Work Library supports the teaching and research needs of the Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW)

Welcome

Research Guides are a great resource designed specifically to assist you with your coursework here at Boston College School of Social Work. Each guide contains links to texts, databases, and other resources that can be helpful while writing papers and completing assignments for courses in each category listed below. Please browse these pages and utilize the wealth of information compiled therein to save time in your research.

Frequently Used Databases

PsycINFO 1840-current This link opens in a new window
Excellent database for all research related to clinical social work.
PubMed This link opens in a new window
The database is an ideal source for medical literature.
Social Services Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Extensive in coverage, Social Services Abstracts provides access to literature on social work, human service agencies, social welfare, social work education, social policy, and community development.
ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
Full text access to the large number of journals in many disciplines published by Elsevier.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Explore international literature in sociology and other social sciences.

Proquest Social Science Premium Collection
Recommended for interdisciplinary research, this tool does a cross-search across multiple social science databases, including: Social Services Abstracts, PAIS International, Econlit, and more. If you are not sure where to start, this is an excellent database.

AgeLine This link opens in a new window
Literature on all aspects of social gerontology.
PsycTESTS This link opens in a new window
PsycTests provides access to psychological tests, measures, scales, and surveys and descriptive information about them. Most records include the full instrument
Health & Psychosocial Instruments This link opens in a new window
The database covers research using health and psychometric instruments. Use the instrument name in quotes to search for articles.
Digitalia Hispánica This link opens in a new window
You'll find many Spanish language social work and social welfare titles. Digitalia Hispanica provides access to Spanish language books broadly in the social sciences and humanities from major publishers in Spain and Latin America.
Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI) Online This link opens in a new window
The HAPI bibliographic database covers political, economic, and social issues and information about Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean basin, the United States-Mexico border region, and Hispanics in the United States.
PILOTS Published International Literature On Traumatic Stress This link opens in a new window
Access worldwide literature on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health consequences of exposure to traumatic events.
LGBTQ+ Source This link opens in a new window
LGBT Fulltext provides comprehensive coverage of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies. The database will include NISC's Sexual Diversity Studies.
GenderWatch This link opens in a new window
With titles covering different moments from 1970 to the present, GenderWatch is a repository of important historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgender community and the changes in gender roles over the years. Publications include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books and NGO, government and special reports. A ProQuest collection.
ASSIA: Applied social sciences index and abstracts This link opens in a new window
An excellent database for all areas of health & social science research.
PAIS International This link opens in a new window
Recommended for research on public & social policy.
ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center) This link opens in a new window
The Educational Resources Information Center database, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, provides extensive access to educational-related literature.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus is a large multidisciplinary database. Ideal for citation chaining, comparing journals and scholarly trends.

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