Research Guides: Staying Informed in Social Work Practice: Open Access and Open Education Resources

Open Education Resources

USC's OER library guide
How to find, evaluate, use, and adapt OER materials for use in the classroom to help reduce textbook costs.
Open Social Work Education
Open Social Work Education (OSWE) is a collaborative project dedicated to open educational resources (OER) in social work.
Open Textbook Library
Open textbooks are textbooks that have been funded, published, and licensed to be freely used, adapted, and distributed. These books have been reviewed by faculty from a variety of colleges and universities to assess their quality. These books can be downloaded for no cost, or printed at low cost. The Open Textbook Library is supported by the Center for Open Education and the Open Textbook Network.

Free Resources (for Health Sciences)
by Jennifer Dinalo Last Updated Feb 15, 2024 278 views this year

Peer-reviewed Open Access Journals

Open Access means that you don't need a subscription or pay to read the work. So if you need high quality research without paying for articles, start here!

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a reliable source for open access journals on virtually any topic.

A list of open access journals relevant to social work topics are below.

Addiction Science and Clinical Practice
Topics covered: the prevention and treatment of unhealthy alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use across the spectrum of clinical settings
Advances in Social Work
This journal covers clinical practice, community organization, social administration, social policy, planning, and program evaluation, and social work education
Behavior and Social Issues
Topics covered: analysis of human social behavior, particularly with regard to understanding and influencing important social problems
Columbia Social Work Review
This is a journal of master's student work. The Review is an annual peer-reviewed journal for students in the field of social work to share their research, experiences and views.
Health and Human Rights
Health and Human Rights is an international journal dedicated to scholarship and praxis that advance health as an issue of fundamental human rights and social justice.
Health and Justice
Topics covered: research on the area of health and well-being of people involved in the adult or juvenile justice system, including people who work in the system
International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences
Topics covered: contemporary issues in Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Victimology
Intersectionalities
peer-reviewed, open access journal sponsored by Memorial University's School of Social Work. The journal is international in scope, and publishes articles relating to social work analysis, research, polity, and practice.
Journal of Comparative Social Work
Topics covered: comparative studies and international social work
Journal of Family Strengths
Topics covered: theoretical, policy, practice, and evaluation articles on the strengths perspective in family-centered practice to improve services that promote and sustain family systems
Journal of Indigenous Social Development
Topics covered: improving social work practice and expanding knowledge relevant to indigenous peoples and communities in which they live
Journal of Social Inclusion
Topics covered: processes of inclusion and marginalization; published in Australia
Journal of Social Intervention: Theory and Practice
This journal explores the interface between social policy, organizational innovation, development of methods and professional practice.
Social Work and Society: International Online Journal
Topics covered: social work, social policy, and the state and economic forces