The Types of Scholarly Publications Produced by Australian Social Work Researchers

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Accepted Manuscript (AM)
Author(s)
Tilbury, C
Hughes, M
Bigby, C
Roche, S
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2021
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The publication of social work research and scholarship is integral to generating and disseminating knowledge for the profession and the human services field. Previous research has found a large proportion of nonresearch articles in social work journals, but there has been little exploration of the nature of this scholarship. Using a scoping review method supplemented by analysis of national research assessment output data, this study examined the quantity, format, and characteristics of scholarly publications between 2010–2020 by Australian social workers. It found they produced proportionately more journal articles than ...
View more >The publication of social work research and scholarship is integral to generating and disseminating knowledge for the profession and the human services field. Previous research has found a large proportion of nonresearch articles in social work journals, but there has been little exploration of the nature of this scholarship. Using a scoping review method supplemented by analysis of national research assessment output data, this study examined the quantity, format, and characteristics of scholarly publications between 2010–2020 by Australian social workers. It found they produced proportionately more journal articles than other disciplines and relatively fewer books and book chapters. Of 1,389 Australian social work articles published in top-cited social work journals, 821 (59.1%) were research articles. Of the nonresearch articles, almost half provided an analysis of policy or practice without stating a method. Understanding the scope of social work research provides a foundation for reflection on the discipline’s research endeavours. IMPLICATIONS Information about the scope of social work research is useful for developing both individual and disciplinary research strategy. A clear statement of method that describes the processes used for observation and analysis would enhance the quality of nonresearch social work publications.
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View more >The publication of social work research and scholarship is integral to generating and disseminating knowledge for the profession and the human services field. Previous research has found a large proportion of nonresearch articles in social work journals, but there has been little exploration of the nature of this scholarship. Using a scoping review method supplemented by analysis of national research assessment output data, this study examined the quantity, format, and characteristics of scholarly publications between 2010–2020 by Australian social workers. It found they produced proportionately more journal articles than other disciplines and relatively fewer books and book chapters. Of 1,389 Australian social work articles published in top-cited social work journals, 821 (59.1%) were research articles. Of the nonresearch articles, almost half provided an analysis of policy or practice without stating a method. Understanding the scope of social work research provides a foundation for reflection on the discipline’s research endeavours. IMPLICATIONS Information about the scope of social work research is useful for developing both individual and disciplinary research strategy. A clear statement of method that describes the processes used for observation and analysis would enhance the quality of nonresearch social work publications.
View less >
Journal Title
Australian Social Work
Copyright Statement
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Australian Social Work, 29 Nov 2021, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2021.2001834
Note
This publication has been entered as an advanced online version in Griffith Research Online.
Subject
Social work