Home - SW 6218/6265 - Social Work Research - Lee - LibGuides at University of Northern Iowa

General Databases (Interdisciplinary)

OneSearch (Rod Library)
Main search box on library's website. Searches books, ebooks, scholarly articles, news articles, films, and more.
Google Scholar
UNI's Google Scholar links to Rod Library subscription resources.

Valid CatID & passphrase required for off-campus access.

Social Work Abstracts (EBSCO)
450+ social work and human services journals. Produced by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

Social Services Abstracts (ProQuest)
Research on human services, family services, social work, and social policy.

Family & Society Studies Worldwide (EBSCO)
Database designed specifically for research in Family Services.
APA PsycInfo
Psychology and behavior. Can limit by type of research, methodology, age, gender, etc.
Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest)
Large database covering all the social sciences.

PubMed
The database for medical and health sciences.
(This link provides the Find it! @ UNI software for off-campus access).

ERIC
Research in education.
Criminal Justice Periodicals (ProQuest)
Comprehensive collection of criminal justice journals.

Criminal Justice Abstracts (EBSCO)
Records covering areas related to criminal justice & criminology. It contains more than 200,000 from the most important sources within the discipline. (Not full-text, so use "FindIt@UNI" button)

All Rod Library databases
To limit to databases for particular subjects, select arrow next to All Subjects. Depending on your topic, you might consider searching databases from Social Work, Psychology, Family Services, Criminology, Education, etc.

Empirical = based on observable evidence. An article is likely empirical IF:

It appears in a scholarly/peer-reviewed journal
The researchers gathered data
- Look in: Abstract, Method(ology) section
- Can be quantitative (most surveys) and/or qualitative (interviews, focus groups)
Authors report on an experiment/observation
It has these normal sections (may vary):
- Introduction/Literature Review
- Methodology
- Results
- Discussion/Conclusion
- References

NOT empirical:
- Literature review, even if in scholarly journal (authors only use published sources)
  - Use these to point you to other sources & get topic background!
- Theoretical article, even if in scholarly journal
- Essay, even if in scholarly journal

Gray area (check with your professor):
- Scholarly/peer-reviewed article in which authors analyze data someone else collected ("secondary data analysis")
- Case studies reporting on one or a few particular clients/organizations

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service through Rod Library
If Rod Library does not own/subscribe to the material you need, the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) staff will try to get it for you. The ILL system is called ILLiad and uses your CatID & passphrase for logging in.
Detailed ILL instructions
Use these instructions for learning how to request materials through Interlibrary Loan. Most items, such as articles and book chapters, are provided electronically.

Need assistance? Just ask!