Social Work

A scholarly (or academic) journals is one that is written by experts in the field. To publish in an academic journal requires authors to submit their articles for peer-review. Peer-review is rigorous process in which an author's research paper undergoes scrutiny from other experts in the same field. Reviewers assess the paper for originality, validity, and significance. One such example is the Journal of Architectural Education (listed below). 

A popular journal is one that is written for the general public. All articles are edited by an editor but it does not contain a peer-review process. One such is example is National Geographic, while it is a quality source of information, it does not meet the criteria for a scholarly source. 

Articles are traditionally found within journals in either print or electronic format. They are written by scholars, focused on a single topic, include citations and bibliographies (sometimes called references or works cited) and are considered academic sources if they have been peer reviewed.

An Electronic Journal (or E-journal) is a traditional journal that is in an electronic format; either because it was originally created that way, or because someone took a print journal article and scanned it to make it available electronically. They typically contain multiple articles, are published at consistent intervals, and are focused on a specific subject area. 

A Database is what is created when a large number of electronic journals are put in one place and a search interface (usually a search box) is added to help find what you need. Both databases and electronic journals can be subject specific. Many journals are only available through your library and often contain the full text of the articles. When you have a database that only has the title or abstract, but not the full text, it is usually referred to as an Index.

Here are some leading Social Work  journals which are available online through the FAU Libraries. For a complete list, click here.