Published In
Advances in Social Work
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2018
Subjects
Research dissemination, Scholarly publishing, Open access, Repositories, Evidence-based practice
Abstract
Despite implicit and explicit expectations that research inform their practice, social workers are unlikely to have access to published research articles. The traditional publishing model does not support public access (i.e., no publisher paywall barrier) to scholarly journals. Newer models of publishing allow free access to research including open access publishing and deposit of scholarship in institutional or disciplinary repositories. This study examined public access to articles in the top 25 social work journals. A random sample of article citations from a total of 1,587 was assessed, with the result that 52% of citations had no full-text access. Of the remaining 48% of citations with full-text access, it is questionable most will remain available long term due to possible copyright violations. Citations from the random sample show only minimal usage of institutional or disciplinary repositories as a means of sharing research. Establishing this baseline measure of access to research is an important first step in understanding the barriers for social workers in accessing research to inform practice. Recommendations for increasing access to research include publishing in open access journals and utilizing full text repositories.
Rights
Copyright © 2018 Author, Vol. 18 No. 4 (Fall 2018), 1041-1052.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.18060/22180
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27251
Citation Details
Pendell, K. (2018). Behind the Wall: An Exploration of Public Access to Research Articles in Social Work Journals, Vol. 18 No. 4, 1041-1052.