Use this guide to begin your research and consult Margaret McLeod, who can help you find the materials you need to complete your assignments. This guide is designed for graduate students in the School of Social Work.
Library Services for Graduate Students
Thesis & Dissertation Writing Guides
- Critical reading and writing for postgraduates
- Mapping your thesis; the comprehensive manual of theory and techniques for masters and doctoral research LB2369.W49 2011
- Research literacies and writing pedagogies for masters and doctoral writers
Thesis Databases
Finding academic literature
- Library Search Box
The Library Search Box (OMNI) is a good place to start.
- Databases
- Use the Social Work quick and detailed guides for finding databases and other resources.
- Do not limit yourself to Social Work databases alone: See Databases by Subject list.
Search Alerts
Search Alerts help researchers stay current with what is being published in their area of interest through automatic e-mail alerts from databases and electronic journal services.
Academic journals
Open access
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Open access at Carleton
- Open access journals published at Carleton
Student journals
- Advocate's Forum (University of Chicago)
- Canadian Association of Social Work Education: Student article competition
- Considering Disability
- Ethics and Social Welfare: Jo Campling Memorial Prizes
- Michigan Journal of Social Work and Social Welfare
Journals recommended by faculty members
Faculty in the School of Social Work suggest the following journals.
- Australian Social Work
- British Journal of Social Work
- CCPA Monitor (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
- Canadian Public Policy
- Canadian Review of Social Policy
- Canadian Social Work Review
- Child and Family Social Work
- Clinical Social Work Journal
- Critical Social Policy
- Disability and Society
- Journal of Family Social Work
- Journal of Progressive Human Services
- Native Social Work Journal
- Perception
- Policy Options
- Social Work with Groups
- Studies in Political Economy
- Walrus
Some are available only in print; others are available in print and electronic format. Check UlrichsWeb for information about individual journals.
Grey Literature: What is it? How to find it?
Grey literature is an important source of information in arts and social science research that:
- adds a valuable global perspective
- provides detailed overviews on specific populations
- may be only source of local information
Grey literature is defined as "information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing" ie. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body." ICGL Luxembourg definition, 1997. Expanded in New York, 2004
Types of grey literature
- Government information
- Dissertations and theses
- Conference proceedings
- Newspapers and magazines
Library resources
- Grey Literature Guide
- OMNI (the Library's main search box) (change Content Type to types of grey literature such as government documents, conference proceedings etc.)
- Dissertations and Theses Global
- Google Scholar (change country, for example, to find international material)
- Government information (customized Google search)
- Databases such as Canadian Business and Current Affairs and Web of Science
- Business Source Complete (select publication type "Grey literature")
- Think Tanks
Resources
- Canadian Public Policy Collection (No new information after 2019)
- Grey Net (an international directory of organizations in Grey Literature and a repository)
- Grey Literature Database - Canadian Evaluation Society
- Finding the Hard to Finds: Searching for Grey Literature (University of British Columbia)
What is a Literature Review?
A literature review is both a summary and explanation of the complete and current state of knowledge on a narrowed topic as found in academic books and journal articles.
What are the Purposes of a Literature Review?
- situate your work in its discipline/area/subfield
- develop an understanding of how knowledge in your discipline/field/area has changed over time
- develop mastery of what's known in your area, and part of the larger discipline that contains it
- compare different conceptual or sub-disciplinary approaches to your topic
- compare and contrast different theoretical schools or leading researchers in your area
- identify methodologies that you might use in your work
Types of Literature Reviews
- Conducting a Literature Review > Types of Literature Reviews
- Systematic and Scoping Reviews (UBC)
Keep Track of your searches
How do I search a database for a literature review that someone has written already?
It depends on which database you're using. Some databases include "literature review" as one of the limit options you can set before or after doing your search: your search will retrieve only literature reviews. PsycInfo allows for this under Advanced Search.
However in most databases, you will have to add a term for "literature review" to your search. You'll soon get to know the terms that your discipline uses for literature reviews, one or more of:
- review article
- systematic review
- critical review
- literature
- bibliography
- meta-analysis, meta analysis
- re-analysis of data
Guides to literature reviews from universities
- The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It - University of Toronto
- Conducting a Literature Review - Georgetown University Medical Centre
- Literature Review - Deakin University Library
- Learn to Write a Review of Literature - University of Wisconsin - Madison
- Guidelines for Writing a Literature Review - University of Minnesota, Duluth
Literature review writing guides
- 7 steps to a comprehensive literature review : a multimodal and cultural approach
- Systematic approaches to a successful literature review
Videos
- Literature review common errors made when conducting a literature review
- Get Lit: the literature review
Citation searching
Find missing citations, track references and find related articles
Many of the library's databases allow you to track the flow of research by including ways to identify references that cite or are cited by other scholarly sources. This Help Guide will introduce you to the databases that have that feature.
Why is this important?
- keeping track of how many times and where a publication is being cited can help you gauge the impact that article has in your discipline
- if the article has been cited, you may find a link to the citing article/author
- to locate current research based on earlier research
- to find out how a particular research topic is being used to support other research
- to track the history of a research idea
- to track the research history of a researcher
- to determine how well your own published research is cited for promotion/tenure considerations
- don't forget to keep track of your searches! Literature Reviews: Keep Track (UBC)
Citation management
- Use online tools to manage your sources (e.g., save citations, pdfs and create bibliographies).
- Start a Perma.cc account to create permanent links for online sources.
Databases
Sage Research Methods is designed to support researchers with writing a research question, choosing a method, gathering and analyzing data, to and writing up & publishing the findings.
Tip: Browse by discipline, look for 'Social Work' to find a number of handbooks and case studies.
Nvivo Software
Nvivo is qualitative data analysis software intended to help researchers organize and analyze data, identify trends, and cross examine information in a variety of ways. Consult the NVIVO service web page for more information about this tool and training workshops.
SPSS and Stata
The library offers a statistical consulting service to help students (undergraduate and graduate), faculty and other researchers in the Carleton University community with their questions regarding quantitative data.
Research ethics at Carleton University
Contact the Scholarly Communications Librarian.
Writing process
Resources for Authors
Open Access
Graduate Student Open Access Award
$1000 award encourages Carleton graduate students to make their work more widely available on the internet by publishing research in open access journals.
ORCID
What is an ORCID and do I need one?
ORCID is a digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, and automated links between you and your professional activities.
Journal rankings
Citation-based metrics used for ranking journals. This may be important for:
- preparing your portfolio
- assesing the impact and quality of a journal relative to a particular discipline or field
- tenure and promotion in academic circles
Consult the Journal Rankings Help Guide for more information
