Doctoral Social Work Research: Tracing Theories

Reference Resources

Use these sources to find background information about social work and other relevant theories to search for a theory's beginnings and current developments.

• Encyclopedia of Social Work Online Database 
  • Why search here?
    Encyclopedia of Social Work Online entries are written by experts and current practitioners, updated on a monthly basis, and each entry is a peer-reviewed source. You may want to cite some of the info in a theory's entry as well as take a look at the reference list and further reading list at the end of the entry for more sources.
  • What's included?
    400+ articles, over 200 succinct biographies, scholarly content infused with practical advice for social workers in the field.

Limited to 1 concurrent user.

• DSM Premium

  • Why search here?
    The DSM Premium collection covers diagnosis and differential diagnosis, case vignettes to bring abstract concepts to life, multidisciplinary treatment guidelines, the latest research – all within a single search and navigation interface that integrates journals and books.
  • What's included?
    This database contains DSM-5, DSM-IV-TR® Handbook of Differential Diagnosis , DSM-IV-TR® Casebook and its Treatment Companion , several self-assessments, and 5 APPI journals.

• Credo Reference

  • Why search here?
    Credo Reference is a searchable collection of over 500 reference books across a wide variety of subjects from top publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Wiley and Elsevier.
  • What's included?
    Use Credo to help define your topic and then use the links on topic pages to discover more in-depth information in books and journals, find thousands of art images and connect your ideas using concept mapping.

Finding Articles

Below are some strategies for finding articles about a theory's past and current developments.

Using Date Filters

When searching for older articles, keep in mind that...

1) some theories and practices were not referred to by the same names or acronyms in the past as they are today, so adjust your search terms accordingly, and

2) depending on the topic, the Library's journal subscriptions may not always go as far back as you need so use the Published Date filter to be sure you're searching in the specific date range you need. 

Searching in Google Scholar is also a great way to find older publications because of its much larger scope. You can similarly use Google Scholar's publication date filter to narrow results to the appropriate date range.

Getting Older Articles in Full Text

If you run into the problem of not being able to access older articles in full text (meaning their full text isn't available in the databases or online via Google Scholar), you can submit an Interlibrary Loan request for any article you can't find.

Searching Dissertations

Another rich source for tracing a theory's development is a dissertation that explores the theory. Dissertations are not peer-reviewed, so you may not be able to cite them directly for an assignment, but their reference lists  are often treasure troves, particularly for a theory's early, foundational articles. You can find dissertations via Google Scholar, but you can also use the Dissertations & Theses Full-Text database. Get started by searching a theory's name.

Citation Searching