Imagine being able to access nine years of articles detailing new and interesting ideas in the field of social work with a few strokes of computer keys.

 

That is exactly what the Indiana University School of Social Work’s journal, Advances in Social Work, now offers readers. Better yet, any article dating back to the publication’s first issue in 2000 can be downloaded for free.

 

Advances in Social Work has come out twice a year since it was first published in 2000. As the title indicates, the publication was created to highlight the latest thinking in research, education and practice in the social work field.

 

 “It doesn’t mean that every single article addresses all three,” said Dr. William Barton, a Professor at The School of Social Work and editor of Advances in Social Work. Overall, the articles look at what is new and interesting in terms of research and other kinds of thinking that can inform and advance research, education and practice in social work, Barton said.

 

Advances is a peer-reviewed journal. Manuscripts, which can be submitted by anyone, are sent to two professional colleagues for a blind review so the author doesn’t know who the reviewers are and the reviewers don’t know who the author is.

 

The reviewers recommend whether the manuscript can be printed as is, needs revisions, or should be rejected. The editor then looks at the recommendations and makes a decision about what will be done with the manuscript.

 

The decision to publish the journal online rather than in print came about for the reasons other publications and newspapers have turned to electronic versions – how to reach more people without raising the publishing costs.

 

The journal has had a limited subscription base and the cost of publishing each issue was several thousand dollars. By switching to an online publishing format, Barton said the editorial board saw a way to broaden the dissemination of the journal, making it easier for anyone to find an issue.

 

That decision allowed The School to make it easier than ever to find Advances in Social Work, something that wasn’t always easy when it came out in a printed format.

 

Another advantage is that the electronic version speeds up the process of making any needed changes to a submitted manuscript. “That is a huge advantage for authors,” Barton noted. At many journals it’s not unusual for it to take up to two years between when an author submits a manuscript and when it appears.

 

Barton said with an electronic format there is no reason in most cases why it can’t appear in six months.

 

The process hasn’t been without glitches, but with two issues now online the operation has gotten much smoother, Barton said.

 

To visit the Advances web page, go to The School of Social Work’s web site, www.socialwork.iu.edu and click on Advances Journal at the top of the page.