The Role of Social Work Journals in the Development of a Knowledge Base for the Profession

Journals play a fundamental role in the development of professions by selecting and preserving elements of their body of knowledge. What editors choose to publish has consequences. One way of assessing how editors and journals are performing is by examining whether what is published is used by other scholars. Using impact scores derived from citations, we examine the impact articles published in core social work journals have on other scholars. The data indicate that the profession is served by several core journals that have consistently improved their contribution over the years. The data also suggest that some journals publish work that is rarely used and apparently has little effect on the profession.