Following the publication of the groundbreaking report by the National Institute of Mental Health Task Force on Social Work Research in 1991, major gains have been made in building a potent infrastructure for social work research. Since then, however, progress has faltered in key areas and complex new challenges have emerged. These developments are examined and suggestions are set forth regarding how best to address the most serious challenges.
AustinD. M. (1998). A report on progress in the development of research resources in social work. Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin.
2.
BarnerJ. R.HoloskoM. J.ThyerB. A. (2014). American Social work and psychology faculty members’ scholarly productivity: A controlled comparison of citation impact using the h-index. British Journal of Social Work, 44(8), 2448–2458. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bct161
CourtneyM. E. (2018). Whither American social work in its second century?Social Service Review, 92(4), 487–503. https://doi.org/10.1086/701612
6.
DelvaJ.AbramsL. S. (2022). Social work researchers: From scientific technicians to changemakers. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 13(4), 645–661. https://doi.org/10.1086/722773
7.
FeldmanR. A. (2005, January 12). The St. Louis group for excellence in social work research and education: Historical overview, current issues, and future prospects [Invited presentation]. Meeting of the St. Louis Group for Excellence in Social Work Research and Education, Miami, FL.
FongR.GehlertS.MarshJ. C.UeharaE. S.WilliamsJ. H. (2019). Reflections on the history of the society for social work and research, 2008–2019. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 10(2), 189–211. https://doi.org/10.1086/702826
10.
GrossmannI.FeinbergM.ParkerD. C.ChristakisN. A.TetlockP. E.CunninghamW. A. (2023). AI and the transformation of social science research. Science, 380(6650), 1108–1109. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi1778
HayesR. M. (1994). Information science methods for knowledge retrieval: Basic approaches and emerging trends. In RothmanJ.ThomasE. J. (Eds.), Intervention research: Design and development for human service (pp. 101–116). Haworth Press.
14.
JaggersJ. W.Mogro-WilsonC. (2023). Social work research in the age of artificial intelligence. Families in Society, 104(4), 407–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894231200811
National Institute of Mental Health Task Force on Social Work Research (1991). Building social work knowledge for effective services and policies: A plan for research development. Author.
PattonD. U.LandauA. Y.MathiyazhaganS. (2023). ChatGPT for social work science: Ethical challenges and opportunities. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 14(3), 553–562. https://doi.org/10.1086/726042
19.
ReamerF. G. (2023). Artificial intelligence in social work: Emerging ethical issues. International Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 20(2), 52–71. https://doi.org/10.55521/10-020-205
20.
SingerJ. B.BaezJ. C.RiosJ. A. (2023). AI creates the message: Integrating AI language learning models into social work education and practice. Journal of Social Work Education, 59(2), 294–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2023.2189878
21.
SlivaS. M.GreenfieldJ. C.BenderK.FreedenthalS. (2019). Introduction to the special section on public impact scholarship in social work: A conceptual review and call to action. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 10(4), 529–535. https://doi.org/10.1086/706112
22.
SusskindR.SusskindD. (2016). The future of the professions: How technology will transform the work of human experts. Oxford University Press.
23.
ThyerB. A.PolkG. (1997). Social work and psychology professors’ scholarly productivity: A controlled comparison of cited journal articles. Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 21(2), 105–110.
24.
VictorB. G.SokolR. L.GoldkindL.PerronB. E. (2023). Recommendations for social work researchers and journal editors on the use of generative AI and large language models. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 14(3), 563–577. https://doi.org/10.1086/726021
