european journal of social work research

European Journal of Social Work

The European Journal of Social Work provides a forum for the social professions in all parts of Europe and beyond. It analyses and promotes European and international developments in social work, social policy, social service institutions, and strategies for social change by publishing refereed papers on contemporary key issues. Contributions include theoretical debates, empirical studies, research notes, country perspectives, and reviews. It maintains an interdisciplinary perspective which recognises positively the diversity of cultural and conceptual traditions in which the social professions of Europe are grounded. In particular it examines emerging European paradigms in methodology and comparative analysis.

The European Journal of Social Work is committed to the idea that the social professions have to respond to globalisation and the decline of existing welfare regimes in a critical, informed, and independent manner. It regards itself as a vehicle for their active contribution to the creation of a Social Europe. The specific competence of the social professions promotes practice based on justice and the recognition of human rights and thereby seeks to eliminate discrimination, racism and exclusion. The editorial board welcomes papers of high quality dealing with local, national, European, or international issues which advance this discourse.

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European Journal of Social Work

Subject Area and Category

• Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
• Social Work
• Sociology and Political Science

Taylor and Francis Ltd.

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The set of journals have been ranked according to their SJR and divided into four equal groups, four quartiles. Q1 (green) comprises the quarter of the journals with the highest values, Q2 (yellow) the second highest values, Q3 (orange) the third highest values and Q4 (red) the lowest values.

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Evolution of the number of published documents. All types of documents are considered, including citable and non citable documents.

This indicator counts the number of citations received by documents from a journal and divides them by the total number of documents published in that journal. The chart shows the evolution of the average number of times documents published in a journal in the past two, three and four years have been cited in the current year. The two years line is equivalent to journal impact factor ™ (Thomson Reuters) metric.

Evolution of the total number of citations and journal's self-citations received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. Journal Self-citation is defined as the number of citation from a journal citing article to articles published by the same journal.

Evolution of the number of total citation per document and external citation per document (i.e. journal self-citations removed) received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. External citations are calculated by subtracting the number of self-citations from the total number of citations received by the journal’s documents.

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Ratio of a journal's items, grouped in three years windows, that have been cited at least once vs. those not cited during the following year.

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UO > About > Organizational Structure > Faculties & Institutes > Faculty of Social Studies > About > Organizational Structure > Departments & Centres > European Research Institute for Social Work

Conferences

17 th International Spring School of Social Work for Master's and PhD Students Date: 17. 04. 2024 - 19. 04. 2024

Welcome to the ERIS website

The European Research Institute for Social Work (ERIS) is a scientific-research center of the Faculty of Social Studies involved in formal cooperation agreements with eight European universities in Finland, France, Germany, Britain and Slovakia and other associated member universities across Europe.

We, the directors of ERIS, would like to invite you to visit our homepage in order to learn more about our mission and aims as well as our projects and publications. If you would like to contribute to  our work, please do not hesitate to contact us!

With very best wishes Kateřina Mikulcová, Brian Littlechild, Jelena Petrucijova

Updated: 12. 09. 2023

• Inaugural issue
• Acknowledgements
• Conflict of interest

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Challenges and opportunities for European social work research

Welcome to the very first issue of the European Social Work Research ( ESWR ). We are delighted to be able to launch and present this distinctive new arrival on the landscape of international journals within the field of social work. We are very confident that this newcomer will grow fast in its reputation and popularity, fulfilling the need for a journal that focuses specifically on social work research and strengthens the connection between social work research, education and practice, within, across and beyond Europe.

ESWR is the flagship journal of the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA), which is dedicated to the development, practice and utilisation of social work research. It will be read by scholars, students, practitioners, policymakers, managers and other researchers who have an interest in social problems, social work and the contribution that social work makes to just and equitable societies. ESWR is published online, through a partnership between ESWRA and Policy Press, an imprint of Bristol University Press.

With so many excellent social work journals available, one might ask: why is it necessary to establish yet another? There are several compelling reasons.

First, research in social work has grown steadily over recent years as the field has grown in scope and capacity. Some areas of social work have developed specialist journals to publish articles relevant to that sub-field, but there are no journals that address social work research across Europe as a complete field of study.

Second, as the research field and, with it, the size and productivity of the social work research community have expanded, there is a greater demand from scholars for high-quality, peer-reviewed journals where they may publish their articles in a timely manner and with the capability of reaching wide audiences. Over recent years, researchers have expressed concerns that there can be lengthy delays to publishing their work because of limited capacity in existing journals to manage the quantity of articles submitted for review. The arrival of ESWR significantly increases our collective capacity to promptly disseminate high-quality social work research that is either produced in Europe or relevant to Europe, exchanging this knowledge across our own, and the wider international, community.

Third, members of the ESWRA have confirmed their support for the establishment of an association journal. Discussions at the ESWRA general assemblies of 2018 and 2019, followed by a survey of the ESWRA membership carried out in the autumn of 2019, confirmed that there was not only strong interest and appetite for the new journal but also broad confidence that clear space for it exists in the social work publication landscape.

ESWR ’s purpose and ambition is to advance scholarship and debate, connecting empirical research with theoretical understandings that may inform, and be informed by, social work. The journal provides a forum for the publication of high-quality contributions relating to all aspects of social work research, either within or relevant to Europe. This includes articles that examine all major social work practice areas and contemporary challenges facing social work and the communities it serves, developing and strengthening effective social work practices, organisations, programmes, policies or movements for achieving positive change and empowerment. It also welcomes research that focuses on developing and strengthening the social work profession, professional identity, ethics and values, and interprofessional practice, including through social work education and training. ESWR also particularly welcomes innovation in social work research, including the development and application of innovative research methods and theory.

Along with this, the journal values diversity and so embraces research that uses a wide range of methodological approaches and is informed by a wide range of theoretical and conceptual frameworks. Likewise, ESWR welcomes a variety of disciplinary perspectives, such as psychological, philosophical, sociological, political, legal, ethical or related to human growth and development, where they show clear relevance to, and bring insights for, social work problems, practices, management, regulation, policy, education, training or research.

In addition to showcasing high-quality social work research articles, from the second issue onwards, ESWR will offer two other features. The first will be the ‘Book Review’ section, presenting and discussing books of interest to social work researchers, practitioners, teachers, managers and politicians. The second feature is novel and distinctive: the ‘Research, Policy and Practice Exchange’ section will provide a dedicated space for shorter and timely contributions intended both to inform readers and to stimulate discussion and debate. These contributions may: discuss particular developments, initiatives or events that are relevant for European social work, research and researchers; reflect critically on particular social work challenges and opportunities as they arise; or in other ways raise inspiring insights and provoke challenging conversations within and about social work research.

We are very happy to launch the new journal with this inaugural issue, focusing on ‘Challenges and opportunities for European social work research’. In the call for this issue, we invited authors to address one or more of the following topics:

understanding and critical discussion of social work research across Europe;

social work research challenges, such as collaboration across cultures and jurisdictions;

social work research opportunities, such as diversity of knowledge and skills;

the role of social work research in addressing contemporary social issues and political, legal and cultural influences on social work research; and

the innovation, breadth, depth and richness of social work research in Europe.

We were delighted with the response to our call and are proud to present the rich and diverse collection of articles addressing these topics that comprise this inaugural issue. Collectively, they offer thought-provoking, critical reflections on the contemporary European social work research field.

The volume begins with two articles addressing some of the key challenges and opportunities facing social work internationally. Koen Hermans and Griet Roets (2023) open with a discussion of the impact of the transformation of European welfare states on social work. They argue that the shift of responsibility from welfare states to individuals and the increased territorialism of nation states bring with them significant compromises in relation to access to rights and humanitarian and internationalist endeavours. In turn, these pose distinctive contemporary challenges for social work practice, education and research. Teresa Francesca Bertotti and Silvia Fargion (2023) then explore the internationalisation of social work research, highlighting the prospects, as well as the tensions, that arise in developing shared research identities and approaches while valuing, respecting and nurturing specificities and differences in context, culture and indigenous concerns. Drawing on the experience of the ESWRA’s European Conference for Social Work Research, they explore routes to social work research dialogue and exchange across such boundaries and borders.

The next four articles, in complementary but distinctive ways, explore various collaborative and participative approaches that present themselves within social work research and between social work research, policy and practice. First, Ian F. Shaw (2023) , founding father of the ESWRA, brings both a personal and a discipline-spanning perspective to advancing the value of international and national collaboration in social work research – an antidote to what he describes as ‘national myopia’. From his own extensive experiences of collaboration, he reflects critically and constructively on the multiple ways in which collaborative relationships may be established and may flourish. Turning their attention specifically to collaboration between social workers and policymakers, John Gal and Idit Weiss-Gal (2023) focus on the ways that, and the extent to which, social workers across Europe engage with, and participate in, policy development in order to promote social justice. Arguing for the strong potential for social work voices to influence policy agendas, the authors provide a research-based conceptual framework to explain and explore these practices of engagement further. Ilse Julkunen, Diletta Mauri, Gillian Ruch and Nanne Isokuortti (2023) turn their attention to ‘community–academy partnerships’ as a particular form of social work research, practice and policy engagement. Drawing on an international systematic review and on a single Italian narrative case study, they explore the nature of these partnerships and their societal outcomes, reflecting critically on the power dynamics that influence their processes, inclusivity and outcomes. Similar concerns with relationships of power within collaborative endeavours are highlighted by Sui-Ting Kong, Evgenia Stepanova and Vyomesh Thanki (2023) . Their article discusses the pilot development and evaluation, during the COVID-19 pandemic, of ‘collaborative social work practice research’ – a networked approach to social work participatory practice research that seeks to integrate practice wisdom and research evidence to produce useful knowledge for practice. They demonstrate both how knowledge production in social work can be democratised, with different types of knowledge recognised as valid and valuable, and how collaborative initiatives like this may contribute to bridging the so-called ‘gap’ between research and practice.

The last two articles in this volume offer illustrations of stimulating initiatives to advance, respectively, social work research capacity and methodological innovation. Continuing the theme of bridging the research–practice ‘gap’, Lesley Deacon (2023) discusses an innovative practice-based action research approach that aims to empower social work practitioners through reframing their practice as research, enhancing their confidence and reducing their anxiety towards embedding research into their practice. Finally, Daniel Gredig, Daniele Bigoni, Jasmina Bogdanovic, Patrick Weber and Safak Korkut (2023) introduce the first of what we intend will be many innovative approaches in research methodology that will be discussed within the pages of future issues of ESWR . The authors discuss their pioneering design and development of a virtual reality tool to complement other qualitative research methods and enhance the richness of findings. They suggest that immersion within the virtual reality environment enabled participants to elaborate their lived experience more extensively and in greater depth than otherwise.

We hope you enjoy this inaugural issue of ESWR . We are confident that it makes an exciting start on what will be a long, stimulating and successful journey ahead. This will be a journey of discovery, exploration and debate about: current, emerging and transformative opportunities, as well as challenges, for European social work research; nurturing the connections between European social work research, policy and practice; and bringing together and nurturing our European social work research community.

To enable this to happen, there will be three issues of ESWR published each year, including one special issue per year featuring some of the highest-quality research presented at the ESWRA’s annual European Conference for Social Work Research. Lastly, we warmly welcome you to ESWR and invite you to join us, both as contributors and readers, in our mission to advance the knowledge base for the social work profession and improve the lives of the people we serve.

As mentioned earlier, ESWR is now the flagship journal of the ESWRA, which was founded in 2014 to provide a hub for development, collaboration and exchange in social work research across Europe. In 2017, the rapid growth of the ESWRA and the strong commitment of its board and members led to the idea of founding a new journal. Early conversations with Policy Press, which is also the publisher of the ESWRA’s Research in Social Work book series, confirmed its support and commitment in principle, as well as its impressive capability, to partner with the ESWRA in producing a new journal. In 2018 and 2019, ESWRA board members carefully considered a proposal for the journal and decided to consult the wider association membership through a survey. This revealed broad enthusiasm, interest and support for the establishment of a new journal. A small working group was set up to take the proposal forward. As editors, we are enormously grateful to Inge Bryderup, the coordinator of this working group, and to members Karen Winter, Ozan Selcik and Jon Symonds for developing the concept of, and the framework for, the journal, as well as for their close collaboration with Policy Press to establish the market for it and to secure its place as a Bristol University Press imprint. Likewise, we are hugely appreciative of the Policy Press team – in particular, Julia Mortimer, Edwina Thorn and Katie Lucas – for their commitment throughout the journey towards establishing the journal and, more recently, Ella Gibbs and Sarah Bird for their exceptional support in the process of producing the first and forthcoming issues. We would also like to express our warm appreciation to Brian Taylor, who supported the development of the journal in its first year as co-editor. Finally, we would like to thank the members of ESWR ’s Editorial Board and the International Advisory Board for their ongoing commitment to supporting the journal and helping it to grow and flourish.

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Bertotti , T. and Fargion , S. ( 2023 ) International social work research: transfer of knowledge or promotion of dialogue beyond borders? , European Social Work Research , 1 ( 1 ): 21 – 35 , doi: 10.1332/JZLT8735 .

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Deacon , L. ( 2023 ) Facilitated practice-based research: a model of empowerment to reduce research anxiety in social work practitioner researchers and reframe cultural capital , European Social Work Research , 1 ( 1 ): 102 – 17 , doi: 10.1332/MIXG6868 .

Gal , J. and Weiss-Gal , I. ( 2023 ) The policy engagement of social workers: a research overview , European Social Work Research , 1 ( 1 ): 47 – 64 , doi: 10.1332/SGNP8071 .

Gredig , D. , Bigoni , D. , Bogdanovic , J. , Weber , P. and Korkut , S. ( 2023 ) Digitalising qualitative social research? On the potential of digital features to enhance data collection in qualitative research: the example of a virtual reality serious game in a qualitative research project , European Social Work Research , 1 ( 1 ): 118 – 39 , doi: 10.1332/GIJN1218 .

Hermans , K. and Roets , G. ( 2023 ) The transformation of European welfare states and its implications for social work (research): staying on the tanker or choosing a small sloop? , European Social Work Research , 1 ( 1 ): 7 – 20 , doi: 10.1332/BMUX5561 .

Julkunen , I. , Mauri , D. , Ruch , G. and Isokuortti , N. ( 2023 ) Connecting social work research with policy and practice: issues of people, power and politics , European Social Work Research , 1 ( 1 ): 65 – 83 , doi: 10.1332/CIKV6449 .

Kong , S.-T. , Stepanova , E. and Thanki , V. ( 2023 ) Collaborative practice research in social work: piloting a model for research and professional learning during COVID-19 , European Social Work Research , 1 ( 1 ): 84 – 101 , doi: 10.1332/XPUV7930 .

Shaw , I.F. ( 2023 ) International collaboration in social work research , European Social Work Research , 1 ( 1 ): 36 – 46 , doi: 10.1332/MIAT2784 .

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European social work research call for papers: issue 2, enhancing and sustaining social inclusion through social work research.

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 23 May 2022

This special issue will showcase stimulating, quality papers from the European Conference on Social Work Research, April 2022 at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. Manuscripts are invited from all who presented at the conference.

European Social Work Research (ESWR) provides an international forum for the publication of high quality contributions relating to all aspects of social work research and drawing on diverse research methods, ideas and knowledge. This peer-reviewed journal is published through a partnership between the European Social Work Research Association and Policy Press.

This special issue will focus on the main 2022 conference theme, ‘Enhancing and Sustaining Social Inclusion through Social Work Research,’ including the seven conference series themes (see the conference website: www.ecswr2022.org ) and the interests of the ESWRA Special Interest Groups. For this special issue we welcome in particular innovative social work research, including innovative methods and applications of theory. Prospective authors may contact the special issue editors for advice. The journal also includes a ‘Research, Policy and Practice Exchange’ section for topical, shorter items relating to social work research. If you are interested in contributing to this section, please see details on the journal website.

Abstracts should be submitted by email to [email protected] no later than 23 May 2022 . Please note that papers must not be submitted to, or under consideration with, another journal. All research articles will undergo the journal’s standard double-anonymous peer review process, and accepted papers will be published in the journal, either in the special issue or in subsequent issues. Authors will be notified of acceptance of their abstract and invited to submit a full paper by 20 June 2022 , and the deadline for submission of the full paper online via Editorial Manager is 26 August 2022 .

For further information please contact one of the Special Issue Editors:

Brian Taylor, Emeritus Professor of Social Work, Ulster University, Northern Ireland [email protected]

Veldboer, Professor of Urban Social Work, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands [email protected] . 

Stijn Sieckelinck, Professor of Youth Work, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands [email protected] .

Procedure and timelines

23 May 2022: Abstracts submitted via email at: [email protected].

20 June 2022: Authors notified of acceptance of abstract and invitation to submit full paper.

26 August 2022: Deadline for submission of full papers online via Editorial Manager.

Further information about the journal's aims and scope and editorial board is available.

You might also be interested in the call for papers for our inaugural special issue: Challenges and Opportunities for European Social Work Research . Abstract Submission deadline: 30 April 2022

European Journal of Social Work

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Impact Factor : 1.500 (based on Web of Science 2022)

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