Scholarly journal articles are one of the primary means of communicating research ideas. You can find the most recent research published in the Social Work field by locating journal articles. They are an important component of academic research and give you some insight into ongoing debates and scholarly conversations about your topic. You can find articles through database searches. The University of Illinois Library subscribes to numerous article databases (lists of article citations and sometimes full-text) that can be used to search for journal articles on your research topic. Some databases cover many disciplines, while others are subject-specific. As a graduate student at Illinois, you need to know about the subject-specific databases in social work.
Open access journals are scholarly journals that do not charge readers for access to articles. These journals can be accessed for free by anyone, regardless of whether you are affiliated with the University of Illinois (aka after graduation!).
If you're struggling to find relevant research for your assignments, projects, etc., feel free to email me to set up a research consultation. We can work together to find what you need, either face-to-face or virtually!