University Libraries, National Organization Re-launch Journal as Open Access
The University of Oklahoma Libraries and the National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOSFW) proudly announce the launch of the Journal of Forensic Social Work (JoFSW) as an open access publication.
University Libraries and NOSFW worked with Associate Professor David McLeod, journal editor and associate director of research in the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work at OU, to re-introduce the journal in an open access format.
“Following a multi-year hiatus, our organization is excited to relaunch the Journal of Forensic Social Work,” said Dr. Jim Campbell, NOFSW associate director. “This new evolution, through a partnership with the University of Oklahoma, gives us the ability to make sure information from the journal is accessible to practitioners and scholars around the world without the hindrance of paywalls or other significant barriers. The journal is being released in March to mark National Social Work Month (US).”
“The University Libraries is thrilled to facilitate the transition of the Journal of Forensic Social Work from behind a commercial paywall into open access publishing,” said Karen Rupp-Serrano, University Libraries associate dean for scholarly communication and resources. “By doing so we contribute to our strategic priority to develop accessible information resources and to the University's strategic pillar to make OU's excellence affordable and attainable. The greater global exchange of knowledge promoted by openly accessible publications makes the work of scholars directly and freely available to readers, including other scholars, practitioners, and the general public.”
From 2011 - 2015, JoFSW was commercially published through Taylor & Francis. More recently, its partnering organization, NOSFW, sought to make the material openly available. Along with Dr. McLeod they approached OU Libraries about that possibility, and together the organizations acquired the journal’s back issues to make them openly available via OU Libraries Publishing Services.
Effective the week of March 21, 2022, JoFSW officially relaunches with all previously published issues, plus a brand new issue.
Researchers in the fields of social work, law, healthcare, history, and more have published in JoFSW and are encouraged to both read and submit scholarly articles to it.
“Much like the National Organization of Forensic Social Work,” said McLeod, “The Journal of Forensic Social Work exists to serve a broad range of clinical professionals as well as to support the creation of new knowledge in an academic sense. The journal is not only a resource to social workers. It is an outlet for guidance to anyone who helps people at the intersection of social, community, clinical, mental health, or family and relational issues that could connect them to court systems or the law.”
Journal of Forensic Social Work contributes to the current forensic knowledge base by publishing peer-reviewed original research, analyses, reviews, and thought-provoking essays on pressing social issues and promising forensic social work practice and policies. Articles in JoFSW analyze issues from a broad spectrum of professions, disciplines, theories, and methodologies, at the individual, family, community, organizational, and societal levels.
JoFSW is the official journal of the National Organization of Forensic Social Work.
This article was originally published by University Libraries.
Article Published: Wednesday, April 6, 2022