Vanquish the Backlog! And Into the Future--of Social Work!

Abstract

Readers of earlier editorials recognize that the journal has embarked on a self-improvement campaign--a campaign to improve its utility and readability. As editor-in-chief, my goals are to improve our profession's professional journal in at least three ways: first, by reducing the backlog of articles; second, by reintroducing the standard columns of Practice Updates, Commentary, Points & Viewpoints and Letters-to-the-Editor, and, finally, by inviting both structured (in form of a reader survey in the July 2003 issue) and unstructured (in the form of letters) input on the relevance and utility of the journal for the nearly 150,000 social workers who receive it four times each year. Readers will see that we are directly addressing the publication backlog by expanding the number of articles in this issue and the next. Nineteen articles and four Commentaries are published here in the place of the usual 12. With the reduction in the backlog, we--the editorial board and staff--are able to reintroduce the traditional columns of the journal that allow for timely, interactive communication reflecting the diverse perspectives of the profession. Finally, by publishing both critical and reinforcing reviews of the journal's content and direction, we seek to learn from readers the path to a more useful, relevant journal. Getting it right, that is, optimizing the utility and relevance of Social Work, is a priority for NASW and the profession. I bring to the role of editor-in-chief a sense of urgency that the journal received by 150,000 NASW members worldwide represents the highest possible standards of utility and relevance. Professions--social work, law, medicine, engineering--are defined both by the work they do and by the specific body of knowledge that guides, differentiates, and legitimizes that work. The existence of a professional knowledge base distinguishes professions from occupations such as information technology and fund raising. In social work, we use our knowledge base not only to define who we are, but also to claim or reclaim new areas. Themes of recent issues of Social Work (Poverty and Welfare Reform, July 2002; Ethics, January 2003; Responding to Violence, October 2003) indicate arenas of special interest for us, arenas where social work is developing knowledge and claiming expertise. What may be frustrating to readers of Social Work is that our knowledge base is not always neatly packaged in a problem-solving format. …