The library offers lots of workshops on critical thinking. We also have recordings of previous workshops which are available on the Academic Skills Hub and dedicated articles to get you thinking critically.

Check the Quality of your BREAD!

BREAD stands for:

• BIAS - Does the author have a particular point of view? Does the article intend to sway you politically? Is the article trying to promote or sell a product?
• RELEVANCY - Is the article relevant to your topic? Is it relevant to the UK? Is it an academic journal?
• EVIDENCE - Does the article cite the sources it has used? Are there statistics to back up the research?
• AUTHOR - Is the author qualified in that research area? Are they experts in the field?
• DATE - Check the date of the article, if the article is older the information may be outdated. 

Consider each of these issues when searching for articles to find the best available material. 

Bedford, D. (2018) Nurses must consider which information to use and trust. Available at: https://www.nursingtimes.net/opinion/nurses-must-consider-which-information-to-use-and-trust-13-09-2018/

The library have several databases of journal articles available for you to search to find the right information for your academic work. The advantage of using a database over searching on the internet is that you are only searching academic information like journal articles.

To access any of our databases, please login to the portal and go to the Online databases and academic journals link in the Search the Library portlet.

The best databases for social work topics are:

• Social Care Online Published by the Social Care Institute for Excellence, which provides information and research on all aspects of social care. Content is drawn from a range of resources including journal articles, websites, research reviews, legislation and government documents, and service user knowledge.
• CINAHL Plus with Full Text A comprehensive nursing and allied health research database, providing full text to more than 770 journals indexed in CINAHL dating back 1937.This database is also good for social work subjects.

Other databases that would be useful are:

• Academic Search Premier
• Web of Science
• Education Research Complete

Here are some ideas on what makes a good keyword:

Think about who the population/ sample group. Are you looking for a particular age group, ethnicity, cultural background, gender, health issue etc.

• What is the intervention/issue you want to know more about? This could be a particular type of medication, education, therapeutic technique etc. 
• Do you have a particular context in mind? This could relate to a community setting, hospital, ward etc. 

It is important to remember that databases will only ever search for the exact term you put in, so don't panic if you are not getting the results you hoped for. Think about alternative words that could be used for each keyword to build upon your search. 

Grey literature is the name given to any material which is published outside of the commercial/academic circle. It includes reports, guidelines, conference proceedings etc. 

Places to find grey literature:

• NHS webpages
• SCIE
• NICE
• Government webpages
• Office for National Statistics
• Charities and other official bodies

The British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) have provided a free database which compiles case law from Britain and Ireland, the EU, Law Commission reports and other relevant information. You will be able to use BAILII to search for relevant case law. Access this free resource here: http://www.bailii.org/

For a general guide to law resources at the University of Greenwich, please visit this page: libguides.gre.ac.uk/law

Community Care Inform is an online reference tool for those working with children, young people and families. It contains guides to key policies, legislation and case law as well as social care practice guides.

Community Care Inform is available via the portal on the Online databases and academic journals link in the Search the Library portlet.

Useful journals

British Journal of Social Work

Children and Youth Services Review

Adoption and Fostering

Child Abuse Review

European Journal of Social Work

Journal of Family Social Work

Professional Social Work