ABSTRACT
The vast majority of doctoral social work graduates undoubtedly will continue to advance their careers following graduation. One of the most universally effective ways to achieve this goal is through scholarly publications and presentations. Although it may be expected that a PhD graduate
who attended a research intensive institution (while receiving dissertation research financial support in the form of tuition waivers, research assistantships or fellowships) will engage in these endeavors, we believe the same expectations should exist for all doctoral social work graduates. In fact, the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) convened a Doctor of Social Work (DSW) task force in 2011 and outlined key elements of the DSW degree, including a guideline that each student should “engage in active practice based research and disseminate findings through presentations and publications” (Rittner, Holmes, & Edwards, 2011, p. 11). Similarly, national initiatives to address the “science of social work,” as well as the need to communicate new knowledge to others, have been published elsewhere in relation to the importance of scholarly publication within the profession (Brekke, 2012; Fong, 2013).
