The USC School of Social Work has acquired three academic journals, expanding its potential impact to shape the field and the research being published in these areas.

The journals – Social Development Issues, Home Health Care Quarterly and Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health – are now housed at the school's Hamovitch Center for Science in the Human Services.

"Scholarly journals are one of the most important vehicles to the dissemination of new knowledge," said Marilyn Flynn, dean of the School of Social Work. "So this is a significant addition to the work of the Hamovitch Center."

Flynn is also chair of the managing and editorial board of Social Development Issues, an international refereed journal published three times a year. The journal serves as a scholarly forum linking academic disciplines, nations and cultures while promoting social justice and the well-being of individuals and their communities. Research has included perspectives on gender and racial issues; the impact of policies, practices and service delivery systems on urban and rural communities; comparative health/mental health; poverty; and movements such as global feminism, human rights and peace.

Social Development Issues was previously housed at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis until Flynn was named chair of its board in August.

Vice Dean Paul Maiden has been editor-in-chief of the Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health since 1998 and on its editorial board since 1990. The journal was published at the University of Central Florida where Maiden was director and associate professor in the School of Social Work until 2007. The quarterly journal moved to Hamovitch with Maiden's arrival to USC last year.

Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health presents innovative research, applied theory and practical information to keep workplace human service administrators, counselors and consultants up to date on the latest development in the field of employee assistance practice and research. It addresses work-related stress, workplace substance abuse, workplace violence, disaster management and response, global workplace issues, legal difficulties and many other work- and life-related topics.

The journal also produces thematic issues that are co-published as books such as "Global Perspectives of Occupational Social Work," "Workplace Disaster Preparedness, Response and Management" and "The Integration of Employee Assistance Work/Life, and Wellness Services." "The Older Worker and the Changing Labor Market: New Challenges for the Workplace" is expected to be published in January.

Home Health Care Quarterly, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, publishes creative and scholarly articles that provide new insights into the delivery and management of home health and related community services. Its editor is Associate Professor Maria Aranda, who took on the new role in September 2008 when June Simmons, MSW '70, stepped down after serving as editor for more than a decade.

Aranda looks forward to the opportunity and continuing the journal's tradition of publishing quality research.

"Our school is now positioned in the dissemination enterprise," she said. "It's not enough to receive grants and formulate our findings; it's important to disseminate that information as well."