Editorial: a new year, a new aim and scope

The title of our first editorial of the new year already suggests it. The year 2023 will not be a year like any other. It will be the year where we once again shake hands in abundance, embrace and greet each other with enthusiasm. It will be the year in which scientific knowledge will play even a greater role in combating fake news. It will be a year in which we further expand our academic and social-oriented role as a journal, but it will also be the year in which we are updating our aim and scope. As of today, the aim and scope of the European Journal of Social Work reads as follows:

European Journal of Social Work provides an academic forum where researchers in all areas of social work can exchange knowledge by publishing, disseminating, and debating matters of research, theory, policy, education and practice.

European Journal of Social Work is committed to the idea that social work must respond to contemporary social developments in a critical, informed, and independent manner. In doing so, the European Journal of Social Work strives for social justice and the recognition of human rights by seeking to eliminate discrimination, racism and exclusion and by providing a forum where the diversity of cultural and conceptual traditions in which social work in Europe and beyond is grounded, is recognized and discussed.

Hence, the European Journal of Social Work publishes research papers, themed issues, book reviews and occasional targeted articles to stimulate topical debates in social work research and practice. The journal accepts papers from all over the world, but the relevance of these papers for the social work professions in Europe must be a pivotal element within.

With this new aim and scope, we are not only expanding our research focus. We explicitly strengthen it by providing an international scientific peer-reviewed forum for researchers to share their knowledge with the world, but also by including other actors such as practitioners and policymakers as stakeholders in the field of social work. In doing so, we throw open our doors even further than before and welcome contributions from all areas of social work with the aim of disseminating scientific knowledge in a critical, informed and independent manner. We welcome contributions from all over the world, provided their relevance to social work in Europe is clear and explicit. What is new is that in 2023, in addition to the regular papers, special issues and book reviews, we will also publish target articles with commentaries. In this way, we aim to highlight our social role as a journal and stimulate and launch international debates in social work even stronger.

We are convinced that with this aim and scope, we will succeed in profiling our journal – even more than before – as a socially engaged, but above all science-based journal for social work and the social professions in Europe and beyond. From today, this aim and scope will be our guideline to further shape the journal in the coming years and support researchers in disseminating their findings.

At the same time, we will continue to focus on supporting researchers, and especially young researchers to publish their research. We will continue to reduce the time from submission to first decision and continue to communicate quickly, openly and transparently with authors on the status of their submission. In doing so, we will strengthen our commitment to academic social work, not only in 2023, but also beyond.

To kick off the new year, we are pleased to present an issue that perfectly illustrates where we want the European Journal of Social Work to be heading in the future. In this issue, you will find research articles from a diversity of countries, with an even greater diversity of themes that illustrate the broad field that social work is.

We wish you all the best for 2023 and are already looking forward to your fascinating and inspiring contributions.