Aims and scope

The Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care Original research and conceptual articles explore issues crucial to individuals with serious, life-threatening, and life-limiting illness and their families across the lifespan. The focus includes, but is not limited to, the following areas: inter-professional practice and research; practice and policy innovations; practice evaluation; end-of-life communication and decision making; pain management and palliative care; grief and bereavement; ethical issues; sudden traumatic death; secondary trauma and compassion fatigue among professional caregivers. Topics addressed may cover a range of health and mental health community practice settings.


The “Reflections” section of the journal is dedicated to using creative writing to give voice to the personal impact of end-of-life and palliative care in clinical practice, community organizing, policy practice, research, and education. Content is accepted in three forms: poetry, essays, and case studies.

Peer Review Policy: All research, theoretical, and review articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymous refereeing three anonymous referees.

Authors can choose to publish gold open access in this journal.

Read the Instructions for Authors for information on how to submit your article.