Educational Resource Center (ERC)
- Writing Assistance
- Looking to become a more confident, capable writer? We offer one-on-one appointments and writing workshops to empower BU community members with the writing support they need to thrive.
- Peer Tutoring
- The ERC Peer Tutoring program gives BU students a supportive and personalized environment to address their unique curiosities and challenges with course content. In a tutoring session, you’ll have space to review and prepare for exams, get extra practice, and ask questions. Through our engaging and interactive tutoring sessions, you’ll also get insight into your habits and preferences to help you grow as a learner. Whether you’re struggling with course content, preparing for an upcoming exam, or are curious to learn more about a topic, our tutoring sessions are for you!
- Graduate Writing Support
- Looking to sharpen your writing skills and spark your motivation? The Educational Resource Center offers writing support to address these challenges & more, open and free to all graduate students. Through a variety of programs, the ERC strives to support graduate students in navigating the particular demands of graduate writing – from conference papers to articles to theses to dissertations – and to facilitate a sense of community among graduate writers.
- Calendar to upcoming ERC events
Coming Fall 2025!
- Presentation Prep
- Ready to strengthen your public speaking? We provide one-on-one appointments where you can practice & polish any type of presentation.
Need assistance with APA writing? Check out available resources here.
Online Writing Resources
APA Resources
The BUSSW APA Style Guide contains tips on basic formatting and a summary of APA guidelines for citing sources in your papers. For help how to best read for your courses, please see the SSW Guide to Critical Reading.
Written Assignments: Style and References
Papers written for graduate courses are expected to include references to relevant literature. The School expects reference use to comport with the standards set out in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Seventh edition. Additional resources are listed below:
Social Work Librarian Information
Lucy Flamm (she/her) has joined the community as the new Social Work Librarian. In this role, she is available to support students and faculty in all aspects of scholarly success. As you begin the semester, a new social work library guide is available to help you become familiar with using the Library, locating resources for your assignments, and research.
Lucy is available for one-on-one appointments with any member of the community (in-person or online). Some common types of meetings include:
- Finding resources related to your research topic(s)
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Navigating databases to find specialized information and evidence
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Evaluating sources to consider authority, ethics, and bias
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Creating and managing your notes, sources, citations, and data
Other topics are encouraged and welcomed! To make an appointment, you can email LFlamm@BU.edu. Learn more by visiting: https://library.bu.edu/socialwork, or find subject-specific guides throughout the semester by clicking here.