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Grounded in an indigenous holistic worldview and borrowing from the four Rs (values of relationships, responsibility, reciprocity, and redistribution), this article supports the inclusion of translational science and the integration of core metacompetencies into social work doctoral education as innovations in the field of social work science. The author argues that these innovations will enhance the ability of social–work–trained researchers to serve on transdisciplinary research teams, which are necessary to address complex metaproblems found in the natural world. Further, the author asserts that transdisciplinary scientific integration is helpful to social work science, as it builds awareness and appreciation of social work scholarly inquiry, promotes the inclusion of social work values in scientific research, and helps erode the scientific hierarchy that has traditionally existed between the natural and social sciences. By leveraging personal experiences in transdisciplinary education, the author offers a conceptual framework for innovations in doctoral education.

Recent efforts to identify and promote a distinct science for the discipline of social work have led to an ongoing debate regarding the nature and function of such a science. Central to this debate is a lack of consensus as to how to operationalize a social work science. Drawing from the field of implementation science and its application in reducing the gap between research and practice in child welfare and child mental health, this article examines the role of research–practice partnerships in creating and advancing social work science. Through the exercise of cultural exchanges among researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and other stakeholders, such partnerships offer the potential to integrate different disciplinary approaches to understanding why populations experience inequity or disadvantage and what to do about it as well as different perspectives on the nature and use of research evidence to achieve such understanding.