Citation rates for experimental psychology articles published between 1950 and 2004: Top-cited articles in behavioral cognitive psychology

From citation rates for over 85,000 articles published between 1950 and 2004 in 56 psychology journals, we identified a total of 500 behavioral cognitive psychology articles that ranked in the top 0.6?% in each half-decade, in terms of their mean citations per year using the Web of Science. Thirty nine of these articles were produced by 78 authors who authored three or more of them, and more than half were published by only five journals. The mean number of cites per year and the total number of citations necessary for an article to achieve various percentile rankings are reported for each journal. The mean number of citations necessary for an article published within each half-decade to rank at any given percentile has steadily increased from 1950 to 2004. Of the articles that we surveyed, 11?% had zero total citations, and 35?% received fewer than four total citations. Citations for post-1994 articles ranking in the 50th-75th and 90th-95th percentiles have generally continued to grow across each of their 3-year postpublication bins. For pre-1995 articles ranking in the 50th-75th and 90th-95th percentiles, citations peaked in the 4- to 6- or 7- to 9-year postpublication bins and decreased linearly thereafter, until asymptoting. In contrast, for the top-500 articles, (a) for pre-1980 articles, citations grew and peaked 10-18-year postpublication bins, and after a slight decrease began to linearly increase again; (b) for post-1979 articles, citations have continually increased across years in a nearly linear fashion. We also report changes in topics covered by the top-cited articles over the decades.     

A comparative view of the new journal: Assessment

The reference sections from all articles in the 1997 volumes of Assessment, Journal of Personality Assessment, and Psychological Assessment were entered into a database and analyzed. An article published in Assessment averaged almost 31 references. An article published in Journal of Personality Assessment contained an average of 33 references. Psychological Assessment averaged 38 references per article. The median age of the references in the three journals was 8 years with an interquartile range of 4 to 14 years. The Journal of Personality Assessment had the largest number of citations in this database of 5,316 references. Each of these received a relatively large number of their citations from articles published in the same journal (self-citations). Randomly selected articles from the 1997 volume of Assessment received fewer citations in the Social Science Citation Index than a similar set of articles from the other two journals. However, the data on Assessment, when compared with data available on other new scientific publications, suggests that Assessment is doing as well as other fledgling journals.     

Article Characteristics,Content, and Authorship in the Journal of Employment Counseling

This article is an analysis of general journal and article characteristics, content, and authorship for volumes 1 through 15 of the Journal of Employment Counseling, covering the years 1964 through 1978. It attempts to determine to what extent and in what ways the membership of the National Employment Counselors Association (NECA) is served by the Journal. The average length of the journal and its articles are noted as well as the number of authors and references per article. Each article is reviewed for content classification, authorship, and the author's institutional affiliation. The basic facts and overall publication trends are identified and discussed. It is noted that only a small proportion of published articles concerned Employment Service counseling techniques. The data in this article was originally prepared for the graduate course entitled “Psychology 411: Professional Problems in Psychology” at the University of Missouri-Columbia.     

Publishing trends of psychology faculty during their pretenure years

This article describes an analysis of the productivity of psychology faculty during their first 7 postdoctoral years. The primary goal was to provide objective data regarding the typical rates of productivity for untenured cognitive, developmental, and social psychologists who hold appointments at highly ranked institutions. Although the median rate of pretenure publishing conforms to informal impressions that junior faculty are typically awarded tenure if they publish at least one or two articles per year, tenure was awarded to 25% of the sample even though these individuals published less than one article per year. This finding cannot be explained by appealing to (a) the number of articles published prior to accepting a tenure-track appointment, (b) the number of chapters produced, or (c) the impact factors of the journals in which the individuals published.     

Predictors of Article Impact in Suicidology: The Bereavement Literature,A Research Note

Citation analysis has been neglected in suicidology. The present note applies a mixed‐methods approach to both test and suggest hypotheses for the variation in article impact in the bereavement literature. One hundred three articles from three core suicidology journals met the criteria for inclusion in the investigation. Citations to the articles were obtained from the Web of Science. Predictor variables included structural characteristics of the author (e.g., gender) and the article itself (e.g., years since publication). A multivariate regression analysis determined that, controlling for the other variables, the most important predictor of citations was the review article (β = .461), followed by year of publication (β = ?.414), the multiauthored article (β = .302), publication in Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior (SLTB) (β = .161), and male gender (β = .156). The 12 most cited articles were published between 1979 and 2004 in SLTB. The majority of these papers was written by males, were U.S. authors, and had more than one author. Four of the most cited articles were reviews. The study concludes that structural characteristics of articles and authors explained 41% of the variance in citations. The qualitative analysis determined that review papers, and papers on characteristics of suicide bereavement and psychological autopsies have been most frequently cited. Replication studies are needed for other subfields of suicidology.     

The journal of school psychology's first twenty years: Contributions and contributors

This article reports a retrospective view of the first 20 years of the Journal of School Psychology (JSP). The principal purpose of the review is to determine the number of contributors to JSP and their characteristics, the number and types of citations, and the most frequently referred authors, books, tests, and journals. Nine hundred and ten persons authored or coauthored one or more articles for JSP during its first 20 years. Among these 910, 764 contributed one article, and 8 contributed seven or more articles. The characteristics of these 8 persons are examined in detail in the present study. Six thousand seven hundred twenty-two separate references are cited within the 709 articles. The most frequently cited reference is Wechler's WISC and WISC-R (51). Other frequently cited tests include the PPVT (18), Bender-Gestalt (18), and WRAT (17). Caplan's The Theory and Practice of Mental Health Consultation (24) is the most frequently referenced book. JSP is the most frequently referenced journal. An examination of the total number of separate references appearing in the 709 articles reveals 65 separate references to Cowen, 43 to Dunn, 41 to Koppitz, and 40 to Caplan.     

Trends in the creativity literature: An analysis of research in the journal of creative behavior (1967–1989)

Abstract

Many have noted a renewed interest in creativity. However, even with a 40‐year history, little effort has been directed at the study of changes in the field, and no effort has been made to develop a historical perspective of the work being conducted. Which topics have consistently been examined? Which have gone out of favor, and which have shown surges of interest? The present investigation addressed these questions by examining 311 articles, representing a 23‐year span (1967–1989). This span began in 1967 with the founding of the Journal of Creative Behavior. Predictions were based on previous literature reviews and similar studies conducted in other areas of the social sciences. One prediction was that there would be increases in the number of authors per article (women authors in particular) and in the total number of references. Furthermore, empirical articles were expected to be on the rise, as were articles focusing on social and educational issues. The number of articles concerned with personality and related topics were expected to show a decrease. Results generally supported the hypotheses: The number of authors, number of female authors, number of references, and social and educational articles all showed upward trends. However, the number of empirical articles did not increase during the 23‐year period. Overall, the findings suggest that trend‐analytic research is viable and informative. It tells us not only where the field has gone, but also gives hints as to where it may be going.     

ametastudy of journal of employment counseling publication patterns from 1994 through 2009

The authors reviewed article and author patterns for articles published in the Journal of Employment Counseling (JEC) from 1994 through 2009. Author demographic characteristics assessed included sex of lead and all authors, lead author domicile, employment setting of lead and all authors, and individuals and universities contributing most frequently to JEC. Article content was identified and research articles published in JEC were specifically analyzed for trends over time during 4‐year periods, including type of research design, quantitative/qualitative approach, intervention/nonintervention focus, random versus nonrandom sampling/assignment, sample size, participant types, and statistical analyses used.     

125 years of intelligence in the American Journal of Psychology

A survey is made of intelligence research in the 125 years of The American Journal of Psychology. There are some major articles of note on intelligence, especially Spearman's (1904a) article that discovered general cognitive ability (g). There are some themes within intelligence on which articles appeared over the years, such as processing speed, age, and group differences. Intelligence has not been a major theme of the journal, nor has a differential approach to psychology more generally. There are periods of time--especially the 1970s--during which almost no articles appeared on intelligence. The key articles and themes on intelligence differences are discussed in detail.     

Performance of british university psychology departments as measured by number of publications in BPS journals

The aim of this investigation was to gauge the comparative research performance of university departments of psychology in Britain. The performance indicator was the number of publications per departmental staff member in the journals of the British Psychological Society (BPS) during the seven-year period 1983–1989. The contents of these journals were thoroughly searched, and articles written by members of university psychology departments in Britain were counted. The number of publications of each psychology department was divided by the size of the department in the corresponding year and the resulting annual figures were summed to determine the number of publications in BPS journals per departmental staff member over the seven-year period. These research performance figures correlated significantly with an earlier measure of departmental research performance based on publications in the seven European psychological journals with the highest citations per published article and with recent performance indicators based on other criteria     

Performance of british university psychology departments as measured by number of publications in BPS journals

The aim of this investigation was to gauge the comparative research performance of university departments of psychology in Britain. The performance indicator was the number of publications per departmental staff member in the journals of the British Psychological Society (BPS) during the seven-year period 1983–1989. The contents of these journals were thoroughly searched, and articles written by members of university psychology departments in Britain were counted. The number of publications of each psychology department was divided by the size of the department in the corresponding year and the resulting annual figures were summed to determine the number of publications in BPS journals per departmental staff member over the seven-year period. These research performance figures correlated significantly with an earlier measure of departmental research performance based on publications in the seven European psychological journals with the highest citations per published article and with recent performance indicators based on other criteria     

Exploring the Inconsistent Labels and Definitions of Texts Used in Informational Reading and Writing

This article discusses the various labels and definitions given for texts used for informational reading and writing and the confusion caused by the inconsistency of terms. An EBSCO search on articles published from 2006 to 2011 in the three largest literacy-related professional organizations' journals produced a total of 59 articles. Nonfiction was the most frequent label used; the term “informational text” had the greatest number of definitions and disparity in use. The authors discuss the implications of these disparities in labels and definitions for both researchers and teachers.     

Characteristics of single-case designs used to assess intervention effects in 2008

This article reports the results of a study that located, digitized, and coded all 809 single-case designs appearing in 113 studies in the year 2008 in 21 journals in a variety of fields in psychology and education. Coded variables included the specific kind of design, number of cases per study, number of outcomes, data points and phases per case, and autocorrelations for each case. Although studies of the effects of interventions are a minority in these journals, within that category, single-case designs are used more frequently than randomized or nonrandomized experiments. The modal study uses a multiple-baseline design with 20 data points for each of three or four cases, where the aim of the intervention is to increase the frequency of a desired behavior; but these characteristics vary widely over studies. The average autocorrelation is near to but significantly different from zero; but autocorrelations are significantly heterogeneous. The results have implications for the contributions of single-case designs to evidence-based practice and suggest a number of future research directions.     

Social control of form diversity and the emergence of new forms in children's blockbuilding

The blockbuilding behavior of three preschool girls was analyzed in terms of the forms manifest in any completed block construction, and found to contain few different forms in baseline sessions. Social reinforcement, given contingent on the production of any form not previously constructed within the current session (i.e., every first appearance of any form within a session was reinforced but no subsequent appearances of that form within that session were), increased the number of different forms built per sessions. Social reinforcement, given for all second and later appearances within the session, decreased the number of different forms built per session. Furthermore, it was found that new forms (forms never seen before in the child's total prior sequence of blockbuilding sessions) emerged at higher rates during periods of reinforcement of different forms (first appearances) than during periods of baseline or reinforcement of same forms (second and later appearances).     

Effects of Photographs on the Selective Reading of News Reports

Respondents examined an experimental news magazine composed of manipulated and unmanipulated articles about relevant social issues. The manipulated articles either featured no photograph, an innocuous photograph, or a photograph depicting others' impending or manifest victimization. Respondents were free to read whatever they deemed of interest. Time restriction did not allow them, however, to read all available articles in their entirety. Under these selective-exposure conditions, article preferences and reading times were unobtrusively recorded. Additionally, an information-acquisition test was administered after the reading of the magazine. It was found that the text of articles accompanied by photographs, especially by photographs depicting victimization, was read for longer periods of time. Moreover, the acquisition of textual information was markedly facilitated by the presence of photographs depicting victimization.     

Counseling and Values Publication Patterns From 1990 to 2009

The authors reviewed publication patterns for articles published from 1990 to 2009 in the journal Counseling and Values. Article content and author demographic characteristics (i.e., sex of authors, nation of domicile, employment setting of authors, frequently contributing individuals and universities) were analyzed by 5‐year periods for trends over time. Specific attention was given to periodic changes in characteristics of research articles, including types of research designs, quantitative/qualitative approach, participant types, random assignment, sample size, intervention/nonintervention focus, and statistical procedures used.     

Selected publication trends in JEAB: Implications for the vitality of the experimental analysis of behavior

To provide some insight into the current vitality of the experimental analysis of behavior, we updated and extended an analysis by R. A. Williams and Buskist (1983) of selected trends in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Specifically, the number of articles published and the percentage of those articles that were empirical, the number of different affiliations of authors and number of articles per affiliation, the types of subjects used in empirical articles, and the topics investigated were analyzed for the years 1958 through 1999. Although several trends may point to a decline in the overall well-being of the experimental analysis of behavior, they may also be interpreted as signs of progress for the field.     

G. Stanley Hall's Adolescence: A centennial reappraisal introduction

This article is an overview of the special issue "G. Stanley Hall's Adolescence: A Centennial Reappraisal." First, a brief biography of Hall is presented. Then each of the six articles in the special issue is summarized. Three of the articles are by historians and three are by psychologists, but all six articles integrate history and psychology.     

Visual working memory declines when more features must be remembered for each object

The article reports three experiments investigating the limits of visual working memory capacity with a single-item probe change detection paradigm. Contrary to previous reports (e.g., Vogel, Woodman, & Luck, Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 27, 92–114, 2001), increasing the number of features to be remembered for each object impaired change detection. The degree of impairment was not modulated by encoding duration, size of change, or the number of different levels on each feature dimension. Therefore, a larger number of features does not merely impair memory precision. The effect is unlikely to be due to encoding limitations, to verbal encoding of features, or to chunk learning of multifeature objects. The robust effect of number of features contradicts the view that the capacity of visual working memory can be described in terms of number of objects regardless of their characteristics. Visual working memory capacity is limited on at least three dimensions: the number of objects, the number of features per object, and the precision of memory for each feature.