A historic‐quantitative approach to psychophysiological research: The first three decades of the journal Psychophysiology (1964–1993)

Abstract

We used quantitative methodology to examine the first three decades of the journal Psychophysiology from a stand-point of historic interest. A bibliometric analysis was conducted on 1,781 works published during this period. In total, 2,537 authors have published in the journal. The distribution of their productivity matches approximately what would be expected based on previous bibliometric investigations. A constant increase in the collaboration between researchers was evident (reaching an average of 2.56 authors per paper). The literature cited in these articles dates back between 4.53 and 8.12 years (M = 6.48 years). These bibliometric results show that this journal can be placed among the most experimentally oriented group within the field of psychology.

Sketching the first 45 years of the journal Psychophysiology (1964–2008): A co‐word‐based analysis

“…The journal Psychophysiology was chosen as our target because of its acceptance among psychophysiologists as one of the most valuable and influential sources of information in the field. The choice of this journal also facilitates the discussion of our results in relation to those provided by Sa´nchez-Herna´ndez et al (1996) and by another bibliometric study published in Psychophysiology focused on the early years of the field, from 1930 to 1964 (Holguı´n & Cadaveira, 2003).…”

“…Psychophysiology is a scientific discipline that has experienced a high rate of growth compared to other disciplines within psychology. A bibliometric study published in 1996 showed a mean half-life of 6.5 years for articles published in the journal Psychophysiology since its first issue in 1964until 1993(Sa´nchez-Herna´ndez, Pedraja, Quin˜ones-Vidal, & Martı´nez-Sa´nchez, 1996. This short half-life index implies a constant evolution of the discipline similar to that observed in the experimental and natural sciences and probably reflects the dependence of psychophysiological research on rapidly evolving scientific fields such as physics, mathematics, and engineering.…”

“…According to Holguı´n and Cadaveira, this consolidation period was characterized by a predominance of methodological articles, which advanced the standardization of techniques and procedures necessary to support further empirical research. A second bibliometric study by Sa´nchez-Herna´ndez et al (1996) examined the records of the first three decades of the journal Psychophysiology . The authors divided the topics of the articles published by the most productive authors in that period into two different categories: (a) content, for the articles dealing with some specific psychological topic (e.g., attention, stress, etc.)…”

“…The authors divided the topics of the articles published by the most productive authors in that period into two different categories: (a) content, for the articles dealing with some specific psychological topic (e.g., attention, stress, etc.) and (b) measures, for those articles whose main focus was the optimal measure of a given psychophysiological response (Sa´nchez-Herna´ndez et al, 1996). No data on the evolution of the topics were reported.…”

Journals of the Century in Psychology

“…16 It is always one of the more highly cited journals and is generally concerned with the behavioral intersection of psychology and physiology. Carrying the official designation ''International Journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research,'' Psychophysiology maintains a distinct international presence on its editorial board and publishes articles by authors with diverse geographical backgrounds.…”