Publication productivity in selected School Psychology Journals: 1985-1991

Abstract

This study examines the institutional affiliations of authors who have published in the three major journals of School Psychology and two additional journals started recently in the field between January, 1985, and July, 1991. The specific journals examined were Psychology in the Schools, Journal of School Psychology, and the School Psychology Review. These journals comprise the primary research outlets in School Psychology. In addition, papers published in Professional School Psychology and the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment were also included in the analysis because these represent relatively new publication outlets for School Psychology. Findings regarding institutional productivity are compared with those obtained from previous studies in this area.

Publication productivity in selected school psychology journals: A reconsideration based on institutional mission

“…Given that none of the top 50 institutions identified by Webster et al (1993) fit into any of these categories, descriptions of these categories will not be provided.…”

“…In the April 1993 issue of Psychology in the Schools, Webster, Hall, and Bolen (1993) examined publication productivity in selected school psychology journals between January, 1985, and July, 1991. Based upon a review of the five primary journals in school psychology (Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, Journal of School Psychology, Professional School Psychology, and Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment), Webster et al (1993) compiled institutional productivity ratings based upon the number of articles published per institution or agency affiliation. After an initial compilation, the top 50 institutions/agencies were chosen and productivity ratings were computed based on the frequency and order of authorship.…”

“…Other less quantifiable factors, such as faculty knowledge and skill and quality of instruction, will undoubtedly influence the overall quality of a graduate program. In presenting and discussing their results, Webster et al (1993) omit consideration of a factor that we believe influences publication productivity in any graduate program: the degree to which the institution values and rewards faculty publication, and, relatedly, the degree to which the institution provides support for faculty interested in research and publication. Both of these factors are influenced by the primary mission of the university.…”

“…Both of these factors are influenced by the primary mission of the university. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between institutional mission and publication productivity, categorize the top 50 institutions identified by Webster et al (1993) by university mission, and present publication productivity rankings by category of institution. It is hypothesized that institutional productivity will be greatest among institutions that, according to their classification/mission, assign greater priority to research and doctoral level training.…”

Strategies and attributes of highly productive scholars and contributors to the school psychology literature: Recommendations for increasing scholarly productivity

“…This challenge may be overcome by drawing on prior research using productivity indices which have been calculated in various ways including a simple numerical tally of how many publications a researcher has published and taking into account an author's position relative to his or her co-authors. The productivity indicator of program prestige has been applied in psychology (Webster, Hall, & Bolen, 1993), education (Hsieh et al, 2004) and school psychology (Davis, Zanger, Gerrard-Morris, Roberts, & Robinson, 2005;Kranzler, Grapin, & Daley, 2011;. Little (1997) published the first study about the most prolific authors publishing in six school psychology journals from 1987 to 1995.…”