Psychology papers

Pofolia organises Psychology into 7 subfields: 669 papers in total (1977–2026), each with a short summary. The subfields come first, then the most-cited work across the whole field.

Subfields

• Experimental and Cognitive Psychology 104 papers
• Developmental and Educational Psychology 93 papers
• General Psychology 55 papers
• Clinical Psychology 92 papers
• Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology 97 papers
• Social Psychology 113 papers
• Applied Psychology 115 papers

At a glance

• Most cited: Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. (1977, 35,560 citations).
• The 12 papers listed have 182,987 citations between them.
• 7 of the 7 with a known journal quartile appeared in a Q1 journal.
• 4 have a free full text (open access).
• Most frequent journals: Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Annual Review of Psychology, Frontiers in Psychology.
• Published between 1977 and 2023.

Most cited across the field

Ranked by citation count. Because citations accumulate over time, this list naturally leans towards work published a few years ago; for where the field is now, see “recently added”. How to read the signals

• Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.

  Psychological Review · 1977 · Q1 · SJR 3.00 · FWCI 81.78 · 35,560 citations

  Self-efficacy, the belief in one's ability to succeed, is proposed as a unifying theory explaining psychological changes across various treatments by influencing behavior initiation, effort, and persistence.

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• lavaan: AnRPackage for Structural Equation Modeling

  Journal of Statistical Software · 2012 · Q1 · SJR 3.00 · FWCI 200.92 · 25,675 citations

  The R package 'lavaan' offers a free, fully open-source, commercial-quality tool for structural equation modeling (SEM), addressing the need for accessible, advanced SEM software.

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• Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences

  2013 · FWCI 178.46 · 24,204 citations

  This book serves as a nontechnical guide to statistical power analysis, equipping researchers with practical tools for more effective research planning and analysis.

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• The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

  2023 · FWCI 3045.44 · 17,713 citations

  Individuals actively manage the impressions they make on others by presenting a 'front' that implies their roles and actions should be taken seriously.

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• Executive Functions

  Annual Review of Psychology · 2012 · Q1 · SJR 12.00 · FWCI 106.34 · 12,438 citations

  Executive functions (EFs) are a set of cognitive processes enabling goal-directed behavior, including inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. This review discusses their developmental progression, measurement, and controversies surrounding their definitions and relationships with other constructs.

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• Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness

  Guilford Press eBooks · 2017 · FWCI 628.15 · 11,914 citations

  This book provides a comprehensive overview of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), detailing its core principles, mini-theories, and applications across various life domains.

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• Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China

  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2020 · Q1 · FWCI 781.50 · 10,269 citations · Open access

  During the early COVID-19 outbreak in China, over half of respondents (53.8%) reported moderate to severe psychological impact, with significant rates of anxiety (28.8%) and depression (16.5%).

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• Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis

  2020 · FWCI 608.31 · 10,258 citations

  This paper consolidates practical guidance for researchers on making optimal decisions within the complex, multi-step process of exploratory factor analysis (EFA). It focuses on four key areas: extraction methods, rotation techniques, determining the number of factors, and sample size considerations.

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• Calculating and reporting effect sizes to facilitate cumulative science: a practical primer for t-tests and ANOVAs

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2013 · Q1 · FWCI 120.32 · 9,993 citations · Open access

  This primer provides a practical guide for calculating and reporting effect sizes for t-tests and ANOVAs, emphasizing their crucial role in enabling cumulative scientific research.

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• Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences

  2013 · FWCI 48.04 · 8,595 citations

  This abstract outlines a comprehensive textbook detailing various experimental designs and statistical analysis procedures crucial for behavioral science research.

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• Factors Associated With Mental Health Outcomes Among Health Care Workers Exposed to Coronavirus Disease 2019

  JAMA Network Open · 2020 · Q1 · SJR 3.00 · FWCI 615.60 · 8,281 citations · Open access

  A survey of 1257 Chinese healthcare workers during early COVID-19 found high rates of psychological distress, with nurses, women, and frontline staff reporting significantly worse outcomes.

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• The Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy (v1) of 93 Hierarchically Clustered Techniques: Building an International Consensus for the Reporting of Behavior Change Interventions

  Annals of Behavioral Medicine · 2013 · Q1 · SJR 1.00 · FWCI 168.19 · 8,087 citations · Open access

  A new, consensually agreed taxonomy (v1) has been developed, classifying 93 distinct behavior change techniques (BCTs) into 16 hierarchical groups.

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Journals in this field

The journals that publish most of this field’s papers. Quartile (Q1–Q4), SJR and h-index are from SCImago Journal Rank; “in this field” is how many of the journal’s pooled papers belong here. What is a Q1 journal? · What is the h-index?

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