The University Record, November 6, 1995
Psychology department is most productive, influential in nation
By Diane Swanbrow
News and Information Services
The Department of Psychology is the most productive and influential department in its field in the nation, according to a survey conducted by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).
For the survey, ISI identified the 100 most-cited psychology papers each year from 1990-1994, then tabulated the number of highly cited papers produced by each institution, the total number of citations each institution received and the average number of citations per paper for each institution.
The psychology department tied Harvard University as the mostproductive, with 19 highly cited papers. But because the U-M led in the number of total citations, with 759 compared with 611 for Harvard, it received first place in productivity. Michigan had an average of 40 citations per paper, according to the survey.
“The University of Michigan Department of Psychology is delighted to be ranked so highly,” says Pat Gurin, professor of psychology and chair of the department. “Of course, it is easier for a large department such as ours to have a large number of widely cited scholars, though not all large departments are able to fare as well in these ratings.
“We are most pleased that it is possible to do well on traditional measures of excellence at the same time as we also do well in achieving a diverse department. We have attracted a significant number of undergraduate majors, graduate students and faculty of color, and they have enhanced the quality of the department greatly.”
