Psychological Review

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Psychological Review is a scientific journal that publishes articles on psychological theory. It was founded by Princeton psychologist James Mark Baldwin and Columbia psychologist James McKeen Cattell in 1894 as a publication vehicle for psychologists not connected with the Clark laboratory of G. Stanley Hall (who often published in Hall's American Journal of Psychology). Psychological Review soon became the most prominent and influential psychology journal in North America, publishing important articles by William James, John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and many others.

In the early years of the 20th century, Baldwin purchased Cattell's interest in the journal, but was forced to sell the journal to Howard Warren in 1908 when scandal forced him out of his professorship at Johns Hopkins (where he had moved in 1903). Editorship of the journal fell to Baldwin's newly-hired young colleague John B. Watson, who used the journal to advance his school of behaviorism. Psychological Review was eventually sold by Warren to the American Psychological Association who has owned it ever since.

Psychological Review's mission has changed somewhat over the decades. Originally is was a journal of general psychology. With the rise of a wide variety of other psychology journals, it gradually came to focus on psychological theory.

According to its website,

Psychological Review publishes articles that make important theoretical contributions to any area of scientific psychology. Preference is given to papers that advance theory, but systematic evaluation of alternative theories in a given domain will also be considered for publication. Papers devoted to surveys of the literature, problems of method and design, or reports of empirical findings are not appropriate.

It is one of psychology's most prestigious journals, having am impact factor of 8,357 in 2003. It is commonly abbreviated as PSYCHOL REV.