The Scientific Work We Love: A Duplex Theory of Scientific Impact and Its Application to the Top-Cited Articles in the First 30 Years of APS Journals

Perspect Psychol Sci. 2018 Mar;13(2):260-267. doi: 10.1177/1745691617752690.

Abstract

This article proposes a duplex theory for understanding the scientific impact of contributions to psychological science. I argue that articles that we "love" can be understood in terms of (a) triangular elements of intimacy, passion, and commitment and (b) types of stories that characterize high-impact articles. Certain kinds of stories (e.g., review articles) are more likely to have lasting impact, on average, than other kinds of stories (e.g., data-driven empirical articles).

Keywords: commitment; intimacy; passion; scientific impact; stories.

MeSH terms

  • Bibliometrics
  • Comprehension
  • Emotions
  • Humans
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Narration
  • Object Attachment
  • Periodicals as Topic*
  • Psychology
  • Recognition, Psychology
  • Research Personnel / psychology
  • Review Literature as Topic
  • Scholarly Communication*
  • Trust