Journal of Applied Psychology

Journal of Applied Psychology
Title	Journal of Applied Psychology
Discipline	Industrial and organizational psychology
Language	English
Abbreviation	J. Appl. Psychol.
Publisher	American Psychological Association
Country	United States
Frequency	Monthly
History	1917–present
Impact	9.5
Impact-year	2023

Journal of Applied Psychology

The Journal of Applied Psychology is a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing research on workplace behavior, personnel assessment, organizational processes, leadership, and applied research methods. Established in 1917, it is published by the American Psychological Association and serves as a leading outlet for empirical and theoretical advances that inform practice in industrial and organizational contexts. The journal bridges research communities associated with Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Academy of Management, American Psychological Association, British Psychological Society, and international research centers.

History

The journal was founded in 1917 amid growth in applied psychology linked to organizations such as Bell Laboratories, United States Army, General Electric, Hawthorne Works, and universities including Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Michigan, Columbia University, and University of Pennsylvania. Early editors and contributors included figures associated with Hugo Münsterberg, Walter Dill Scott, Lillian Gilbreth, Frederick Winslow Taylor, and later scholars connected to Kurt Lewin, B.F. Skinner, Kurt Lewin's group, Elton Mayo, and Douglas McGregor. The journal evolved through milestones influenced by events such as World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the rise of computerized personnel systems at firms like IBM, leading to methodological shifts reflecting work by researchers at University of Chicago, Yale University, Michigan State University, Cornell University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Scope and editorial policy

The journal's scope emphasizes empirical studies on assessment, selection, performance appraisal, motivation, job design, leadership, organizational behavior, occupational health, and training. Submissions commonly draw on theory from scholars affiliated with Kurt Lewin, Frederick Herzberg, Abraham Maslow, Douglas McGregor, Edgar Schein, and Adam Grant traditions, as well as methods influenced by statisticians from Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and University of Chicago. Editorial policy mandates rigorous peer review by reviewers from institutions such as University of Pennsylvania, London School of Economics, University College London, University of Toronto, Australian National University, and National University of Singapore. The journal endorses reporting standards promoted by organizations like Committee on Publication Ethics and practices used by journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Academy of Management Journal.

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is indexed in major abstracting services and bibliographic databases including PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCOhost, and ProQuest. It appears in disciplinary listings alongside titles from SAGE Publications, Wiley-Blackwell, Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, and databases maintained by Clarivate Analytics and Elsevier. Libraries at institutions like Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Tokyo, and University of Melbourne provide access through consortia and platforms used by researchers in psychology, management, and human resources.

Impact and reception

The journal regularly ranks among top outlets measured by citation metrics used by Clarivate Analytics and included in lists by Times Higher Education and QS World University Rankings citations analyses. Influential articles have informed policy and practice in organizations such as United States Postal Service, AT&T, Ford Motor Company, Procter & Gamble, and Deloitte. Reviews in outlets like Nature, Science, The New York Times, The Economist, and trade publications have noted the journal's contributions to understanding leadership in contexts including World Health Organization responses, United Nations programs, and corporate governance at firms like General Motors. The journal's impact factor and h-index are tracked by services used by researchers at University of California, Indiana University, Penn State University, and University of British Columbia.

Notable articles and contributions

Seminal contributions published in the journal include empirical and methodological advances in personnel selection, validity generalization, meta-analysis, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, leader-member exchange, and job performance measurement. Influential works have cited theorists and practitioners associated with John B. Watson, Edward Thorndike, Raymond Cattell, Donald Broadbent, Lee Cronbach, Paul Meehl, Frederick Herzberg, B.F. Skinner, Edgar Schein, James March, Philip Selznick, Chris Argyris, Richard Hackman, J. Richard Hackman, Gary Latham, David McClelland, Victor Vroom, John P. Campbell, Arthur J. Magidson, Robert A. Baron, Adam Grant, Amy Edmondson, Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky, Herbert Simon, James G. March, Karl Weick, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Michael Useem, Susan Ashford, Terry Mitchell, Mark Van Vugt, Galen Strawson, Ira Katznelson, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Clayton Christensen, Henry Mintzberg, Peter Drucker, Edwin Locke, Gary Becker, Eugene Fama, Robert J. Vandenberg, John W. Boudreau, Stewart Clegg, Richard M. Steers.

Editors-in-chief

The journal's editorial leadership has included scholars and administrators from institutions such as University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, Pennsylvania State University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Vanderbilt University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Northwestern University, University of Southern California, Duke University, University of Texas at Austin, University of California, Los Angeles, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Washington, London School of Economics, University of Amsterdam, University of Sydney.

Category:Psychology journals Category:American Psychological Association academic journals