Publish and perish: psychology's most prolific authors are not always the ones we remember

What is the relationship between being highly prolific in the realm of publication and being remembered as a great psychologist of the past? In this study, the PsycINFO database was used to identify the historical figures who wrote the most journal articles during the half-century from 1890 to 1939. Although a number of the 10 most prolific authors are widely remembered for their influence on the discipline today--E. L.Thorndike, Karl Pearson, E. B.Titchener, Henri Pieron--the majority are mostly forgotten. The data were also separated into the 5 distinct decades. Once again, a mixture of eminent and obscure individuals made appearances. Most striking, perhaps, was the great increase in articles published over the course of the half-century--approximately doubling each decade--and the enormous turnover in who was most prolific, decade over decade. In total, 100 distinct individuals appeared across just 5 lists of about 25 names each. KEYWORDS: E. L.Thorndike, Karl Pearson, E. B.Titchener, Henri Pieron, PsycINFO database
When we think about significant psychologists of the past, we often remember those whose ideas or actions had the greatest impact on the future course of the discipline, the kinds [...]