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Research Retrospective: º£½ÇÂÒÂ× Scholarly Activity and Impact, 2015-2025

We’re pleased to present highlights from a retrospective analysis of º£½ÇÂÒÂ× research activities from 2015-2025 conducted by Georgia Seely, Library Associate. º£½ÇÂÒÂ× scholarship grew exponentially over the last decade, producing 53 publications by 50 unique authors, which were cited 506 times. Students played a significant role in both productivity and impact, with student authors contributing to one-third of publications and co-authoring 50% of the top 10 most cited works. º£½ÇÂÒÂ× dissertations also had a broad global reach, with over 42,000 retrievals across 92 countries. The following blog post provides data highlights; stay tuned for a formal report to be released later in the year.

º£½ÇÂÒÂ× Publications Snapshot 

º£½ÇÂÒÂ× publications from 2015–2025 reflect steady growth in scholarly productivity with meaningful contributions from both faculty and students. The infographic at right shows a gradual increase in publications over time, with a sharp rise occurring after 2020. Publication activity peaked in 2023 and remained consistently high through 2025 despite some year-to-year fluctuation. Overall, the trend reflects significant growth in research productivity in recent years.

The vast majority of º£½ÇÂÒÂ× publications were peer-reviewed journal articles, accounting for 87% (46 publications) of total scholarly output. Smaller proportions include book chapters, reference book chapters, and book reviews, each representing between 4-5% of publications. The top 10 most cited publications within the last decade are reflected in the table below; half include student authors. 

Table 1: Top 10 Most Cited º£½ÇÂÒÂ× Publications

Reference Citation Count
1

Shepler, D. K., Smendik, J. M., Cusick, K. M., & Tucker, D. R. (2018). Predictors of sexual satisfaction for partnered lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 5(1), 25-35. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000252 []

72
2

Brown, V., Morgan, T., & Fralick, A. (2021). Isolation and mental health: Thinking outside the box. General Psychiatry, 34(3), e100461. https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2020-100461 []

49
3

Bughrara, M. S., Swanberg, S. M., Lucia, V. C., Schmitz, K., Jung, D., & Wunderlich-Barillas, T. (2023). Beyond COVID-19: The impact of recent pandemics on medical students and their education: A scoping review. Medical Education Online, 28(1), 2139657. https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2022.2139657 []

44
4

Shepler, D., & Perrone-McGovern, K. (2016). Differences in psychological distress and esteem based on sexual identity development. College Student Journal, 50(4), 579. []

31

Kleinman, M. B., Felton, J. W., Johnson, A., & Magidson, J. F. (2021). “I have to be around people that are doing what I’m doing”: The importance of expanding the peer recovery coach role in treatment of opioid use disorder in the face of COVID-19 health disparities. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 122, 108182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108182 []

31
5

Doherty, T. J., Lykins, A. D., Piotrowski, N. A., Rogers, Z., Sebree, D. D., & White, K. E. (2022). Clinical psychology responses to the climate crisis. In J. G. Asmundson (Ed.), Comprehensive clinical psychology (2nd ed., pp. 167–183). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818697-8.00236-3 [Request via email from º£½ÇÂÒÂ× Library]

29
6

Cook, C. L., Demanarig, D., Metviner, S., Stoppa, T., Milius, H., Grahe, J., Kawabata, Y., Schmidt, K., Sonnentag, T. L., DeNigris, D., Norvilitis, J., Berry, S. D., Keum, B. T., Cuccolo, K., Gosnell, C. L., Kagialis, A., Hawkins, G., Ogba, K. T. U., Farahani, H.,…Balaghi, D.,…Rogers, M. M. (2023). Personal need for structure as a protective factor on beliefs and coping with COVIDâ€19: A crowdâ€sourced multicultural exploration. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(10), 15. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12797 []

23
7

Swanberg, S. M., Bulgarelli, N., Jayakumar, M., Look, E., Shubitowski, T. B., Wedemeyer, R., Yuen, E. W., & Lucia, V. C. (2022). A health education outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library: Lessons learned before and during a pandemic. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 110(2), 212-221. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1413 []

22
8

Lemke, J., Mollen, D., & Buzolits, J. S. (2023). Sterilized and satisfied: Outcomes of childfree sterilization obtainment and denials. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 47(4), 562-573. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843231164069 []

15
9

Callan, P. D., Shepler, D. K., Justice, M. D., & Oliver, C. E. (2020). Correlates of sluggish cognitive tempo among clinic-referred youth: Expanding awareness of somatic symptoms and stress in the clinical picture. Journal of Pediatric Neuropsychology, 6(3), 143-158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40817-020-00083-6 []

14
10

Buzolits, J. S., Abbey, A., Kittridge, K., & Smith, A.E.C. (2021). Managing trauma exposure and developing resilience in the midst of COVID-19. In J. Michael Ryan (Ed.), COVID-19 Volume I: Global pandemic, societal responses, ideological solutions. Routledge. [Request via email from º£½ÇÂÒÂ× Library]

13

Justin, K. J., Shepler, D. K., & Kinel, J. R. (2022). She’s just not that into me: Sexual self-concept among heterosexual men who identify as involuntary celibates. Journal of Social, Behavioral and Health Sciences, 16(1), 113. https://doi.org/10.5590/JSBHS.2022.16.1.09 []

13

º£½ÇÂÒÂ× Dissertations Snapshot 

º£½ÇÂÒÂ× dissertations from 2015–2025 reflect a strong scholarly interest in applied psychological topics such as mental health, anxiety, identity, and lived experience. 

º£½ÇÂÒÂ× dissertations also showed tremendous global reach with over 42,000 retrievals across 92 countries in 10 years. The image to the right and Table 2 show the highest levels of engagement appear in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, and Australia, with additional access throughout Europe, parts of Asia, and South America. The visualization highlights the international visibility and scholarly impact of º£½ÇÂÒÂ× dissertations worldwide. Overall, the data demonstrate sustained engagement with º£½ÇÂÒÂ× dissertation research, underscoring its relevance and impact within psychology and related fields.

Table 3 showcases the top 10 most-retrieved dissertations in ProQuest over ten years. A Top 100 Retrieved Dissertations List and Top 100 Cited Dissertations List may be requested from the library via email ([email protected]).

Table 2: Top 15 Countries Accessing º£½ÇÂÒÂ× Dissertations

Country Total Access Count
1
United States
23,776
2
United Kingdom
2,835
3
Canada
2,394
4
China
2,387
5
Australia
2,278
6
Hong Kong
981
7
Turkey
540
8
Taiwan
503
9
Malaysia
485
10
Philippines
479
11
Spain
394
12
Egypt
366
13
Indonesia
351
14
Thailand
342
15
South Korea
341

Table 3: Top 10 Most Read º£½ÇÂÒÂ× Dissertations

Title Author Degree Year Retrievals
1

Kaufman, Calder W.
2015
1054
2

Kadrich, Matthew R.
2016
939
3

Pruneau, Amy K.
2016
853
4

Dluzynski, Jessica L.
2017
843
5

Crocilla, Antoinette M.
2015
831
6

Hanes, Amy
2016
758
7

James, Michael J. R.
2015
743
8

Meade-Higgins, Megan M.
2016
666
9

Johnson, Kevin P.
2018
653
10

Vogt, Jennifer
2015
605

This data demonstrates the incredible growth and sustained commitment of º£½ÇÂÒÂ× to meaningfully engage in research activities and contribute to the growth of our professional fields. Congratulations, º£½ÇÂÒÂ×!

A special thanks to Georgia Seely and Nosa Obaseki (Research Graduate Assiatant) for their contributions to this posting.Â