Perspectives on Psychological Science

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

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).