A presentation of the research of the American Psychological Association's Project in Scientific Information Exchange in Psychology. The techniques used are embodied in analyses of two APA meetings separated by thirty years. The meetings reflect the changes obtaining in psychology as a field of endeavor.
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References
1.
Reports of the Project on Scientific Information Exchange in Psychology, Washington: American Psychological Association, Volume I, December, 1963 and Volume II, December, 1965.
2.
This quantity was further reduced in subsequent years by nonmember participants at this convention joining APA.
3.
Few difficulties have been said to exist in getting material published during this period. An editor of a current journal that attempts to publish all reasonable contributions states he must reject about 15 per cent.
4.
These changes seem a natural consequence of the historical processes involved; one result of the encroachment on science of the traditional arts is that "big science," in the sense employed by Derek Price seems big in applied ramifications. A recent article reveals a similar proliferation with time of applied areas in the contents of the national meetings in geology. See Derek Price, Little Science, Big Science, New York: Columbia, 1963
5.
; and I.G. Sohn, "GSA Meetings 1954-1964," Geotimes, 10 (October, 1965) p. 21.
6.
This must be a rough estimate because of the scattering of material to infrequently used journals. However most APA journals, the principal outlets, reject 50 to 70 per cent of submissions, and few journals probably reject less than 20 per cent of submissions.
7.
For a detailed discussion of this innovation, see William D. Garvey and Belver C. Griffith, "Scientific Communication: The Dissemination System in Psychology and a Theoretical Framework for Planning Innovations," American Psychologist, 20 (February, 1965 ), pp. 157-164.
8.
The history of certain organizations in experimental psychology can be interpreted as examples of this reaction.
