Thirty years of psicothema: A bibliometric analysis (1989-2018)

Background: This study presents a bibliometric analysis of Psicothema as a commemoration for its 30 years of publishing (1989-2018). Methods: A year-, sex-, and publication language-based analysis of the journal’s characteristics was carried out based on the sample of 2,396 publications. Based on that data, Lotka’s law was assessed, Lawani and Subramanyam indices and cooperation networks were estimated, the Pratt index was calculated, the concentration of papers according to thematic areas and research methods was described, and citations and impact indicators were obtained according to the original articles indexed in Web of Science (1993-2018). Results: The results indicated greater participation by male authors, increased publication in English, compliance with Lotka’s law, and a greater inter-institutional contribution in recent decades. There was a higher percentage of methodology/psychometrics-related work, and most of these publications used quantitative methods. The impact factor and the amount of citations reached its peak in 2018. Conclusion: The characteristics of Psicothema, which is a model of scientific communication of psychology in the international context, are discussed in this study.