ToP’s Greatest Hits

Abstract

The authors conducted citation analyses to identify the most influential articles published in Teaching of Psychology. Using the Web of Science and PsycINFO databases, we gathered citation counts for the 2,986 articles appearing in the journal from 1974 through 2011 and then used these counts to compile a Top 20 list for total citations, an index that favors older articles, and another list for average number of citations per year, which favors more recent articles. We discuss the nature and content of the articles comprising the two lists as well as possible explanations for their impact. We conclude that although the journal has a history of low impact factors, some articles, especially large survey articles, have been very influential.