Psychology research: databases, preprints, standards, funders and societies

Field at a glance

Research Methods & Statistics

• Average Variance Extracted (AVE): Calculation, the 0.50 Threshold, and Discriminant Validity

  AVE is the mean proportion of indicator variance a construct explains rather than error. This guide gives the calculation, the origin and conventional…

• Behavioral Medicine: Definition, History and Scope

  Behavioral medicine defined: the 1978 Yale definition versus the 2020 Delphi update, the field's scope, and how to cite each in APA 7th edition.…

• BIDS Apps (Brain Imaging Data Structure): How They Work

  BIDS Apps are containerised neuroimaging pipelines that take a BIDS dataset as input. Learn the arguments, run levels, engines and reporting.…

• Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): A Complete Guide

  Confirmatory factor analysis tests a pre-specified measurement model against new data -- unlike exploratory factor analysis, which discovers structure…

• Confirmatory vs. Exploratory Factor AnalysisComparison

  EFA and CFA answer different questions, not the same question two ways. EFA discovers a factor structure during scale development; CFA tests a pre-spe…

• Construct Validity: Definition, Evidence Types, and Threats

  Construct validity is whether an instrument truly measures the theoretical construct it claims to. This guide covers the Messick/AERA-APA-NCME evidenc…

• Criterion Validity: Concurrent and Predictive Evidence Explained

  Criterion validity explained: concurrent vs. predictive evidence, how to choose a defensible criterion, criterion contamination, attenuation, and a wo…

• Cronbach's Alpha: Reliability & Interpretation Guide

  What Cronbach's alpha does and does not tell you about a scale: the formula and its assumptions, why a high alpha is not evidence of unidimensionality…

• Cronbach's Alpha: What It Measures, How to Interpret It, and When to Use Omega Instead

  Cronbach's alpha measures internal consistency, not unidimensionality or reliability in general — the most common misreading of the statistic. This gu…

• Demand Characteristics: How Participants Guess Your Hypothesis and Change Their Behavior

  Demand characteristics are cues that let participants guess a study's hypothesis and adjust their behavior to match it. This guide covers Orne's origi…

• Exploratory Factor Analysis: Extraction, Rotation, and How Many Factors to Retain

  Exploratory factor analysis turns on three decisions usually made by accepting a default: extraction method, number of factors retained, and rotation.…

• Guttman Scaling: Cumulative Items, Scalogram Analysis, and the Coefficient of Reproducibility

  How Guttman scaling orders cumulative items, scores a scalogram, and uses the coefficient of reproducibility (and scalability) to test whether a scale…

• Incidental Findings in Research: Types, Prevalence and Consent

  What incidental findings are, how often brain MRI studies find them, and how to plan, consent for and report them in an IRB protocol.…

• Inter-Rater Reliability: Choosing the Right Coefficient

  A selection table from data type and rater design to the right agreement statistic - Cohen's and weighted kappa, Fleiss' kappa, ICC, Krippendorff's al…

• IRB in Psychology: Research Ethics Guide

  An operational guide to IRBs in psychological research, detailing Common Rule review tiers, APA Standard 8 ethics, deception rules, and debriefing pro…

• Item Response Theory for Research Scales

  What item response theory is, how the item-characteristic curve and its difficulty and discrimination parameters work, what the 1PL, 2PL, and 3PL mode…

• Mediator vs. Moderator: Which One Your Hypothesis Actually NeedsComparison

  Would changing X change the variable? If yes it is a mediator and you bootstrap the indirect effect ab. If not it is a moderator and you test the prod…

• MIRT: Multidimensional Item Response Theory and the mirt R Package

  MIRT explained: the compensatory model equation, a hand-worked example, model and estimation choices, APA reporting, and mirt code for R and Excel.…

• Neuroscience vs Psychology: What Is the Difference?Comparison

  Neuroscience explains behavior through the nervous system, from molecules to circuits; psychology studies mind and behavior, mostly at the whole-perso…

• PAI (Personality Assessment Inventory): Scales, Reliability and Access

  PAI (Personality Assessment Inventory): 344 items, 22 scales, reliability evidence, why there is no free PDF, and how to report it in research.…

• Path Analysis: Direct, Indirect, and Total Effects

  Path analysis is structural equation modeling with a structural model but no measurement model. This guide works a full path diagram end to end: stand…

• Power Analysis and Sample Size Calculation: A Complete Guide

  How to run a power analysis to calculate sample size: the four interlocking quantities (effect size, alpha, power, N), a priori vs. post-hoc power, ch…

• Psychology Meta-Analysis: Methods and Standards

  A guide to psychology meta-analysis: statistical models, APA JARS-MARS reporting standards, effect size metrics, and publication bias diagnostics.…

• Psychology Research Ethics: Standards & Guidelines

  A complete guide to psychology research ethics under APA Standard 8 and the BPS Code: informed consent, controlled deception rules, debriefing, and IR…

• Psychology vs Psychiatry: What Is the Difference?Comparison

  Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior, trained through a doctorate in psychology; psychiatry is a medical specialty trained through…

• Psychology vs Sociology: Key Differences in Level, Methods and FundingComparison

  Psychology studies the individual mind and behavior; sociology studies groups, institutions and social structure. Compare their methods, funders, trai…

• Psychometrics: How Researchers Measure Things You Can't Observe

  How psychometrics turns unobservable constructs into reliable, valid scores: the construct-to-score pipeline, classical test theory vs. IRT, and how i…

• Q Methodology: Q-Sorts, By-Person Factor Analysis, and Reading the Factor Arrays

  Q methodology transposes the factor-analytic matrix so each person’s whole Q-sort becomes a variable. That inversion sets the loading threshold from t…

• Questionnaire Design: Writing Survey Questions That Work

  A construction guide to the questionnaire-design decisions that determine data quality: question wording, response-option and Likert scale design, que…

• Regression Analysis: Assumptions, Interpretation, and How to Report It

  A practical guide to choosing between linear, logistic, and other regression models, checking each model's assumptions, interpreting coefficients and…

• Reliability in Research: What It Means and How to Assess It

  What reliability means in research measurement, how it differs from validity, classical test theory, the four types of reliability, what degrades it,…

• Reliability vs. Validity: What Is the Difference?Comparison

  Reliability means a measurement gives consistent results; validity means it measures the right thing. The two are independent properties, and a measur…

• Split-Half Reliability and the Spearman-Brown Correction

  A split-half correlation is the reliability of a half-length test, not the full one, and different equally valid splits of the same items produce diff…

• SPSP: What the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Is

  What SPSP is, how its journals PSPB, PSPR and SPPS differ, who can join, and how it relates to APA Division 8.…

• Structural Equation Modeling (SEM): Fit Indices, Cut-Offs and Model Evaluation

  A judgment-layer guide to evaluating structural equation models: which fit indices to report, why the widely cited Hu and Bentler cut-offs differ from…

• Test-Retest Reliability: Choosing the Retest Interval, and Checking for Drift

  The retest interval is the design decision a test-retest coefficient cannot recover from. What the interval trades off, what COSMIN actually asks abou…

• The COM-B Model: Diagnosing Capability, Opportunity and Motivation Before You Design

  COM-B is a diagnostic step, not a menu of interventions. This guide covers specifying the target behaviour with AACTT, using the 14 TDF domains to int…

• The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test: Assumptions, Exact vs. Normal Approximation, and How to Report It

  A decision guide to the Wilcoxon signed-rank test: what its null actually asserts (symmetry of the differences, not equal medians), why it is the pair…

• Types of Validity in Research: Measurement Validity vs Design Validity

  Measurement validity (face, content, construct, criterion) and design validity (internal, external, statistical-conclusion) are two distinct families…

• What Is Psychology? Research Areas, Funding, and Career Paths

  A comprehensive guide to psychology: what it studies, its major sub-disciplines, the real research funding landscape (NIH/NIMH, NSF, private foundatio…

Scholarly Publishing

• American Journal of Psychology: Metrics & Scope

  Overview of The American Journal of Psychology: 1887 founding, 0.4 impact factor, experimental scope, $0 APC terms, and Scholastica submission guideli…

• American Psychologist Journal: Scope, Guidelines, and Metrics

  An author and researcher reference for American Psychologist, covering APA submission page caps, JARS reporting standards, open science badges, and JC…

• APA Divisions: Complete Guide and Structure

  A guide to APA divisions: the 54 active interest groups, Division 5 quantitative methods, governance representation, and journal publishing.…

• APA Publication Manual: 7th Edition Guide

  An operational guide to the APA Publication Manual (7th ed.), covering JARS reporting standards, professional manuscript elements, and citation mechan…

• Association for Psychological Science: Guide

  A guide to the Association for Psychological Science (APS): journal portfolio, annual convention, membership benefits, and open-science standards.…

• Current Direction in Psychological Science: Guide

  Understand Current Directions in Psychological Science: review scope, SAGE Track proposal rules, peer review model, Scopus indexing, and open access.…

• Current Opinion in Psychology: Review Model, Scope, and Metrics

  A researcher reference on Current Opinion in Psychology, examining Elsevier thematic review commissioning, annotated bibliography rules, and JCR metri…

• Current Psychology Journal: Metrics & Review

  A complete guide to Current Psychology journal: 2025 Impact Factor (2.7), double-blind peer review workflow, submission guidelines, and indexing.…

• Is Psychology Today Peer Reviewed? Status & Evidence

  Is Psychology Today peer-reviewed? Discover why this popular magazine is not a scholarly source, how its editorial process works, and how to verify re…

• Is Simply Psychology Peer Reviewed? Review Guide

  Simply Psychology is an educational website rather than an academic journal. This guide details its internal expert review model, indexing status, and…

• Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (JEP:LMC) Profile

  Profile of the APA's Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition: ISSN, scope, article types, indexing and metrics by source.…

• Nature Reviews Psychology: Scope & Metrics

  Overview of Nature Reviews Psychology: 2025 impact factor of 22.0, professional editorial model, $0 APC subscription terms, and DORA evaluation guidan…

• Preprints and Preregistration: Servers, DOIs, and How to Use Them

  A practical guide to preprints and preregistration: how servers like arXiv, bioRxiv, and SSRN differ, whether preprints count as publications, how to…

• Preregistration of a Study Protocol: What It Is and How to Do It

  How preregistration works: locking hypotheses, methods, and an analysis plan before data collection, the major platforms (OSF Registries, AsPredicted,…

• Psychological Science Journal: Scope, Policies, and Metrics

  An author-focused reference on Psychological Science, covering editorial aims, unique word-count rules, mandatory open data policies, and JCR metrics.…

• Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (APA Journal): Scope, Indexing, Submission

  Scope, indexing, article-type page limits, fees and registered reports for APA's Psychology of Addictive Behaviors journal.…

• Psychonomic Bulletin & Review: Journal Guide

  Psychonomic Bulletin & Review is a bimonthly cognitive psychology journal by Springer. Explore its scope, peer review, indexing, and publication model…

• PsycINFO Search Strategy: Thesaurus Terms, Fields, and Limits

  How to build a PsycINFO search strategy: the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, structured fields like Methodology and Age Groups, platform d…

• PubPsych: Open Access Psychology Database Guide

  PubPsych is an open-access psychology search portal coordinated by ZPID. Explore its multilingual database coverage, search methods, and alternatives.…

• Registered Reports: How Preregistered Study Plans Get Accepted Before Data Collection

  A guide to the Registered Reports publishing format: Stage 1 protocol review, in-principle acceptance, Stage 2 results review, which journals offer it…

Research Data Management

• Center for Open Science (COS): What It Is and How OSF Works

  The Center for Open Science (COS) is the nonprofit behind the Open Science Framework (OSF), TOP Guidelines, and Registered Reports. What COS does, how…

• How to Write a Registered Report: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Stage 1 Protocol

  A practical, step-by-step guide to drafting a Registered Report Stage 1 protocol: writing testable hypotheses, specifying methods and analysis plans,…

• OpenNeuro: The BIDS-Based Neuroimaging Data-Sharing Platform

  What OpenNeuro is, how it enforces the BIDS standard, which neuroimaging data types it hosts, and how it fits into the broader neuroimaging data-shari…

• OSF Preregistration: How to Register a Study on OSF Registries

  How to create, template-select, timestamp, embargo, and register a study on OSF Registries, plus how registration updates and withdrawals work.…

• PsychArchives: The Leibniz Institute's Open-Science Repository for Psychology

  PsychArchives is the Leibniz Institute for Psychology's (ZPID) free, disciplinary repository for psychology research outputs — articles, data, code, p…

• Replication in Psychology: Two Worked Examples

  What a real psychology replication study looks like: the Reproducibility Project: Psychology and the facial feedback Registered Replication Report, ex…

• Reproducibility vs. Replicability: What's the Difference?Comparison

  Reproducibility and replicability sound interchangeable but describe two distinct tests of a scientific result. This page sets out the NASEM 2019 defi…

• TalkBank and CHILDES: The Domain Repository for Language Acquisition and Communication Research

  TalkBank is a research infrastructure for studying human communication; CHILDES, its flagship child-language-acquisition component, is the field-stand…

• Test-Retest vs. Inter-Rater Reliability: What’s the Difference?Comparison

  Test-retest reliability checks consistency of the same measure across time; inter-rater reliability checks agreement between different raters. Compare…

• The Psychology Replication Crisis: The 2015 Reproducibility Project and What Changed

  In 2015, a 270-author collaboration attempted to replicate 100 published psychology studies and found only 36% held up. This guide covers what the Rep…

• The Replication Crisis: Origins, Causes, and the Open Science Response

  The replication crisis is the field-spanning finding, dated from Ioannidis's 2005 paper through the 2015 psychology Reproducibility Project and beyond…

Grants Management & Research Funding

• APF Grants: Psychology Research Funding Guide

  Comprehensive guide to American Psychological Foundation (APF) grants: Visionary funding, early-career awards, 0% indirect cost rules, and GivingData…

• Psi Chi Grants: Student Research Funding Guide

  Psi Chi research grants provide up to $1,500 in direct empirical funding for psychology students. Explore eligibility rules, allowable expenses, and a…

• SIOP Membership: Eligibility, Dues and Renewal

  SIOP, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology: who can join, what each category costs, and how the July-June year affects payment.…

• Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM): Awards and Eligibility

  Society of Behavioral Medicine awards: amounts, who may apply, member rules, and the Bridging the Gap $8,000 research award, per SBM pages.…

Research Tools & Software

• Covidence vs. Rayyan vs. DistillerSR: Systematic Review Software ComparedComparison

  Covidence, Rayyan, and DistillerSR compared on screening workflow, deduplication, PRISMA flow diagrams, data extraction, licensing, and regulatory aud…

• Cronbach's Alpha in SPSS: Reliability Analysis and Item-Total Statistics

  Run SPSS Reliability Analysis, read the item-total statistics table, and use Alpha if Item Deleted to spot a weak item in your scale.…

• JATOS: Just Another Tool for Online Studies Explained

  JATOS is free, open-source software for hosting browser-based studies on your own server. How it works, what it supports, hosting options, citation.…

CRediT & Authorship

• Gift and Ghost Authorship in Psychology: What an 800+ Researcher Survey Found

  A 2025 survey of 811 psychology researchers found gift authorship reported far more often than ghost authorship, and that actively encouraging explici…

• Registered Reports: What Happens to the Author List Between Stage 1 and Stage 2

  In-principle acceptance locks a Registered Report's protocol, not its byline. Here's how authorship changes between Stage 1 and Stage 2 are actually h…

Key terms

• Annual Review of Psychology Impact Factor
• BMC Psychology Journal Metrics
• Crowdsourced replication
• NIDA GCP Training
• Open Science Badges (Open Data, Open Materials, Preregistered)
• Open Science Framework (OSF)
• Perspectives on Psychological Science: Metrics
• Pre-registration
• PsyArXiv
• Psychological Bulletin Impact Factor & Scope
• Registered Report
• Replication study
• Reproducibility crisis