The decline and fall of book reviews in psychology: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Book reviews have been published in psychology journals since 1900—and possibly before then. Approximately 200 such reviews were published each year until the 1950s and this number increased to nearly 600 before 1990. However, since then, the number of book reviews in psychology journals has reverted back to the current rate of approximately 200 a year. Whether or not this can be attributed to the measurement of impact factors is a moot point.