PsycINFO® Cited References Facts

January 2015 Update

 

Cited References Description

Since 2001, the records in PsycINFO® have included cited references appearing in journal articles, books, and book chapters. Although comprehensive coverage of cited references began in 2001, references appear in some records for earlier years, and APA will continue to add retrospective coverage. As we do, we will list counts by year on this page.

 

Level of Coverage

APA attempts to include all references for each article or book; however, sometimes there are references that cannot be included. For example, a reference may not refer to an identifiable source:

Brown, 1997, p 2
Emory, A., p 4

These partial references are excluded.

Some journals mix end notes and bibliographic citations. If the journal does so on a regular basis, the references are not tagged for inclusion in cited references. If one or two end notes get slipped into what looks like a standard citation list, the end notes are removed from the list for the PsycINFO record. In this case, the number of "references" in the article might appear to be larger than the number listed in the PsycINFO record.

Some references are published in a language that is not expressed in Roman characters. At the present time, APA does not have the capacity to include those. As with the end notes, these references are omitted, and the number of references in the list will differ from the number in the article.

A few journals list references on every page of the article, rather than creating a reference list. These are not included in PsycINFO because they are too difficult to process. PsycINFO no longer accepts journals for coverage if they do not meet standards for journal publication. Journals that have been on the coverage list for some time are being reviewed to determine if PsycINFO should continue to index them.

 

Record Types With Cited References

  • Journal articles
  • Books
  • Chapters

Format

  • APA style
  • Full journal titles whenever possible
  • 96% of author names are last name and initials only

Publication Years With Cited References

  • Comprehensively starting 2001 (with the exceptions listed above)
  • Retrospectively for earlier years as available

Distribution by Publication Year

YEAR NUMBER OF RECORDS WITH REFERENCES NUMBER OF REFERENCES DISPLAYED
2015 594 22,211
2014 102,547 4,825,146
2013 131,043 6,105,226
2012 120,806 5,702,387
2011 123,448 5,517,917
2010 126,727 5,652,087
2009 135,004 6,009,788
2008 134,570 5,943,080
2007 112,181 4,951,490
2006 115,016 4,820,658
2005 95,018 3,933,071
2004 88,785 3,650,100
2003 79,619 3,354,239
2002 69,365 2,902,916
2001 52,099 2,232,565
2000 16,846 822,491
1999 13,304 521,514
1998 2,954 143,073
1997 3,501 168,613
1996 3,580 168,836
1995 2,583 115,039
1994 2,456 111,835
1993 2,480 110,598
1992 2,530 108,838
1991 2,632 104,298
1990 3,321 84,398
1989 2,334 83,153
1988 1,940 65,785
1987 1,849 64,765
1986 2,264 73,226
1985 1,696 54,424
1984 1,821 57,237
1983 1,481 45,097
1982 1,933 57,211
1981 1,854 54,984
1980 1,868 49,936
1979 1,904 49,660
1978 1,232 29,415
1977 1,148 25,908
1976 1,437 34,003
1975 2,116 42,391
1974 2,295 40,595
1973 1,867 33,056
1972 1,746 29,497
1971 1,700 27,619
1970 1,709 26,576
1969 1,787 27,975
1968 1,282 19,924
1967 1,239 17,982
1966 1,466 21,457
1965 1,767 26,663
1964 1,316 18,985
1963 1,188 15,339
1962 1,112 13,500
1961 670 8,589
1960 873 11,467
1959 1,213 19,933
1958 432 6,068
1957 679 7,523
1956 674 8,192
1955 764 9,003
1954 717 9,862
1953 604 7,320
1952 447 5,335
1951 419 5,330
1950 391 5,509
1949 354 4,444
1948 287 5,273
1947 231 4,197
1946 224 3,978
1945 207 4,254
1944 248 4,138
1943 315 5,251
1942 269 4,689
1941 282 5,468
1940 266 4,373
1939 260 4,635
1938 213 3,963
1937 193 4,216
1936 197 3,966
1935 180 4,285
1934 159 4,489
1933 181 5,703
1932 83 2,973
1931 91 4,259
1930 79 3,760
1929 108 5,344
1928 92 4,287
1927 102 2,663
1926 709 14,064
1925 13 636
1924 7 141
1923 4 171
1922 6 298
1921 3 80
1920 9 348